Demand is strong, and the data backs it up. MOD expenditure with industry supported a total of 272,000 direct jobs in 2023/24, an increase of 11% compared to the previous financial year MOD supported employment estimates 2023/24 - GOV.UK. That builds on the 239,000 MOD-supported UK jobs reached in 2022/23, itself an increase of 6% on the previous year MOD supported employment estimates 2022/23 - GOV.UK. For a hiring manager, that upward line matters. When the talent pool is growing, the roles you post sit inside a busy market, and the way you scope them decides who notices.
Recruitment appetite is climbing too. The defence sector continued to be an attractive employer, with surveyed recruitment growing by 17.8% in 2022 Defence sector continues contributing significantly to UK economy - GOV.UK. So if you are weighing your first resilience planner, you are competing for attention with employers who are actively hiring. Knowing the shape of that competition is the first step.
Investment is creating fresh roles, not just filling old ones. More than 1,700 new jobs are being created across the UK defence sector following at least £1.4 billion in foreign direct investment committed since July 2024 Defence dividend delivers thousands of UK jobs following exceptional foreign investment - GOV.UK. New investment tends to bring new programmes, and new programmes need people who can plan for disruption: resilience planners who map risk, test continuity and keep critical operations running.
Here is why open roles are such a useful guide. A resilience planner is rarely a one-size job. In one organisation it leans towards business continuity and incident response. In another it sits closer to supply chain or physical security. The live roles on the market tell you, in plain language, which flavour employers are actually paying for, what seniority they expect and which certifications or clearances keep appearing. Read enough of them and the pattern for your own role becomes clear.
Start by gathering ten to fifteen live resilience planner adverts in defence and security. Line them up side by side and look for the overlap. Which responsibilities appear in almost every one? Those are your core. Which appear in only a few? Those are nice-to-haves you can drop to widen your pool.
The point of this exercise is confidence. By the time you post, you know your role is pitched where the market is, so the people you reach are the people who can actually do it. That turns a guess into a decision.
Once your role is scoped, you need to reach the right people fast. We search a database of 15 million candidates and return a ranked shortlist in under 30 seconds, so you can see who matches your resilience planner brief straight away. Our recruitment agent manages recruitment end to end for 8% on a successful hire, with no monthly fee and no upfront cost. If you have weighed your role and you are ready to fill it, start your search with Reed.ai today and see your shortlist in seconds.
