About the job

Job summary

Strategically placed within the wider Dockyard Port of Plymouth, Devonport Naval Base has evolved into one of the largest bases of its kind in Western Europe and is today a key strategic defence asset as a main operating and support base for the Royal Navy. The Port also hosts the commercial harbours of Cattewater Harbour Commissioners, ABP Millbay and Sutton Harbour.

The King's Harbour Master (KHM) is accountable to the Naval Base Commander (Devonport) for safe and efficient management and protection of the Port of Plymouth including:

Preservation of Life,
Protection of the Environment,
Protection of Property and
Continuity of Business, whilst
Overseeing MoD Primacy

KHM is seeking an Assistant King's Harbour Master (AKHM) to support the Deputy King's Harbour Master and the Port Safety Officer with day-to-day safety compliance (Port Marine Safety Code) and enforcement of the Dockyard Port of Plymouth Order (2020).

The position is to be located at either Port Control Station (Longroom or Flag) with some home working available and is advertised at 37 hours per week.

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. 

Job description

The Assistant King's Harbour Master (Safety and Enforcement) is a key role in the day to day running of the KHM area of jurisdiction; primary areas of the position are as follows:

1. To assist DKHM and the Port Safety Officer in the management and delivery of the port’s Safety and Environmental Management System (SEMS) including policy, procedures and audit preparation.
2. To assist the Port Safety Officer with incident investigation and management.
3. Support DKHM with department administration including maintaining key SEMS sections of the KHM website and internal SharePoint.
4. To manage the Water Events Diary and coordinate the associated planning of events.
5. Manage and crew the KHM RHIB including planning and conducting periodic enforcement patrols.
6. In conjunction with the Port Conservancy Officer manage the storage and administration of KHM Notice to Mariners and Navigation Warnings.

Person specification

A successful candidate will have relevant experience either by background or education in safety and/or enforcement (maritime experience is desirable however not mandatory); transferable Port Operation experience will also be considered.

Training can and will be provided for the right candidate in areas that are not demonstrated.

The role requires attention to detail, diplomacy and an ability to adapt to situations.

For further information please see the supporting documents or contact the Deputy King's Harbour Master (Andrew.jones469@mod.gov.uk) for an informal discussion.

This is a very exciting opportunity to become central to the successful operation of the Dockyard Port of Plymouth, and is a great opportunity to build a career in the ports sector.

The postholder must adhere to the NBC(D) Diversity and Inclusion Policy.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £28,300, Ministry of Defence contributes £7,641 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

Candidates should apply online via the Civil Service Website (CS Jobs).

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

Candidates will be required to provide a statement of suitability.

At sift, you will be assessed against the following Success Profiles Behaviours:

• Making Effective Decisions
  
• Working Together
  
• Leadership
  
• Changing and Improving
  
• Communicating and Influencing
  

At interview, you will be assessed against the following Success Profiles Behaviours:

• Working Together
  
• Changing and Improving
  
• Communicating and Influencing

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 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.  

The role currently being advertised has not been assessed as business critical and 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. 

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.