About the job

Job summary

Joint Maritime Security Centre

The Joint Maritime Security Centre (JMSC) is the UK government’s centre of excellence for maritime security. Its mission is to increase awareness and understanding of maritime security threats and enable cross-government coordination to deliver a whole-system response to mitigate them.

JMSC is a multi-agency, fused military-civil organisation with staff drawn from a host of agencies including Border Force, the Royal Navy, Counter Terrorism Policing, National Crime Agency, HM Revenue and Customs, Home Office Intelligence, the Maritime Management Organisation and HM Coast Guard. It’s responsible for ensuring the UK maintains its understanding of the maritime domain and develops the cross-government coordination frameworks to respond to threats to security, law and order, trade and commerce, and the marine environment.

JMSC offers government departments and agencies a central point of UK maritime expertise and understanding to assist policy and decision making.

JMSC works internationally - with states and with key international organisations - to support information sharing, relationship development and capacity building efforts.

The key elements of JMSC are:

• The National Maritime Information Centre (NMIC), which since 2010 has provided a mechanism for the UK’s civilian and military maritime and law enforcement focused organisations to fuse intelligence, data and capabilities. This maximises operational impact at home and abroad.
• Joint Maritime Security Centre - Operations, which utilises cutting edge technology to provide 24/7 monitoring of UK waters. It can swiftly identify maritime security incidents and enable the effective coordination of the UK’s aerial and at-sea assets to respond – ensuring the safety and security of all those who use our seas.
• The new JMSC Assessment capability, which will produce global strategic maritime security assessments to inform UK government and other stakeholders of threats within or emanating from the maritime domain. This also provides support to the UK sanctions regimes.
• These functions are supported by the JMSC Strategy team, which includes workforce planning, programme management, financial planning and controls, and policy development.

Job description

As a Higher Analyst you will work under the direction of a Lead Analyst to deliver either:

• global maritime security threat analysis and understanding, in accordance with JMSC strategic and operational priorities; or
• analysis and understanding relating to Russian activity to avoid sanctions, in accordance with HMT, DfT and JMSC strategic and operational priorities.

This work is at the cutting-edge of delivering cross-government maritime security threat assessments in support of delivering the JMSC Mandate. It offers an exciting opportunity to join a collaborative intelligence community and participate in developing and delivering Government-facing, consolidated maritime security threat understanding.  You will be able to collate and cohere threat understanding from across the national and international intelligence communities, contributing to the development of assessments to inform decision-making at all levels, along with fusing it into authoritative assessments to inform decision-making at all levels.

Please note, occasional travel will be required to partner locations across the UK. Overnight stays may be necessary on some occasions.

We have five roles available, three of which are permanent and two of which are fixed term for a period of two years. Please indicate in your Statement of Suitability which of these appointment terms you would prefer (see Selection Process details below for more information). 

Successful candidates will be given a choice of appointment term in merit order. Should the first three candidates in merit order opt for permanent appointments, the fourth and fifth candidates in merit order will only be offered a fixed term appointment. If they indicated a preference for permanent appointment only in their application, they will be placed on a reserve list and could be offered the same role on a permanent basis should further vacancies arise within 12 months. If they decline having indicated in their application they would accept a fixed term appointment, their application will be withdrawn. Candidates held on a reserve list may be offered one of these roles at a later date should further vacancies arise and in the event that the vacancy is not offered on their preferred appointment term (permanent rather than fixed term or vice versa), they will remain on the reserve list.

Responsibilities

Duties include but are not limited to:

• Researching and drafting high-quality, threat assessments and presentations to satisfy standing and ad hoc intelligence requirements.
• Building an exhaustive knowledge and understanding of all threat vectors within either a designated geographical region or a sanctions-related theme.
• Maintaining and building enduring linkages with national and international intelligence counterparts, to understand maritime threats in a designated geographic region or Russia sanctions-related activity.
• Taking responsibility for engaging with stakeholders, delivering outcomes and resolving issues.
• Providing high quality, succinct, timely and accurate, advice and briefings.
• Providing strong support to their Lead Analyst regarding a specific area of analytical responsibility, including day to day and urgent, high profile or sensitive issues.
• Understanding, articulating, and helping drive forward JMSC Assessment output, and in turn, supporting wider business to deliver the JMSC Mandate.
• Maintaining an overview of issues affecting wider JMSC Assessment activity in order to feed in research in these areas.

