Aeronautical Control Room Officer

Job summary

Do you have experience in an emergency services or an aviation operations environment?

Have you got excellent coordination skills with the ability to engage effectively with key stakeholders?

Can you work well within a team but also know the importance of working independently?

If so, this is an exciting opportunity for an Aeronautical Control Room Officer to join our team at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA).

Joining our department comes with many benefits, including:

• Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here

• 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave), plus 8 bank holidays a privilege day for the King’s birthday

• Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.

Read more in the Benefits section below!

Find out more about what it's like working at Maritime and Coastguard Agency - Department for Transport Careers

Job description

Aeronautical Control Room Officers play a pivotal role in the expeditious deployment of specialised aircraft in support of Land, Maritime & Aviation Search and Rescue (SAR).

You will play an integral role in the efficient and effective tasking, deployment and coordination of UK SAR aviation assets, within land and sea areas of the UK Search and Rescue Region, and the efficient coordination of aviation Search and Rescue (SAR) incidents.

We are an emergency service and have to be able to respond 24/7/365, so you will have to work in a way that can be antisocial. Aeronautical Control Room Officers are required to work a 12-hour shift pattern (a mix of day and night shifts as laid out in the example) to allow HMCG to provide its 24 hour emergency service to the public, 365 days a year. On average the shift pattern equates to 37 duty hours per week over a 12-month period. As such, this position attracts a number of allowances to reflect the shift working and unsociable hours.

Your responsibilities will include, but aren’t limited to:

• Coordinating the response to aviation incidents and those incidents requiring SAR aviation assets, as assigned to them by the Aeronautical Duty Supervisor to support Maritime, Aeronautical and inland SAR requests.
• Identifying, tasking and deploying the most suitable SAR aviation asset following any request for SAR aircraft assistance from an authorised coordinating authority (UK Police, Fire, Ambulance or Coastguard and foreign SAR services) after determining if the request is a relevant and appropriate use of the asset(s).
• Assisting and supporting the Duty Supervisor throughout the shift in accordance with Coastguard Information Portal (CIP) instructions.
• Once SAR aviation assets are deployed to coordinate all aeronautical aspects of that incident.
• Maintaining accurate records of SAR tasking for legal and statistical requirements.
• Being responsible and accountable for own continuous personal development by participating in training, exercises and team assessments, and undertaking mandatory work.

For further information on the role, please read the role profile. Please note that the role profile is for information purposes only - whilst all elements are relevant to the role, they may not all be assessed during the recruitment process. This job advert will detail exactly what will be assessed during the recruitment process.

Person specification

Required experience:

To be successful in this role you will need to have the following experience:

1. It is essential that you are a fully qualified Maritime Operations Officer OR can demonstrate your relevant experience in an emergency service operations environment OR relevant experience in an aviation operations environment, where you will have had substantive experience of operating and being productive on your own.
2. You will have excellent problem-solving skills with the ability to engage effectively with diverse stakeholder community. You will enjoy working within a team.
3. You must not have been dismissed by the MCA within the past 24 months for failure to pass the required training for operational posts within HM Coastguard.

Additional Information

Internally this role will be known as “Senior Aeronautical Operations Officer”.

You will be required to work shifts 24/7 within an overall national staffing system.

Also, periodic travel to support the short notice establishment of a Combined Tactical Air Cell (CTAC), should the need arise. This is anticipated to be for a minimal duration and could be located anywhere within the UK.

This role is not suitable for hybrid working and will require the successful candidate to work solely from their designated workplace (one of the locations cited in the advert) or, when required for business reasons, from other offices/work locations/visiting stakeholders.

If you have a question about travelling for work, or require a reasonable adjustment, please contact the Vacancy Holder during the recruitment process to avoid possible disappointment later in the process should your working arrangements not be compatible with the requirements of the role (see below for contact details).

Medical ​

Successful candidates will be expected to undertake a physical medical and mental health questionnaire for this role. Please see the attached document for further information.

Visa Sponsorship

Please note that we will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa where a role has been deemed to be business critical. This role does not meet that category, and we will not sponsor a visa. Therefore, this role is not open to applications from those who require sponsorship – candidates must ensure they have the appropriate right to work in the UK before applying. Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.

Qualifications

Please confirm that you are a fully qualified Maritime Operations Officer OR demonstrate your relevant experience in an emergency service operations environment OR relevant experience in an aviation operations environment, and must have substantive experience of being productive independently.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing

Benefits

Being part of our brilliant Civil Service means you will have access to a wide range of fantastic benefits:

• Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here
• 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave).
• 8 Bank Holidays plus an additional Privilege Day to mark the King’s birthday.
• Access to the staff discount portal.
• Excellent career development opportunities and the potential to undertake professional qualifications relevant to your role paid for by the department, such as CIPD, Prince2, apprenticeships, etc.
• Joining a diverse and inclusive workforce with a range of staff communities to support all our colleagues.
• 24-hour Employee Assistance Programme providing free confidential help and advice for staff

Find out more about the benefits of working at DfT and its agencies (opens in a new window).

