Fire and Environmental Protection Officer

Job summary

The Fire and Environmental Protection Officer role is responsible for all risk to life and limb fire protection across the whole Defence Academy UK site. This entails compliance, auditing, inspections, fire improvement and enforcement measures. The post also holds the Delegated Letter of Authority as the Responsible Officer for Fire Safety across the site responsible for minimising all risk to life associated with fire prevention, detection, and improvement. The role includes assuring the Fire Safety Management Plan is relevant and implemented, being responsible for ensuring that the Defence Academy is compliant with Joint Service Publications (JSP375), Fire Regulatory Reform Order 05, Defence Infrastructure Organisation's Fire Safety and all HMG polices and legal requirements. In addition, they are responsible for environmental protection plans, policies and compliance across the Defence Academy site.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

Job description

Undertake line management, mentoring and tasks as required by the role. This role may have one direct report.

Undertake learning, self development and upskilling as required.

Working as part of the Safety Team to develop and manage the Functional Safety Management Plan (FSMP), the Environmental Management System (in accordance with Joint Service Publications) and supporting documentation, and Shrivenham Safety Action Plan, and any other relevant Station Management Plans, updating and revising as necessary in line with MOD and national policy.

Provision of specialist advice: fire safety advice and guidance including preparation and review of unit Fire Safety Orders and environmental protection advice in relation to prevention and dealing with a pollution incident.

Implement and manage a suitable and sufficient 1st party audit and assurance process of the establishment Fire Safety Management System (FSMS) as the Duty Holder (Letter of Delegation as Responsible Officer). Ensure the Accountable Person (AP – Head of Establishment) is informed of all the significant findings not addressed within the required timeframes and, where required, additional competent fire safety advice and guidance is obtained/ provided to ensure risks are mitigated to as Low as is Reasonably Practicable (ALARP).

Ensure, where appropriate, all buildings have a fire strategy and have had a Fire risk assessment (FRA) completed by competent personnel. Ensure buildings have suitable fire orders and evacuation plans, including where appropriate, personal escape plans for disabled personnel.

Maintain close liaison with relevant stakeholders. The role is the Point of Contact with strategic partners and Lodger Units on site.

Ensure appropriate inspection, test and maintenance programmes for premises and fire safety equipment are in place such as: fire alarms, emergency lighting, firefighting equipment, hydrants, and escape routes. Ensure appropriate mechanisms are in place to report and rectify failure with fire safety equipment in premises.

Ensure fires are reported through the appropriate reporting process and to appropriate authorities and ensure Fire Evacuation exercises are planned, undertaken and reordered, with lessons identified and implemented in a timely manner. Investigation any incidents to ensure lessons are identified and processes improved where necessary.

Develop and maintain communications with key stakeholders to increase awareness of fire safety and environmental protection, disseminate and action key legislation and policy changes, and provide guidance, support and training. This will include nurturing and managing the Fire Custodian network.

Facilitate, and where appropriate chair the Fire and Environmental Protection Working Groups, reporting into the Safety Steering Group. Report on fire and environmental protection awareness, issues and statistics.

Develop and conduct training and presentations for fire and environmental protection matters and accident prevention and near-miss reporting.

Carry out any other duties as directed by line management appropriate to grade and discipline.

Assist the SHEF team as a whole and lean in to Health and Safety requirements if required should there be leave or absences.

Person specification

Knowledge of MS office Suite

Identify and undertake tasks in priority order

Self starter who can work without constant supervision

Qualifications

NEBOSH or IOSH L3 (General)
NEBOSH/IOSH L3 Fire Safety

The successful applicant will be required to undertake the Civil Servant Mandatory training courses, in additional to mandatory training to include Business Continuity Planning and Site Resilience (MOD), Fire Safety Managers Course (MOD) and General Duty Holder Course.

Behaviours

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

• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service
• Working Together
• Changing and Improving

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £37,720, Ministry of Defence contributes £10,927 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Some of the many benefits you will receive:
• Highly competitive pension scheme.
• Flexi-time scheme upon completion of 6 months service
• Move to an alternative Working Patterns after the Probation period.
• 25 days paid annual leave rising (1 day per year) to 30 days upon completion of 5 years’ service. If by chance you have previously completed service in the Public Sector in the past 5 years, you may be eligible to request 30 days leave immediately. (Evidence will be required).
• In addition to 8 Public Bank Holidays per year you will also receive a day's Privilege Leave for the HM The King’s Birthday.
• Professional and Personal Development of skills
• Opportunity to join more than one of our many networks (Race, LGBT+, Gender, Disability and Faith & Belief).
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption leave.
• Shrivenham has good travel links with free car parking. Other facilities are a Sports & Social facilities, a Gym complex, a Stables, a Golf Course, as well as onsite Mess & Retail shops.

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.

This recruitment process will consist of two parts:

A written application containing your experience (a CV and a Personal Statement 250 Words)

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

• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service

If your written application is successful, you will be invited to a face-to-face interview where you will be tested against five Behaviours (the three from your Application, plus two more).

Applications will be sifted on all Success Profile elements, but in the event of a high number of applications, the sift will be conducted on your CV and Personal Statement only.

At interview, you will be assessed against the following:

• Working Together
• Changing and Improving
• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service

Behaviours – these will be assessed individually with a 250-word statement per behaviour. The application form will indicate which behaviour is being assessed each time you provide a statement, and we are ideally looking for an example using the STAR method below.

It is recommended that you focus on one example for each behaviour to allow you to provide enough detail in your answer. We would also advise you to use examples that best meet the criteria, even if they are a few years old. Please use the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) approach when providing your Behaviour examples:

Situation – Briefly describe the background of the situation in which you found yourself.
Task – What you were required to do/chose to do.
Action – What actions you undertook to achieve the tasks. Make sure to use “I”, not “we” to explain how your actions led to results.
Result – Use facts and evidence to demonstrate the results that your actions produced. Explain whether it was a successful outcome, and if not, what you learned from the experience.

Please make sure you have consulted the HM Government ‘Success Profiles - Civil Service Behaviours’ document (available on Gov.uk) to ensure you have understood the relevant Behaviours at Level 3 - for HEO/SEO grades.

Experience – this will be assessed individually through your CV and a 500-word personal statement. You will give the answer in the personal statement section under “statement of suitability”.

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.

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 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 : Wing Commander Katherine Ingram
• Email : Katherine.Ingram398@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

20230519-CSOC Candidate Information Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 534kB)Candidate Information Pack Opens in new window (docx, 32kB)MOD Candidate Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 1562kB)