Principal Inspector Shipping

Job summary

The Defence Safety Authority (DSA) is responsible for the regulation of Defence Health, Safety and Environmental Protection (HS&EP), operating under a Charter from the Secretary of State for Defence (SofS). The DSA provides independent assurance to the SofS that the law is followed and the policy on HS&EP in Defence is being promoted and implemented. This is achieved through proportional and appropriate evidence-based assurance of the defence activity.

The Defence Maritime Regulator (DMR) vision is to provide high-quality safety and environmental protection across the Defence Maritime Domain through assurance, regulation, and enforcement to support the generation of operational capability. The DMR Mission is to protect people and the environment from harm arising from Defence Maritime Activity. This allows DMR to provide the SofS for Defence the required assurance that appropriate standards of maritime HS&EP are maintained and delivered across Defence Maritime Activities.

DMR consists of four teams:

Regulation and Compliance (R&C) – responsible for developing and maintaining the HS&EP regulations and associated documents, monitoring compliance across the Maritime Domain, managing the Defence Legislation Support Tool, the Defence Shipping Register and the Maritime Activities Register.

Executive and Enabling (E&E) – responsible for management and analysis of regulatory information, tools and business services and planning.

Shipping and Diving Inspectorate – responsible for the third-party assurance of MOD Accountable Persons and Organisations that operate and/or support MOD shipping, as well as assurance and inspection of DMR’s 'Duly Authorised Organisations' who perform maritime assurance functions on behalf of DMR. .

Maritime Assurance Inspectorate – responsible for the third-party assurance of MOD Accountable Persons and Organisations that deliver and/or support wider maritime activity than the operation of Surface Ships and Submarines. The team also provides third party assurance, advice, and stakeholder interaction in areas deemed cross boundary or experimental, including Small Craft, Army Maritime, UK StratCom, Autonomy, and Ports and Harbours, as well as assurance and inspection of DMR’s 'Duly Authorised Organisation' who performs maritime assurance functions on behalf of DMR.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

This is a Marine Services Officer Grade 1 (MSO1) retained grade post based in Bristol or Portsmouth within the Shipping and Diving Inspectorate of DMR within the DSA. Attendance at either office would be expected for 60% of the time in accordance with the hybrid working model.

Job description

This is an exciting, unique opportunity for a suitably qualified and experienced person to join a dynamic team. The role will be responsible for leading assurance activity across the entire shipping enterprise, from acquisitions to in-service operations to ship disposal.

The successful candidate will deliver advice, guidance, and assurance information to all levels of the Defence maritime domain, including to both civilian and military Senior Management.

The post holder will need to be a proven self-starter capable of acting independently, able to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing, and also capable of interacting at all levels in both a commercial and military context to build relations with key stakeholders. There will be huge opportunities for the successful candidate to grow their experience in safety and environmental management and assurance within the Defence maritime domain.

Occasional travel, including overnight stays, in the UK and abroad will be required.

You will work effectively in a team and take ownership of your own tasks, driving them to completion whilst maintaining relationships across DMR, DSA and the Regulated Community. The successful candidate is expected to obtain an SC Security clearance; however, should meetings or engagements require additional clearance as this role develops then the candidate should be aware of a potential need to achieve Developed Vetting.

This post will involve line management responsibilities.

Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and home-based working. This is a non-contractual arrangement where all office-based employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in office, subject to capacity and any required workplace adjustments. Requirements to attend other locations for official business, or work in another MOD office, will also count towards this level of attendance. Applicants can request further information regarding how this 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.

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

As the Principal Inspector Shipping, you will act as lead auditor and deliver against the DMR audit programme;

• Generating relationships, routes to gathering assurance, and providing expert insight into the Shipping domain.
• Generating regulatory intelligence, and input into DMR’s assurance processes as the leading expert on Shipping safety and environmental protection within DMR.
• Support DMR in assuring the Defence Maritime Regulator that Accountable Persons have in place safety systems as part of a safety and environmental management system that deliver the desired Regulatory outcomes (in accordance with DSA02-DMR Defence Maritime Regulations).

Essential Skills:

• Knowledge of the Defence maritime domain, from an engineering, operations, safety, and/or environmental protection perspective;
• Experience of working with stakeholders external to your business area/organisation.

Desirable Skills:

• Experience of Ships engineering/operations, and/or ship safety/environmental protection;
• Experience of audit and/or assurance processes;
• Knowledge of Maritime safety and/or environmental protection legislation, policy, and regulation.

Mandatory Qualifications:

On entry, maritime professional staff joining as an MSO1 Retained Grade must have at least one of the following qualifications:

• Maritime Coastguard Agency Recognised STCW II/2 Master unlimited certificate of Competency; or
• MCA Recognised STCW III/2 Chief Engineer unlimited Certificate of Competency; or
• RN Ship Command Qualifications or Engineering Equivalent; or
• Degree or equivalent in: Naval Architecture, Marine Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Marine Technology, or Port Operations.

Behaviours

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

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Seeing the Big Picture

Technical skills

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

• HS&EP Functional Competency – Stakeholder Engagement – Intermediate Level
• HS&EP Functional Competency – Hazard and Risk – Intermediate Level

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £63,600, Ministry of Defence contributes £18,424 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

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/

• 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%

The post does not offer relocation expenses.

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.

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 Technical skills.

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

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

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Seeing the Big Picture

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

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Seeing the Big Picture

Technical skills

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

1. HS&EP Functional Competency – Stakeholder Engagement – Intermediate Level
2. HS&EP Functional Competency – Hazard and Risk – Intermediate Level

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-Resourcingteam1@mod.gov.uk .

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 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.

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 : Robin Walker
• Email : robin.walker161@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, 30kB)Defence Civil Service Offer (4) Opens in new window (pdf, 1562kB)Stakeholder Engagement Opens in new window (pdf, 200kB)Hazards and Risks Opens in new window (pdf, 283kB)