Deputy Chief Environmental Safety Officer

Job summary

Cyber & Specialist Operations Command (CSOC) is one of the four Military Commands operating in the UK and overseas, including locations in Europe, Operational Areas, Far East, Middle East, Cyprus, Gibraltar and South Atlantic. The purpose of the Safety Centre is to enable CSOC to deliver its outputs whilst protecting Health, Safety and the Environment across a complex Defence organisation.

The CSOC Safety Centre is primarily based at MOD Abbey Wood North in Bristol. The duty station for this post will be MOD Abbey Wood North. Flexible working arrangements have been established, which support alternative working arrangements; however, the post is integral to the Safety Centre, and the successful candidate will be required to attend the Bristol office on a regular basis.

This post is advertised at 37 hours per week and is intended to be full-time and therefore part-time or job share can only be considered if full-time cover can be achieved.

Job description

A vacancy has arisen within the CSOC Safety Centre team for the Deputy Chief Environmental and Safety Officer (Dep CESO) role. We are looking for a talented, enthusiastic, experienced individual to join the team and provide expert safety and environmental management advice and guidance at all levels within the organisation. The role provides an opportunity to influence all our areas of operation whilst utilising their experience and knowledge to provide advice and guidance, maintain and improve current Safety, Health and Environmental Management practices and better protect our personnel and the environment.

The post holders will be expected to be prepared to travel on a regular basis both within the UK and overseas to support work strands, gain experience of the diverse work environments beyond a standard office-based safety role, within the team’s area of responsibility and advise colleagues on relevant HS&EP matters. Travel may require being away from home – in UK or overseas for periods of up to 3 weeks.

Person specification

The Deputy CESO role is a leadership and advisory post supporting delivery, assurance and continuous improvement of HS&EP across CSOC. The post holder will be required to:

• Provide professional Occupational Health, Safety and Environmental Protection guidance to CSOC sub-organisations, Heads of Establishment and other stakeholders, supporting delivery of CSOC Command Plan objectives and ExCo priorities.
• Lead the day-to-day coordination of CESO team tasks, including setting priorities, allocating work, resolving delivery conflicts, tracking progress through Agile ways of working, and escalating risks or delays where required.
• Lead and support audits of HS&EP management systems, including planning audit activity, acting as Audit Team Leader when required, coordinating audit teams, engaging with auditees, and ensuring findings are clear and evidence based. This will involve UK and overseas travel.
• Represent the Safety Centre at MOD-wide HS&EP meetings, working groups and committees, including influencing discussion, sharing CSOC perspectives, briefing outcomes to the team, and turning relevant actions into practical follow-up activity.
• Provide peer support to Safety Centre team members and promote a positive HS&EP culture by coaching colleagues, sharing good practice, supporting problem solving, and engaging with the wider CSOC HS&EP community.
• Deputise for CESO during periods of absence or when requested, including providing leadership direction, maintaining oversight of key issues, representing CESO at relevant meetings, and ensuring urgent decisions or actions are progressed.
• Line manage five HEO staff and act as countersigning officer for one EO, including setting objectives, supporting performance and development, providing regular feedback, and helping build resilience across the team.

Essential Qualifications:
Level 3 certificate in Occupational Health and Safety

Desirable Qualifications:
Level 6 Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety
Level 3 Certificate in Environmental Management
Lead Auditor Qualification (to be achieved within 6 months of taking up the post)

Qualifications

Level 3 certificate in Occupational Health and Safety

Behaviours

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace

Technical skills

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

• · Hazards and Risks - The ability to identify hazards, undertake risk assessments and prioritise the need for action.
• · Organisation and Culture - The ability to plan, lead and effect positive safety and environment cultural change: securing commitment and buy-in, thereby promoting a positive long-term vision.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £46,040, Ministry of Defence contributes £13,337 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

• 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%
• Opportunity for overseas travel
• 25 days paid annual leave rising (1 day per year) to 30 days upon completion of 5 years' service
• On-site gymnasium (for a small monthly fee for membership of Civil Service Sports Club)
• On-site catering
• Cycle Loan (Advance on Salary)
• Defence Discount Service
• Defence Sports & Recreational Association (DSRA)
• On-site Nursery (MOD Abbey Wood South, Bristol)

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, Experience and Technical skills.

