Air - Instructional Officer - Communication Engineering Principles

Job summary

Have you ever considered delivering cutting-edge technical training and education in the field of Communications and Information Technology?

Do you have the desire and ability to train and educate highly motivated Defence (Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force) future IT and CIS (Information technology and Communication Information Systems) engineers and technicians? If so, there is a brilliant opportunity for you to join a highly professional team in a modern, inclusive, and supportive training environment, where opportunities for developing your technical and teaching skills are encouraged and supported.

We at 11th (Royal School of Signals) Signal Regiment, based at Blandford Forum in Dorset, deliver world class technical IT and CIS training to Sailors, Soldiers and Aviators across a variety of engineering disciplines. We specialise in training Information Technology (IT) and Communications Information Systems (CIS) to prepare Defence personnel for their current and future role of Defence IT and CIS engineers.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

Job description

We are actively seeking technical specialists, with an ability to contribute effectively within a high performing team. You will be involved in instructing Defence personnel by delivering technical training programmes that will develop them as engineers and technicians within the Royal Navy, Army, and Royal Air Force. The successful candidates will be expected to work within Blandford and will be responsible for the instruction of military students in a range of theoretical and practical disciplines focused within the fields of Information Technology and Communication Information Systems. We are particularly interested in candidates from an academic, engineering or technical background in Information Technology and Communications Information Systems who may wish to start a second career as a trainer/teacher. Full training to enable successful technicians and engineers to transition to a teaching environment is available.

We have job opportunities as Specialist Instructional Officers teaching Communication Engineering Principles such as Electronics, Mathematics, Satellite Communications and Digital Systems.

Person specification

The ideal candidate will be enthusiastic, self-motivated, innovative and capable of inspiring young service personnel from diverse backgrounds. A good communicator able to explain complex information in a clear and easily understood way to different audiences. You will be required to be both proactive and reactive, assessing the skills and knowledge of trainees within the classroom and determining what support is needed to grow and nurture these individuals.

You will be expected to have experience in Communication Engineering Principles such as Electronics, Mathematics, Satellite Communications and Digital Systems

Teaching experience would also be beneficial.

The entry requirements to the SIO Group are that candidates should have served a recognised apprenticeship or a relevant alternative period of training or to have obtained a relevant National Qualification. Candidates for training subjects where specific formal qualifications do not exist will be considered provided that they have undergone appropriate training for that trade or subject. Alternatively, candidates should ideally have at least 5 years relevant practical experience or similar in that trade or specialism.

Behaviours

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

• Delivering at Pace
• Developing Self and Others
• Communicating and Influencing

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £30,740, Ministry of Defence contributes £8,905 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
• A £6000 annual Market Skills Allowance paid pro-rata (this is reviewed annually as itis not a permanent allowance)
• 25 days of paid Annual Leave minimum.
• Eight Public Holidays per year, plus 1 day’s Privilege Leave for HM The King's birthday.
• Ability to roll over up to 10 days of Annual Leave per year.
• Special Paid Leave for other volunteer duties.
• On-site gymnasium and cardiovascular, strength and conditioning outdoor sports facilities.
• On-site shop/cafe facilities.
• Free onsite parking.

Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and working from home as part of a non-contractual hybrid working arrangement. All office-based employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in office, subject to site capacity and any required workplace adjustments. Requirements to attend other locations for official business, or work in another MOD workplace, will also count towards this level of office attendance. Applicants can request further information regarding how this and other flexible working arrangements may work in their team from the Vacancy Holder (see advert for contact details). Defence Business Services cannot respond to any questions about working arrangements.

The post does not offer relocation expenses.

External recruits who join the MOD who are new to the Civil Service will be subject to a six-month probation period.

Please Note: Expenses incurred for travel to interviews will not be reimbursed.

Please be advised that the Department is conducting a review of all pay related allowances which could impact on those allowances that the post currently being advertised attracts.

Any move to MOD from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.

The Ministry of Defence is committed to providing a safe and healthy working environment for its staff which includes educating them on the benefits of not smoking, protecting them from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke and supporting those who want to give up smoking. Under the Smoke-Free Working Environment policy, Smoking and the use of all tobacco products (including combustible and chewing tobacco products) will not be permitted anywhere in the Defence working environment however some exemptions are in place, please refer to local guidance. The policy is Whole Force and includes all Defence personnel, contractors, visitors and other non-MOD personnel. All applicants seeking, considering, or accepting employment with the Ministry of Defence should be aware of this policy and that it is already in place at a number of Defence Establishments.

MOD Recruitment Satisfaction Survey – We may contact you regarding your experience to help us improve our customer satisfaction. The survey is voluntary and anonymous. You may however be given the opportunity to provide additional information to help us improve our service which includes the collection of some personal data as defined by the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The MOD Privacy Policy Notice sets out how we will use your personal data and your rights.

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 and Experience.

Candidates will be required to provide CV details to include job history; qualification details and previous skills and experience.

Candidates will be required to provide a statement of suitability in no more than 250 words.

At sift, you will be assessed against your CV, Statement of suitability and the following Behaviours:

• Delivering at Pace
• Developing Self and Others
• Communicating and Influencing

At interview, you will be assessed against your Presentation and the following Behaviours:

• Delivering at Pace
• Developing Self and Others
• Communicating and Influencing

Presentation

• A technical Presentation of circa 20 minutes on Engineering Principles from a list of topics

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. If you need to advise us that you need additional help or reasonable adjustments for the recruitment process, please contact: DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3@mod.gov.uk .

As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came in to effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical. This role does not meet that category and we will not sponsor a visa. It is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points based system.

Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.

The Ministry of Defence requires all candidates who are successful at interview to declare any outside interests. These declarations will be discussed with successful candidates following the interview process and before a formal offer of employment is made, as some outside interests may not be compatible with MOD civilian roles. This will not, in the majority of cases, prevent employment in MOD, but it is a measure that must be taken to ensure that appropriate mitigations can be put in place to manage any potential, perceived or actual conflicts of interest from the first day of employment.

The Ministry of Defence adopts a zero-tolerance approach to unacceptable behaviours, which includes bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, and victimisation. You will not be eligible and will not be considered for this post if you have been dismissed from a role for such unacceptable behaviours within the last five years. This will also apply if you resign or otherwise leave a role but, because of an adverse decision, would have been dismissed for gross misconduct had you continued in that employment. Pre-employment checks will be carried out.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).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.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 : Mike Weeks
• Email : mike.week802@mod.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3@mod.gov.uk

Further information

Please ensure you read the attached candidate information document prior to completing your application. If you are dissatisfied with the service you have received from DBS, or believe that DBS has failed to follow the recruitment process in line with the Civil Service Commission principles of selection for appointment on merit on the basis of Fair and Open competition, you can raise a formal complaint by writing to DBS at the following address: Defence Business Services, Scanning Hub, Room 6124, Tomlinson House, Norcross Lane, Blackpool, FY5 3WP. If after raising your complaint with DBS you remain dissatisfied you can complain directly to the Civil Service Commission at the following address: Civil Service commission, Room G/8, 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ Or by email: info@csc.gov.uk.

Attachments

CS_Behaviours_2018 (success profiles) Opens in new window (pdf, 998kB)Specialist_Instructional_Officer Opens in new window (pdf, 217kB)Candidate Information Pack Opens in new window (docx, 31kB)MOD Candidate Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 1562kB)