Army - Marine Services Officer (Operational Assurance)

Job summary

The Ministry of Defence employs over 50,000 Civil Servants. Within that, with responsibility for an annual budget of over £10bn, the Army is a major part of the Ministry of Defence and one of its largest operating centres who employ around 12,000 Civil Servants located at over 300 locations supporting the 110K regular and reserve soldiers across the Army. This Civil Service workforce is diverse, with many different functions and professions ranging from police officers, security guards, trainers, human resources, teachers, and psychologists to storekeepers, financiers, project and programme managers, and policy secretariat staff.

The Army operates a large fleet of small boats, work boats, landing craft, bridging units, and powered rafts collectively known as the ‘Army Maritime Capability’. Leading all aspects of the capability is the Chief Maritime Officer, with a team of experienced maritime operators who assist in the management of that capability, but also conduct second party assurance activity at our units around the world. This is to ensure that our people are not only operating safely but are operating safe equipment.
A great opportunity has arisen for an experienced maritime professional to join the growing Army Maritime Inspection and Advisory Team (AMIAT) and contribute their knowledge and experience to a vital safety organisation. The team also provides a value assessment about the operational effectiveness of the maritime units that they assure.

Our team has an exciting and varied programme of activities and influence. Over the course of an assurance year there will be travel around the UK to conduct assurance visits of both boats and water safety equipment. Several times a year there will be overseas travel requirements to places as diverse as Cyprus, Germany, and Brunei, or other areas where the Army may be operating or exercising to conduct safety and effectiveness assessments.

Our team members also have a meaningful role in tracking maritime standard methodology in the commercial world, using that knowledge to develop and modernise best practice in our policy and governance, training, and relevant accreditation for our people.

We also provide assurance, advice, and partner interaction in areas deemed cross boundary between the Services, experimental, adventurous training, autonomy, diving, and ports, harbours, and marine facilities.
Finally, if that wasn’t already enough to attract you to the team, there is a relevant role to play in the defining, design, and development of our future boat procurement programme.

Job description

We are recruiting for a Civil Service Marine Services Officer Class 2 (MSO 2). Marine Services Officers are predominately Maritime professionals drawn from a mixed range of commercial shipping organisations or the Armed Forces. Their function is to provide support to MOD and other government departments that require marine expertise. MSOs are a small, specialist uniformed branch of the Civil Service.

The position will be based at Army Headquarters, Andover, with a satellite office at Marchwood, Southampton and of course UK and overseas travel as necessary to conduct assurance activity. This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

As a valued member of our small team your main duties and responsibilities will include:

• As a Lead Auditor, you will deliver Second Party Assurance in the UK & overseas for Army vessel and craft operating procedures, and MOD issued Water Safety Equipment against relevant legislation and regulation to ensure the organisation is safe to operate and is operating safely.
• With the AMIAT team you will conduct annual Compliance & Operational Effectiveness Inspections on Army vessels and craft to provide assurance to the authority that they are ‘operated safely’ and operationally effective.
• You will use your maritime knowledge and experience to assist with the authoring and maintenance of Army Maritime policy & other related publications, forms, and documents, to ensure compliance with legislation & regulation.
• You will actively monitor all maritime accidents and near misses within the Army Maritime domain, analysing to identify trends and opportunities for Organisational Learning. Where appropriate you may be called on to assist with & or support Maritime accident or incident investigations.
• You will be actively monitoring industry trends, developments and innovations with commercial craft operating procedures particularly in the workboat domain, whilst following developments in military sealift, ship-to-shore and wide wet gap crossing capabilities including upcoming Uncrewed Surface Vessel technologies.
• Army Maritime works closely with other MOD small craft operators, and you will be developing close working networks and relationships to help improve commonality of training and practices.

Above all, this is a unique opportunity to bring your skills and experience to bear in helping to make our soldiers safer on the water, our operating practices more effective, influence the development of new craft in a constantly evolving technological arena and against a backdrop of a complex operating environment.