Working Patterns

Please note that not all work patterns can be supported within this role. You are encouraged to contact the vacancy holder as soon as a provisional offer of employment is made (if not earlier) to explore whether your preferred working pattern can be accommodated. The types of flexible working that may be supported are part-time working and compressed hours.  

Please also note that candidates will be required to obtain DV clearance before starting in the role.

Due to the nature of the work and the systems you will be required to access, you will likely be required to spend more than 60% of your working time in an office.

Person specification

We are looking for someone who:

• Can demonstrate excellent research skills and the ability to analyse results.
• Is a self-starter, able to work collaboratively and at pace to deliver against the JMSC’s objectives.
• Is able to build effective stakeholder relationships and understand operational pressures across the JMSC and its stakeholders.
• Is organised and has strong communication skills.
• Has a keen interest in expanding knowledge and keeping up to date with global affairs.
• Is adaptable, responsive and sensitive to a changing political environment.
• Is able to effectively prioritise workload.

Essential criteria

You must be able to demonstrate:

• Having previously applied analytical skills independently to complex work, with an element of supervision.
• Exercising judgement in selecting the best approach to achieve the task while meeting existing standards and procedures, tailoring your approach to best meet deadlines.
• Understanding how your work can assist and inform organisational objectives and the wider understanding of potential threats.
• Being able to develop strong stakeholder relationships, both domestically and internationally, with a view to building enduring and collaborative analytical partnerships
• The use of creative and critical thinking in analysis and research to support assessments, applying structured methods to explain how verdicts have been reached.
• Articulate thought processes and complex matters concisely, visually, verbally and in writing.

Desirable criteria

• Completion of Professional Head of Intelligence Assessment's (PHIA) new analyst training (or its predecessors) or equivalent.
• An ability to routinely review effort and outputs, taking the initiative to appropriately challenge and suggest improvements.
• Understanding of your area of responsibility and awareness of the wider impact of your actions.
• Understanding or experience of the maritime environment or maritime sanctions.
• Experience of working with central government departments.

Benefits

• 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 average employer contribution of 27%

Things you need to know

Selection process details

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

This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, drives up performance and improves diversity and inclusivity.

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

• a CV detailing job history and skills
• a statement of suitability (personal statement) (maximum 750 words)
• provide evidence of the behaviour 'Managing a Quality Service' (250 words maximum)

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

The statement of suitability should be aligned to demonstrate your skills and experience for the role and how you meet the essential criteria as detailed in the job description.

For guidance on how to construct your personal statement, you are encouraged to visit Civil Service Careers. Links – Statement

For guidance on how to construct your behaviour examples, you are encouraged to visit Civil Service Careers. Links –Behaviours

The sift will be held on the behaviour Managing a Quality Service and the statement of suitability (personal statement). The CV will not be scored.

The statement of suitability will be scored first for all candidates. Those candidates who achieve the minimum pass score for the statement of suitability, will progress to a further sift where the lead behaviour (Managing a Quality Service) will be scored. These candidates will therefore receive a sift score for both elements. Candidates who fail to meet the minimum pass score for the statement of suitability will not have their lead behaviour scored and will therefore only receive a sift score for the statement of suitability.

If you are successful at sift stage, you will be invited to an interview which will be a blended approach of strength-based questions and behaviour-based questions on all listed behaviours. 

Strengths are the things that you do regularly, do well and that motivate you. To find out more about strength based questions click here

The behaviours and strengths being assessed have been ranked in order of importance to enable us to differentiate between candidates with tied interview scores. Please note that the order in which behaviours are listed in the advert does not necessarily reflect the order of importance.

