Specialist Diving Inspector - Offshore (Band 3/SEO)

Job summary

HSE’s Energy Division (ED) provides effective regulation of the UK's offshore oil and gas, pipelines, mines, diving and renewable power generation. Respected internationally, we have a long-standing reputation for regulatory expertise that we use to deliver effective and proportionate regulation of these sectors.

UK diving projects range from entry-level recreational instruction dives to the construction and maintenance of multi-billion-pound offshore wind-farms and major hazard industries. The successful regulation of such a broad portfolio of sectors creates a unique set of challenges and rewards for a Specialist Diving Inspector. You will have the opportunity to influence health and safety standards and HSE regulation of this extensive and varied industry.

The post will suit an experienced professional saturation diver looking for opportunities to influence the health and safety of divers and the diving industry. You will work within one of two Diving Inspection Teams involved in regulatory activities across the range of diving industry sectors, seeking to ensure compliance with the relevant health and safety legislation, and taking appropriate enforcement action where required.

This is an exciting and challenging career which will take you to varied locations, dealing with a wide range of duty holders from individual sole traders to large multi-national corporations, adapting your approach as appropriate.

Job description

We are looking for a high calibre specialist who can, under challenge, think strategically, and identify underlying core issues. You will officially represent HSE, interacting appropriately and professionally with colleagues, site technical staff, and at the highest levels within an organisation. You will be decisive and able to influence those organisations to bring about improvements.

Your primary focus will be to apply your knowledge and experience of the UK major hazard sectors to ensure robust, proportionate and effective regulation of diving operations within that sector. You will be responsible for influencing dutyholders and stakeholders, applying your professional judgement based on extensive time served working in the UK oil & gas or other major hazard sectors, to assess regulatory compliance against current legislative requirements and industry standards. You will be supported by an exceptional team of colleagues and developed to the highest standard to confidently regulate the industry, influencing dutyholders and taking targeted and proportionate enforcement action when necessary.

To carry out inspections of offshore diving projects, assessing the compliance of all relevant dutyholders:

• Ensuring compliance with statutory legislation within the diving industry.
• Applying your specialist knowledge to ensure safe working practices.
• Investigating accidents, complaints and dangerous occurrences.
• Taking enforcement action, including issuing statutory notices in accordance with HSE enforcement policy and EMM.
• Collecting evidence and prepare reports for legal proceedings or accident investigation.
• Advising clients, duty holders, employees and members of the public on legal requirements both orally and in writing.
• Engaging with other stakeholders including industry bodies and regulators to ensure a consistent and efficient regulatory approach is taken to support industry.
• Contributing to the development of the operational policy and strategy for the regulation of the industry.

This is a full time role, and you will be required to travel to sites around the UK with regular periods away from home. Due to the nature of the diving industry, some weekend work and travel may be required. You will be provided with appropriate PPE and training to enable you to undertake the role in a manner to protect your personal health and safety. The job is also a physical role, and you will undertake a wide range of site visits, often involving access via boats, or at remote locations.

You will be responsible for ensuring regulatory compliance across all areas of professional diving within GB and UK territorial waters. You will conduct regulatory inspections, investigate serious incidents and concerns and influence stakeholders at all levels of the UK diving industry. The successful regulation of such a broad portfolio of sectors creates a unique set of challenges and rewards for a Specialist Diving Inspector.

Training

You will be supported by your manager and colleagues to understand your role in HSE, develop your skills and support you in your continuing professional development. For the legal requirements of the role, you will be required to study for and successfully complete a formal assessment. We also have a strong focus on ongoing technical CPD and training in our core subject areas.

Person specification

Essential Skills and criteria

• Experience working as a commercial saturation diver specifically within the UK offshore oil & gas industry.
• Experience working as a diving supervisor in the UK.
• Knowledge of the UK health and safety regime for diving at work and, all commonly used diving equipment, techniques and systems, including an understanding of system design, assembly, maintenance, certification and audit practices.
• Knowledge of marine systems on diving support vessels, the working practices and associated hazards for diving and, diving industry group associations and their guidance.
• The ability to successfully lead meetings in a professional and appropriate manner, manage challenging situations with decorum to guarantee positive results under challenging circumstances.
• Effective communicator, able to influence change at all levels in an organisation and confidence to speak professionally to a large audience on diving, regulatory and technical topics.
• Be able to produce accurate and concise factual written documentation such as reports and papers in support of HSE processes, and present complex technical information in a clear and concise way for a non-technical audience.

Medical Requirements

• Successful candidates will be expected to pass an offshore medical assessment.
• Successful candidates will be required to pass the offshore survival training course.

You must be able to satisfy the OEUK approved offshore medical & OPITO approved survival training requirements (BOSIET/MIST).

Licences

Full driving license that permits driving within the UK. However, we are willing to consider any proposals put forward by applicants without a licence that would allow them to do the job by other means. In that case, please select yes and provide details elsewhere.

Qualifications

•Qualified HSE Closed Bell Diver or HSE Part II Diver (or equivalent HSE approved qualification)
•Education to ISCED level 4 qualification (or proven ability to work to that level, please answer yes if this applies to you.)

