
Maritime and Aviation Training and Development Manager
Job summary
Can you design, develop and deliver engaging learning solutions for adult learners? Can you manage multiple projects while staying ahead of emerging learning and development trends?
Have you successfully led or managed a learning and development function, with a proven track record of delivering high-quality training in a professional environment? Do you hold a coaching or learning and development qualification, or bring significant relevant experience?
Are you committed to continuous professional development, adaptable to change, and able to travel with a full UK driving licence? If so, we’d love to hear from you.
If so, we’d love to hear from you!
Join a dynamic and collaborative team dedicated to developing people, strengthening capability, and driving organisational success. We work closely with leaders and colleagues across the business to deliver innovative learning solutions that support individual growth and high performance. This is an exciting opportunity to make a real impact, influence how learning is delivered, and help shape a culture of continuous improvement, while working in a supportive environment that values creativity, development, and professional excellence.
Joining our department comes with many benefits, including:
- Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here
- 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave), plus 8 bank holidays a privilege day for the King’s birthday
- Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.
Read more in the Benefits section below!
Find out more about what it's like working at MCA:
Job description
The Technical Training and Development Team plays a vital role in ensuring Coastguard officers have the skills and knowledge required to deliver critical operational services. As Team Leader, you will oversee the design, development and delivery of high-quality maritime and aviation training solutions, ensuring they are engaging, effective and aligned to the Technical Competence Framework. This is an exciting opportunity to shape learning strategy, lead a specialist team and make a direct contribution to operational excellence across the Coastguard service.
Your responsibilities will include, but aren’t limited to:
- Leadership, management, and governance of the maritime and aviation technical training and development team.
- Operate as the training SME (subject matter expert), engaging with the business to ensure that technical training is represented at all appropriate meetings and shaping decisions such that technical training is embedded during key operational decisions which may impact technical training delivery.
- Identification and management of maritime and aviation technical training and development risks and issues.
- Management of the maritime and aviation training programmes, ensuring that the schemes of work and syllabi meet the business need to enable HM Coastguard staff excel.
- Ensuring that all training is developed using sound pedagogical/andragogical methods for delivery working with business SMEs to confirm accuracy.
- Ensuring that assessments are set at the appropriate level to provide robust assurance that trainees have the right knowledge, skills, and behaviours to undertake their operational roles.
- Acting as a training SME, working with other business departments and Head of Technical Training and Development in the maintenance and development of the HM Coastguard technical competence framework.
- Management of the HM Coastguard Maritime and Aviation Training budget, relevant contracts and all associated costs including procurement processes where required.
Great line management is important to us as an organisation, and we will equip and support line managers to develop the skills they need. We aim to empower line managers to create teams where people can flourish and deliver excellent outcomes for the public.
For further information on the role, please read the role profilePlease note that the role profile is for information purposes only - whilst all elements are relevant to the role, they may not all be assessed during the recruitment process. This job advert will detail exactly what will be assessed during the recruitment process.
Person specification
You will be required to provide evidence that you hold any essential qualifications/licenses at some point during the recruitment process. If you cannot provide evidence, your application will be withdrawn.
To be successful in this role you will need to have the following experience:
- Professional learning and development/coaching qualification or extensive experience in a learning and development role
- Excellent track record of designing, developing, and delivering training in a professional environment to adults
- Experience at managing a learning and development function
- Experience at project management
- Ability to keep up to date with emerging thinking and trends, maintaining their own professional qualifications and development relating to the core areas of work
- A driving license valid for driving in the UK.
Additional Information
Working hours, office attendance and travel requirements
Full time roles consist of 37 hours per week.
Whilst we welcome applications from those looking to work with us on a part time basis, there is a business requirement for the successful candidate to be able to work at least 30 hours per week.
Successful candidates will be expected to undertake a physical medical for this role. Please see the attached document for further information.
Occasional travel to other offices will be required, which may involve overnight stays.
This role is suitable for hybrid working, which is a non-contractual arrangement where a combination of workplace and home-based working can be accommodated subject to business requirements.
The expectation at present is a minimum of 60% of your working time a month will be spent at either your designated workplace (one of the locations cited in the advert) or, when required for business reasons, in another office/work location/visiting stakeholders. Your designated workplace will be your contractual place of work. There may be occasions where you are required to attend above the minimum expectation.
If you have a question about hybrid working, part time/job share hours, flexible working, travelling for work, or require a reasonable adjustment, please contact the Vacancy Holder during the recruitment process to avoid possible disappointment later in the process should your working arrangements not be compatible with the requirements of the role (see below for contact details).