This vacancy is advertised using Success Profiles: Behaviours, Experience and Technical Skills.

This vacancy is advertised using Success Profiles and the Health, Safety and Environmental Protection Competence Framework. Your application will need to demonstrate the required Behaviours, Technical Skills and Experience required for the role. Applicants should submit their application via the Civil Service Jobs portal, and this will be sifted within 10 working days of the closure date.

Suitability for interview will be assessed at the application stage against a CV that should provide information about your Employment History, Previous Skills, Experience and Qualifications. CVs cannot be uploaded to the advert as a file and must be submitted using the CV template provided on the CS Jobs application form. Please do not include personal information that identifies you.

An sift will be conducted against the provided CV and its ability to demonstrate suitable knowledge and experience against the requirements of the job description. Successful applicants will be called forward for interviews held via Microsoft Teams.

Candidates who are successful at the sift stage and who progress to interview stage will be given further information of interviews dates and times. During the interview, candidates will ideally provide Success Profile Behaviour examples and will be assessed against the Technical Skills of the HS&EP Competencies.

Applicants should submit their application via the Civil Service Jobs portal, which will be sifted within 10 working days of the closing date.

It is expected that interviews will take place approximately w/c 14 September 26.

At the interview stage, applicants will be required to demonstrate ability and relevant experience against the following Success Profile Behaviours:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace

At interview the applicants will be required to demonstrate their technical knowledge against these Functional HS&EP Competencies:

• Hazards and Risks - The ability to identify hazards, undertake risk assessments and prioritise the need for action.
• Organisation and Culture - The ability to plan, lead and effect positive safety and environment cultural change: securing commitment and buy-in, thereby promoting a positive long-term vision.

It is strongly suggested that you familiarise yourself with the Civil Service Success Profiles Behaviours expected at Level 3 (SEO) and the functional HS&EP Competencies Level 3 (Intermediate).

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.

There may be occasions where it is not practicable or appropriate to interview all DCS candidates that meet the minimum criteria for the job. For example, in certain recruitment situations such as a high volume of applications, seasonal demand, or peak periods, the employer may wish to limit the overall number of interviews offered to both DCS and non-DCS applicants.

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. 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.

Cyber & Specialist Operations Command (CSOC) generates and operates specialist capabilities, ready to fight across all domains to make the UK secure at home and strong abroad.

Always on, we are across every UK operation, delivering the capabilities you don’t usually see - or those you can’t.

From cyber warriors and medics to intelligence analysts, special forces, educators, and Defence attachés, our collective expertise delivers the warfighting edge Defence needs to deter threats and secure the nation today and prepare for tomorrow.

CSOC unites Defence’s cyber and specialist capabilities under a single, military command alongside the Royal Navy, British Army, and the Royal Air Force - acting as the UK’s fourth Military Command. For more information, please see here.’

Cyber and Specialist Operations Command (CSOC) is going through a significant transformation programme which aims to design the way in which the new Military Command conducts its business and delivers for Defence and the nation. As a consequence of this, posts within CSOC are/or may become subject to review and potential changes as we continuously improve across the period of the transformation programme. These changes may be minor or could be more substantive and will generate new opportunities. Throughout, the Command’s transformation programme is committed to following the MOD’s framework on managing and supporting people through the change process and places an emphasis on early and open consultation and engagement with the Command’s personnel and Trade Unions.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) 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 : Jim George (CESO CSOC)
• Email : Jim.George543@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

CSOC Candidate Pack 2025 Opens in new window (pdf, 1777kB)Defence Civil Service Offer Opens in new window (pdf, 1562kB)Terms and Conditions of Service 1 Opens in new window (docx, 24kB)20240216---S-E-Functional-Competency-Framework-V2--1- Opens in new window (pdf, 6650kB)