Main purpose of job:

The British Government’s Embassy in Washington DC, USA has an exciting opportunity for a proactive and dynamic person to join the Ministry of Defence as Product Manager of the American British Canadian Australian and New Zealand (ABCANZ) Armies’ Program Office.  The Mission of the ABCANZ Armies Program is to promote and manage interoperability between the Armies. This is achieved through the mitigation of interoperability gaps usually through writing and publishing of standards. 

This role supports and further develops the special relationship between the UK and the Five Eyes Armies, contributing to multinational interoperability.   This position is responsible for establishing, maintaining, and managing the Program’s knowledge and document control systems. A key focus will be supporting the Executive Officer (XO) in managing the product review and ratification process, ensuring information accuracy, accessibility, and secure storage to support compliance and operational efficiency. The Manager will actively foster knowledge sharing and collaboration in product development and publishing to enhance interoperability among the Five Eyes Armies and the U.S. Marine Corps through the development and dissemination of standards, reports, and other publications.

You will be working as part of a multi-national team of 10 people – two Ministry of Defence civil servants and eight uniformed officers from across the Five Eyes Nations. 

The position does not have any direct reports. The position is based in Crystal City, Arlington close to the Pentagon and requires international travel to the Five Eyes countries during the year. 

The ideal candidate will be skilled with the Microsoft 365 suite of software, to include Teams, SharePoint, and AI tools, comfortable working with a small team of professional military officers, and an effective written and oral communicator with attention to detail.

Roles and responsibilities:

Document Control & Review:

• Manage the electronic product library, ensuring products meet established quality standards and are professionally written, proofed, and formatted for publication.
• Support the management of the product review and ratification process, including tracking ratification status, consolidating and managing feedback from nations, and providing Monthly Product Update Reports (MPUs).
• Advise team members on templates and formats for products, ensuring adherence to ABCANZ writing conventions as outlined in relevant style guides.
• Review official correspondence for external audiences and prepare products for Chief of Staff approval, ensuring adherence to releasability guidelines.
• Ensure all ABCANZ products adhere to releasability guidelines and conditions of release, managing the appropriate markings and distribution controls.

Knowledge Management & Collaboration:

• Support knowledge management activities in collaboration with the Executive Officer, Operations Officer, Chief Clerk, and Capability Group (CG) managers, leveraging online collaborative tools and knowledge management best practices.
• Facilitate knowledge sharing and collaboration among Project Teams (PTs) and Capability Groups (CGs) during product development, leveraging platforms such as MS Teams and SharePoint.
• Develop and implement knowledge-sharing strategies, including content governance, taxonomy, and metadata standards, aligned with ABCANZ Program Office objectives and existing information management systems (e.g., APAN, SharePoint) to improve discoverability and usability of information.
• Provide training and support to Program Office staff and Project Team members on digital collaboration tools (e.g., MS Teams, SharePoint, APAN) and knowledge management best practices, ensuring adherence to ABCANZ SOPs and releasability guidelines.
• Continuously evaluate and improve digital workflows related to product management, identifying opportunities to enhance productivity, collaboration, and data integrity while maintaining compliance with ABCANZ security protocols and product management procedures. Promote the effective use of online collaborative tools such as MS Teams and SharePoint sites, such as APAN or PiX, as knowledge repositories.

Administrative Support:

• Provide administrative support to the Program Office, including minute-taking and writing summary reports at annual conferences and other meetings.
• Support staff for events, program execution, and activities.
• Conduct International Travel to interoperability meetings (Australia, New Zealand, Canada & UK).

Essential on arrival:

• Highly skilled with use of Microsoft 365.
• Skilled with document editing, publishing and filing.
• Skilled in electronic file management including use of Share Point (or ability to learn).
• Ability to work in a small team with minimal supervision (self-starter).
• Ability to engage with people from other nations (Australia, UK, USA, Canada and New Zealand) and senior level individuals.
• Able to travel by air both domestically and internationally for up to two weeks at a time.
• Must be a citizen of either the USA, UK, Canada, Australia or New Zealand.
• Must hold an A or NATO Visa and EAD.

All selected candidates are subject to background checks and for this position will require a UK Government Security Clearance of Security Check (SC(O)) prior to starting work. 

Language requirements: 

Language: English

Level of language required: Must be fluent, strong ability to edit, spell check, grammar check written work