Sift and Interview dates

Sift is expected to take place week commencing 5th February 2024.

Interviews are expected to take place week commencing 26th February 2024.

We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert, however on occasions these dates may change. 

Interviews will be carried out via video. Candidates will be required to have access to:

• A laptop (personal or work) with a working webcam
• Good internet connection
• Microsoft Teams

Further information

For meaningful checks to be carried out, individuals need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time to enable appropriate checks to be carried out and produce a result which provides the required level of assurance. You should normally have been resident in the United Kingdom for the last 3 years if the role requires CTC clearance, 5 years for SC clearance and 10 years for DV.  A lack of UK residency in itself is not necessarily a bar to a security clearance and applicants should contact the Vacancy Holder/Recruiting Manager listed in the advert for further advice.

A reserve list may be held for a period up to 12 months from which further appointment may be made.

Note for Candidates

Please ensure that all examples provided in your application are taken directly from your own experience and that you describe the examples in your own words. All applications are screened for plagiarism and copying of examples/answers from internet sources. If any is detected the application will be withdrawn from the process. Further action, including disciplinary action, may be considered in such cases involving internal candidates. Providing false or misleading information would be contrary to the core values of honesty and integrity expected of all Civil Servants. 

If you are currently an agency member of staff working within the Home Office, a contractor or contingent worker you can only apply for roles that are advertised externally, i.e. outside the civil service. If you are eligible to apply for a role, you are required to select yourself as an external applicant and not internal when submitting your application on Civil Service jobs. This will prevent any delays in pre-employment checks should you become successful in being made an offer of employment after the Interview stage.

Are these Reserved Posts for UK Nationals only?

UK nationals who hold dual nationality are able to apply for this reserved post. If a UK passport is not being presented, then candidates will need to provide alternative evidence of UK nationality in line with the Civil Service Nationality Rules.

Part time working

If you are considering applying for part time hours, please contact HORCCampaignTeamBorderForce@homeoffice.gov.uk to discuss your request as not all working patterns may be accommodated.

Every day, Home Office civil servants do brilliant work to develop and deliver policies and services that affect the lives of people across the country and beyond. To do this effectively and fairly, the Home Office is committed to representing modern Britain in all its diversity, and creating a welcoming, inclusive workplace where all our people are able to bring their whole selves to work and perform at their best.

We are flexible, skilled, professional and diverse. We work to recruit and retain disabled staff and area Disability Confident Leader. We are proud to be one of the most ethnically diverse departments in the civil service. We are a Social Mobility Foundation top 75 employer.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

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.

For further information please see the attached notes for candidates which must be read before making an application.

Existing Civil Servants should note that some of the Home Office terms and conditions of employment have changed. It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure they are aware of the Terms and Conditions they will adopt should they be successful in application and should refer to the notes for candidates for further details.

Transfer Terms: Voluntary.

If you are invited to an interview you will be required to  bring a range of documentation for the purposes of establishing identity and to aid any pre-employment checks.

Please see the attached list of Home Office acceptable ID documents.

Any move to the Home Office 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

Additional Security Checks: As well as successfully obtaining UKSV clearance and passing the right to work and pre-employment screening, anyone who applies to work for Border Force will also be subject to additional Border Force specific security checks, as part of the pre-employment process, to determine their suitability to work for the organisation.

Please see the Home Office Recruitment Privacy Information Notice (PIN) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/recruitment-privacy-information-notice for more information on how your details may be shared for the purpose of additional security checks.

Please see the Border Force Privacy Information Notice (PIN) on Border Force privacy information notice - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) for more information on how your details may be shared.

Reasonable Adjustments

If a person with disabilities is at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. 

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

• Contact Government Recruitment Service via HOrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs
• Complete the “Assistance Required” section in the “Additional Requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you're deaf, a language service professional

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the ‘Contact point for applicants’ section.

Feedback

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

Security

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is developed vetting (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.

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.