Simon Stockley served in the Royal Engineers leaving with the rank of Brigadier after a 34-year career in 2024.
“My final role in Defence was as the Deputy Director of Infrastructure in the Finance and Military Capability Directorate of the Ministry of Defence, where I had responsibilities for the infrastructure strategy, policy and resourcing the infrastructure function.
My most recent role was incredibly varied, ranging from supporting the 3* military capability board with ensuring its decision making takes consideration of the infrastructure DLOD; engaging with policy makers in Defence, and other government departments, to ensure their policy decisions are cognisant of the implications for the infrastructure function; writing responses for parliamentary questions; supporting the departmental decision-making process, making the case to protect, enhance or enact savings against the infrastructure plan; and, directly supporting the Ministerial team.
The obvious starting point is the training and educational benefits you gain from being in the army. I have completed A Levels through to post graduate studies all in-service, and world-class leadership training throughout my career; the educational offer is unrivalled, and I would encourage all Service personnel to maximise the opportunities while still serving. Additionally, I have discovered on reflection, that I am more sales orientated than I had perceived, but fundamentally the most important skill is the ability to work with a broad cross-spectrum of people from differing backgrounds, it is our superpower.
I am now working as a Defence Director, with Turner & Townsend. I got the job through the Turner & Townsend Senior Talent Selection Programme. I am very proud to be part of an infrastructure consultancy that has a global reputation for delivering major projects and programmes. Additionally, over the past eight years Tuner & Townsend have significantly grown their Defence segment, which this year stood-up as its own independent entity. I am currently supporting the growth of that Defence business and am predominantly client facing.
The joy is that I am engaging with many of the same people I have worked closely with over the last twenty years, both in the Ministry of Defence, and in the wider supply-chain, continuing to support Defence outcomes. A typical day could include liaising with a client over how they might mobilise our support or, raising awareness of our service offer; supporting a colleague with better understanding the MOD; and, importantly supporting bid teams as we compete for new contracts.
In my opinion we must get away from consideration that Defence operates in a bubble and does not reflect the real word. The reality is that all the skills that I developed in the Armed Forces (leadership, programme management, problem solving, planning, negotiation and managing people, amongst others) are all entirely transferable to the civilian world. I make use of all these skills, to one degree or another, in different scenarios, on a regular basis.
I would recommend speaking to lots of people who had been through the transition process previously, and then speaking to a lot more! BuildForce’s industry connections in this space were instrumental and really helped me during my transition.
The key challenges in my transition was conditioning myself to think different in three principal areas: focussing on personal achievements over those of the team – Service personnel are conditioned to think about team over self, but employers are interested in what you have achieved; deciding what to do and where to focus my energy – the opportunities are limitless; and, overcoming the pressure of everyone saying “but with your experience, you will be snapped up”, which ramps up the perceived pressure.
Being honest I think that the combination of the Service provided support, reinforced by the charitable sector and industry, provide a hugely advantageous offer for Service personnel, the challenge is navigating a path through, that supports your ambitions for the future.
Irrespective of capbadge/trade/branch, all the training and skills you have learned in the Armed Forces are directly transferable to the construction sector. Construction, irrespective of scale, is fundamentally about synchronising all elements of the ‘orchestra’ to undertake a sequence of activities to achieve a series of effects, underpinned by excellent logistics; sound familiar? There is an emphasis on team and a clear sense of purpose, which are potentially areas of your military service that you are seeking to replicate in your civilian career. I would really encourage Service leavers to get in touch with BuildForce to explore the opportunities in the construction sector, particularly recognising the significant growth as the nation looks to replace and upgrade aging national infrastructure, while responding to new requirements of a digital and low carbon world.”