You can find out a bit more about some of the units this role will be working with here: 17 Port and Maritime Regiment , The British Army (mod.uk) 1 Royal School of Military Engineering Regiment , The British Army (mod.uk)

If you need to contact Defence Business Services (DBS) regarding this vacancy, please indicate that your vacancy is being handled by Resourcing Team 1. If you experience any technical difficulties with the CS Jobs system, please contact the Support Team at candidate@support.oleeo.com

Person specification

Essential skills required:

• Your qualifications and experience will be rooted in either the STCW framework, recognised Workboat certification through the MCA, or the military engineering colleges, with commercial endorsement where appropriate. We will also consider those from a career in the military, either RN/RM, RFA or Army with equivalent qualifications, and potentially commercial experience in the marine engineering field. Evidence of qualifications will be required at interview.
• You will need to meet MCA ENG 1 medical fitness standards.

Desirable skills/Qualifications:

• Knowledge of the International Safety Management (ISM) Code is highly desirable, together with experience and qualification as a Lead ISO 9001 / Maritime Auditor.
• ISO 9001/ISM Code, Lead Auditor Training.
• Fundamentals of Accident Investigation.
• Certificate in Maritime Safety Management.
• IMO/MCA MARPOL Incident Manager Level 4/5.
• Project management qualified.

Qualifications

MCA recognised STCW II/1 Certificate of Competency; or Royal Marines Landing Craft Officer Qualified and extensive post qualification experience; or Royal Marine Landing Craft Class 1 and extensive post qualification experience; or Army Royal Logistics Corps Mariner Class 1 and extensive post qualification experience.

Behaviours

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

• Changing and Improving
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together
• Leadership

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £50,170, Ministry of Defence contributes £14,534 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

The Army prides itself on being a supportive employer and where possible encourages flexible working, helping you to maintain a great work/life balance.

Other benefits for Army civil servants include:

- 25 days paid annual leave rising (1 day per year) to 30 days upon completion of 5 years’ service
- Highly competitive pension scheme
- Personal and professional development of skills
- Alternative working patterns for many roles
- Access to the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), a free service that assists you with achieving a productive, healthy environment that is conducive to a healthy lifestyle.
- Enhanced parental and adoption leave
- 6 days special leave per year which can be used for volunteering activities
- Learning and Development

We believe that everyone has the potential to make a difference and you will be supported to help you learn and advance in your career. This includes working towards membership of a professional body and/or undertaking a modern apprenticeship as part of your role.

A modern apprenticeship is a combined package of work and training. Through the schemes available you will gain a professional qualification, practical experience, and the broader skills required to develop in your current role and pave the way for your future career.

Discover My Benefits:

Please follow the link to visit the Discover My Benefits site which showcases the benefits and discounts offered when working as a civilian for the MOD:

https://discovermybenefits.mod.gov.uk/civilian/

This post does not offer any assistance with Relocation Allowances.

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.

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.

At application stage you will be assessed against the following:

• Personal Statement - 500 words explaining why you are suitable for this position
• CV

At interview stage you will be assessed against the following:

• Behaviours
  • Changing & Improving
  • Communicating & Influencing
  • Leadership
  • Working Together

Application sifting will be scheduled to take place within 7 days of the application closing date. Interview dates are to be confirmed and will be held via MS Teams. We endeavour to keep to these time frames, but these are subject to change around business needs.

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.

As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came into 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. The role currently being advertised has not been assessed as business critical and 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 mitigation’s can be put in place to manage any potential, perceived or actual conflicts of interest from the first day of employment.

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 Notice sets out how we will use your personal data and your rights.

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 : Bill Dawson
• Email : ArmyFutures-Maritime-Mailbox@mod.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : DBSCivPers-ResourcingTeam1@mod.gov.uk

Further information

Please see Further Information document attached.

Attachments

20241009 - Further Information - External Opens in new window (docx, 34kB)Defence Civil Service Offer Opens in new window (pdf, 1562kB)