Visa Sponsorship
Please note that we will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa where a role has been deemed to be business critical. This role does not meet that category, and we will not sponsor a visa. Therefore, this role is not open to applications from those who require sponsorship – candidates must ensure they have the appropriate right to work in the UK before applying. Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Managing a Quality Service
- Developing Self and Others
- Communicating and Influencing
- Seeing the Big Picture
Benefits
Being part of our brilliant Civil Service means you will have access to a wide range of fantastic benefits:
- Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here
- 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave).
- 8 Bank Holidays plus an additional Privilege Day to mark the King’s birthday.
- Access to the staff discount portal.
- Excellent career development opportunities and the potential to undertake professional qualifications relevant to your role paid for by the department, such as CIPD, Prince2, apprenticeships, etc.
- Joining a diverse and inclusive workforce with a range of staff communities to support all our colleagues.
- 24-hour Employee Assistance Programme providing free confidential help and advice for staff.
- Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.
Find out more about the benefits of working at DfT and its agencies (opens in a new window).
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, Strengths and Experience.How to apply:
Our selection process ensures a comprehensive assessment of each applicant's qualifications, skills, and potential fit within our organisation.
The selection process for this role will be:
Stage 1: Sift of CV and personal statement
Stage 2: Interview
You must be successful at each stage to progress to the next stage.
Stage 1: Sift
At sift, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements:
- Experience – you will be asked to provide a CV (unlimited wordcount) and personal statement (750-word count). Please provide evidence of your Experience of the following:
- Excellent track record of designing, developing, and delivering training in a professional environment to adults
- Experience at managing a learning and development function
- Experience at project management
The sift will take place week commencing 17th August 2026.
Stage 2: Interview
At interview stage, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements:
- Behaviours – Managing a Quality Service, Developing Self and Others, Communicating and Influencing and Seeing the Big Picture
- Experience
- Strengths
You will also be required to create and deliver a presentation to assess the Behaviours - Managing a Quality Service and Communicating and Influencing. Guidance will be provided if you are invited to interview.
The interviews will take place week commencing 31st August 2026.
This interview will be conducted in person at our Lee on Solent office (HM Coastguard Training Centre, Daedalus Drive, Lee-on-the-Solent Hampshire, PO13 9FL). Further details will be provided to you should you be selected for interview.
You can find out more about our hiring process, how to apply, and application and interview guidance on our careers site (opens in a new window).
Please note that we will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates will change
Further information on the selection process
We will also hold a 12-month reserve list for this role, which may lead to potential opportunities beyond the role you applied for. You can read more about our reserve lists here.
Reasonable Adjustments
As a Disability Confident Leader employer, we are committed to ensuring that the recruitment process is fair, accessible and allows all candidates to perform at their best. If a person with a visible or non-visible disability is substantially disadvantaged, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.
Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need during the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at an interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.
If you need a reasonable adjustment so that you can complete your application, you should contact Government Recruitment Service via dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
Document Accessibility
This job advert contains links to the DfT Careers website. Our website provides useful guidance and information that can support you during the application process. If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert or the information on our website, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.
Further Information
For more information about how we hire, and for useful tips on submitting your application for this role, visit theHow We Hire page of our DfT Careers website. You can find detailed information about the recruitment process and what to expect when applying for a role.
If your application is successful but you have been dismissed from the Civil Service, your application could be removed at the pre-employment checking stage depending on the nature of the dismissal.
Pre-employment Checking
Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment. A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5-year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.
All external applicants and current employees of accredited non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) will be required to undergo a Social Media Check. A Social Media Check is a review of your publicly available online activity, typically across platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and others. The purpose is to identify any public posts or content that could raise concerns for employers, such as:
- Hate speech or discriminatory behaviour
- Threats or acts of violence
- Illegal activity or substance misuse
- Sexually explicit material
- Extremist views or affiliations
Importantly, this check does not involve hacking into your accounts or accessing private messages. It only considers content you have chosen to make public. Employers use this kind of screening to help ensure their workplace remains safe, inclusive, and aligned with company values. It’s not about judging your personality or lifestyle - it’s about checking for potential red flags that might affect the role or company culture. If you have questions or concerns about the social media check, we would be happy to explain in more detail what’s being looked at and how your data is handled securely and fairly.
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
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.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).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 : Pete Summers
- Email : pete.summers@mcga.gov.uk
Recruitment team
Further information
If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact Government Recruitment Services via email: dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.ukIf you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Visit the Civil Service Commission website Here
Attachments
Role Profile Opens in new window (pdf, 231kB)Annex_C__20211015_MCA_Health_Standards_2021_HMCG Opens in new window (pdf, 723kB)Salary range
- £47,241 per year
