Please see links to the list of approved and equivalent qualifications in the application guidance section of the advert.

Behaviours

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing

Technical skills

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

• Technical knowledge and understanding of managing diving projects in accordance with legislative requirements that meets industry standards.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £73,335, Health and Safety Executive contributes £21,245 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

We invest in our people with;

• Competitive rates of pay
• Access to the highly competitive Civil Service Pension Scheme to which HSE contribute 28.97%, far more than in the private sector
• Family friendly policies and working hours to help balance your home life and career
• Carer friendly policies to help create a supportive working culture
• 25 days annual holiday increasing to 30 days after 5 years' service, plus bank holidays and 1-day Civil Service privilege leave
• Parental leave benefits
• As a member of HSE you will gain access to a wide range of fantastic benefits that you can take advantage of such as the Cycle to Work Scheme, E-Gift Cards and Vouchers via our partner EdenRed.

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.

Application Information

As part of your application, you will be asked to complete:

• A CV that displays your career history, skills and experience working as a saturation diver and, as a diving supervisor, and, your qualifications.
• A Personal Statement, of no more than 1000 words, that demonstrates how you meet the essential skills and criteria of the role.

Application Guidance

Please access the following link for guidance on how to apply and how to complete a Personal StatementHow to apply.

For a list of approved qualifications please see here Approved qualifications

For a list of equivalent qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland please see here What qualification levels mean, for Scotland What qualification levels mean or, Qualifications can Cross Boundaries

Sift Information

The sift will take place during week commencing 19th January 2026 when you will be assessed on your CV against your experience working as a saturation diver and, as a diving supervisor, and your qualifications. Your Personal Statement will be assessed against the essential skills and criteria.

Interview Information

Interviews will take place in person, in our Bristol office, 100 Temple Street, Bristol, BS1 6HT, during week commencing 2nd February 2026 when you will be assessed against the advertised behaviours, technical skill and your experience.

As part of your interview, you will be required to deliver a 10 minute presentation. Further details of this will be sent to candidates invited to interview.

Sponsorship

This role is not open to application from those who will require sponsorship under the points-based system. Should you apply for this role and require sponsorship your application will be rejected, and any provisional offers of employment will be withdrawn.

Further Information

Please note that a Reserve List will be held for the period of up to 12 months. There is no guarantee you will be offered a role from our reserve lists, so if you see a vacancy on Civil Service Jobs that you are interested in, we recommend you apply.

HSE reserve the right to conduct additional checks, including Google and social media checks, when recruiting candidates into a role within HSE. These checks will be carried out in line with the Civil Service Commission Principles and, if used all candidates will be subject to these additional checks.

From 23rd June 2025, if you are successful at interview, as part of your pre-employment checks, HSE’s Recruitment Team are required to check your details against the Internal Fraud Hub (IFH), using your personal details – name, NINO, and date of birth. If you are included on the database, you will be refused employment. If you believe that there has been an error in the inclusion of your data and wish to make an appeal, please contact the CO email box internal.fraud@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.

Details of the types of internal fraud/dishonesty covered by this process are defined by the Cabinet Office and can be found here Internal Fraud Register privacy notice - GOV.UK.

It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure they are aware of the terms and conditions they will adopt should they be successful in their application. For a summary of HSE terms and conditions as part of Civil Service Reform, please see the attached HSE Terms and Conditions document.

Progression through pay ranges is subject to annual pay awards as permitted within annual Civil Service pay remit guidance and negotiations with Trade Unions.

HSE is proud to be a part of the Disability Confidence Scheme (DCS). As a Disability Confident employer, we positively welcome applications from disabled people. We are committed to making workplace adjustments to ensure anyone can participate in the recruitment and selection process.

If, during the application or interview process, you require any assistance due to a disability or a medical condition, please contact us at the email address below to discuss how we can support you. For example, if you have a disability, and you need an application form in an alternative format or you would like to know more about our recruitment process, please contact: HR.Resourcing-Team@hse.gov.uk.

If successful in securing your role, HSE can provide suitable workplace adjustments to support you throughout your career with HSE.

Any move to HSE 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 here.

Please note, if you are a current civil servant and you are currently undergoing any of the following formal actions your application will not be progressed any further; Formal discipline action, any formal action regarding attendance, poor performance or any restriction of duties as a result of disciplinary action.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Medical

Successful candidates will be expected to have a medical.

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 : Mark Renouf
• Email : mark.renouf@hse.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : hr.resourcing-team@hse.gov.uk

Further information

If you believe that Civil Service Commission principles of selection for appointment on merit on the basis of Fair and Open competition have not been met, you can raise a complaint by emailing: HR.Resourcing-Team@hse.gov.uk or by writing to HSE at the following address: HR Resourcing Team, 2.3 Redgrave Court, Merton Road, Bootle, Merseyside, L20 7HS. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact Civil Service commissioners:
https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/code/civilservicecode…

Attachments

HSE Terms and Conditions - CSJ Advert Annex Opens in new window (pdf, 116kB)