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, Ability and Experience.

How to apply:

Our selection process ensures a comprehensive assessment of each applicant's qualifications, skills, and potential fit within our organisation.

The selection process for this role will be:

Stage 1: Online test

Stage 2: Sift of CV and personal statement

Stage 3: Assessments and Interview

You must be successful at each stage to progress to the next stage.

Stage 1: Online test

At this stage, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile element:

• Ability

After submission of the first stage of your application you will be invited to complete a Civil Service Numerical Test. If you successfully pass the test, you will be invited to complete the final stage of the application.

Please complete the online tests as soon as possible (within 24-48 hours is recommended), the closing date for the tests is 23:55 on 6/04/2026. If you fail to complete the online test before the deadline your application will be withdrawn. Guidance for the test will be available when you are invited to take the test. The tests are administered online and accessed via the CS Jobs website.

Please note that there will be maintenance for online tests on 29 March - midday to 1pm, and 4pm to midnight. This means you will be unable to access the online tests during this time. Your progress will be saved, and you will be able to continue once the tests are available again

Stage 2: Sift

At sift, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements:

Experience – you will be asked to provide a CV (unlimited wordcount) and personal statement (1000-word count). Please provide evidence of your Experience of the following:

• Your substantive experience working independently in an emergency service operational environment and/or an aviation operational environment.
• Your ability to make sound decisions when working under pressure in a fast-paced environment.
• Your capability to learn and utilise sophisticated ICT interfaces in an operational context.
• Your ability to communicate critical information clearly and professionally whilst working at pace.

The sift will take place 09 - 10 April 2026.

Stage 3: Assessment and Interview

At interview stage, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements:

• Behaviours – Making Effective Decisions, Managing a Quality Service, Delivering at Pace and Communicating and Influencing.
• Strengths
• Ability

You will also be required to take part in a call listening exercise and audio typing test, that will be assessed against Ability. Guidance will be provided if you are invited to interview.

The interviews will take place week commencing 20 April 2026.

This interview will be conducted in person at our Fareham office. Further details will be provided to you should you be selected for interview. You can find out more about our hiring process, how to apply, and application and interview guidance on our careers site (opens in a new window).

Please note that we will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates will change.

Further information on the selection process

We will also hold a12-month reserve list for this role, which may lead to potential opportunities beyond the role you applied for. You can read more about our reserve lists here.

Reasonable Adjustments

As a Disability Confident Leader employer, we are committed to ensuring that the recruitment process is fair, accessible and allows all candidates to perform at their best. If a person with a visible or non-visible disability is substantially disadvantaged, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need during the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at an interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

If you need a reasonable adjustment so that you can complete your application, you should contact Government Recruitment Service via dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Document Accessibility

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

This job advert contains links to the DfT Careers website. Our website provides useful guidance and information that can support you during the application process. If you cannot access the information on our website for any reason, please email DRGComms@dft.gov.uk for assistance.

Further Information

For more information about how we hire, and for useful tips on submitting your application for this role, visit theHow We Hire page of our DfT Careers website. You can find detailed information about the recruitment process and what to expect when applying for a role.

Pre-employment Checking

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5-year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

All External applicants and current employees of accredited non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) will be required to undergo a Social Media Check. A Social Media Check is a review of your publicly available online activity, typically across platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and others. The purpose is to identify any public posts or content that could raise concerns for employers, such as:

Hate speech or discriminatory behaviour

Threats or acts of violence

Illegal activity or substance misuse

Sexually explicit material

Extremist views or affiliations

Importantly, this check does not involve hacking into your accounts or accessing private messages. It only considers content you have chosen to make public.

Employers use this kind of screening to help ensure their workplace remains safe, inclusive, and aligned with company values. It’s not about judging your personality or lifestyle—it’s about checking for potential red flags that might affect the role or company culture.

If you have questions or concerns about the social media check, we would be happy to explain in more detail what’s being looked at and how your data is handled securely and fairly.

Feedback

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Neil Blewett
• Email : neil.blewett@mcga.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact Government Recruitment Services via email: dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Visit the Civil Service Commission website Here

Attachments

Role Profile Opens in new window (pdf, 228kB)Annex C - 20211015 MCA Health Standards 2021 HMCG (1) Opens in new window (pdf, 723kB)