About the job

Job summary

As a Health & Safety Advisors for General Safety & Safety Assurance, you will work closely with staff across either our Counter Terrorism & Security (CTS) or Chemical, Biological, Radiological (CBR) to provide assurance that work is conducted safely and securely, and in accordance with Dstl Safety Policies and Regulatory requirements.

Safety Advisor - General 

You will support the respective Safety Team, which includes Senior Safety Advisors, to ensure a culture of continuous safety improvement which is related to delivery of science & technology projects, as well as in the infrastructure and workplaces in which our staff operate.

Safety Advisor - Assurance

You will support Senior Safety Advisors and the CTS Quality Assurance Manager, to ensure a culture of continuous improvement related to project delivery and in the infrastructure and workplaces in which our staff operate. 

Dstl recognises the importance of diversity and inclusion as people from diverse backgrounds bring fresh ideas. We are committed to building an inclusive working environment in which each employee fulfils their potential and maximises their contribution.

We particularly welcome female, ethnic minority and those from the LGBTQI community, as they are under-represented within Dstl at these levels.

Job description

In this role you will:

Safety Advisor - General 

• Provide practical health & safety advice on a range of matters to staff across the Division and our wider business.
• Support specialist Senior Safety Advisors and other safety professionals in the delivery of compliance in high-hazard areas.
• Support the delivery of an effective programme of audit and assurance specifically identifying safety issues and recommend and monitor delivery of corrective actions.
• Support the Divisions Safety Team in conducting fact finding and Division-led investigations, to identify root causes, emerging safety trends and ensuring that lessons are identified, captured and used to aid learning and prevention of recurrence of safety incidents.
• Support facility and workplace management teams in resolving safety critical faults and defects with regard to the infrastructure in which we work.
• Assist the Divisions Operations & Assurance Leader to provide a level of assurance that all staff within the Division are fulfilling their obligations under health & safety legislation.

Safety Advisor - Assurance

• Provide practical advice on a range of health & safety matters to staff across CTS Division and our wider business. 
• Support specialist Senior Safety Advisors and other general safety professionals in the delivery of compliance in high-hazard areas. These may include weapons, explosives, chemistry and scientific trials areas.
• Support the CTS Quality Assurance Manager to develop an effective programme of audit and assurance specifically identifying safety issues and recommend and monitor delivery of corrective actions. 
• Support the CTS Division Safety Team in conducting fact finding and Division-led investigations to identify root causes, emerging safety trends and ensuring that lessons are identified, captured and used to aid learning and prevention of recurrence of further safety incidents. 
• Support facility and workplace management teams in resolving safety critical faults and defects with regard to the infrastructure in which we work. 
• Audit and provide a level of assurance to the CTS Division Operations & Assurance Leader that all staff within CTS Division are in compliance with mandatory and role-specific training requirements.

Person specification

We are looking for someone who has:

General Safety Advisor

• Knowledge of the delivery of practical health & safety advice, building relationships with both technical and non-technical staff to deliver safe and secure outcomes.
• Experience of supporting or conducting routine safety investigations, including root cause analysis to identify resolutions and reduce likelihood of further occurrences of safety incidents.
• The ability to work productively with others, build good relationships and promote inclusivity to ensure that colleagues are brought along on the journey of continuous safety improvement.
• Experience of providing advice on various safe systems of work (SSoW), highlighting areas for improvement and also ensuring that documents are regularly updated following incidents, changes to circumstances or legislation.
• Experience of supporting other safety professionals on workplace visits and safety tours/inspections, ability to record areas for improvement, monitor progress and follow actions through to successful completion.
• Good verbal and written communication and report writing skills.

Assurance Safety Advisor

• Knowledge of the delivery of practical health & safety advice, building relationships with both technical and non-technical staff to deliver safe and secure outcomes.
• Experience of auditing and critiquing various safe systems of work (SSoW), identifying areas for improvement and also ensuring that such systems are regularly updated following changes to circumstances, legislation or in the light of lessons identified. 
• Experience of workplace visits and safety tours (workplace inspections), and the ability to identify and highlight issues for improvement, monitor progress and follow remedies through to successful completion.  
• The ability to work closely with others, build productive relationships and promote inclusivity to ensure that CTS Division colleagues are brought along on the journey of continuous improvement. 
  Good verbal and written communication and report writing skills.

Please see full job description at the bottom of the page 

Important Information

Our work in defence, security and intelligence requires our employees to be UK Nationals who are able to gain a high level of security clearance to undertake the projects we are involved in to protect us from security threats. For this reason, only UK Nationals will be able to apply for this role. If you are an international or dual-national candidate, and you think you have the skills we need, please consider applying to any of our government, security or defence partners.

This role will require full UK security clearance and you should have resided in the UK for the past 5 years. For some roles Developed Vetting will also be required, in this case you should have resided in the UK for the past 10 years.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £27,620, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory contributes £7,457 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.

Sifting will commence once the vacancy closes on the 21st January 2024. Successful candidates will be invited to interview w/c 5th February 2024 

We want you to have your best chance of success in our recruitment process, so If at any stage of the application process you would like help or assistance please contact the Dstl Recruitment Team dstlrecruitment@dstl.gov.uk and we will do all we can to support you.

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

Open to UK nationals only.

This job is not open to candidates who hold a dual nationality.

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.