About the job

Job summary

These roles, which sit within Operations Division at the UK Hydrographic Office, are being advertised as development roles, where successful candidates will undertake a comprehensive training and development programme, which could include gaining experience in more than one team, to provide a strong foundation for your future career and some breadth of understanding of work in Operations.  Confirmation of temporary promotion to B3/EO and subsequent substantive promotion to the B3/EO grade will be evidence based – incorporating both Civil Service expected Behaviours for the grade and technical competence and subject to approval by a review panel.  The time it will take to reach temporary and substantive promotion will vary between individuals and be dependent on achieving competency/behaviours milestones that will be defined and evidenced in a development passport.

In these roles you will be directly involved in the flowline for the delivery of services or products for customers; whose safety at sea relies on the accuracy and timeliness of the information the UK Hydrographic Office provides. Within these roles, and as you progress, you will develop a number of these analytical and geospatial skills:

› Geospatial Data Analysis & Manipulation

› Geospatial Data Management

› Geospatial Data Standards and Quality

› Cartography and Interactive mapping

› Geospatial Tools, Software and systems

You will have the opportunity, in whichever teams you are assigned to, to work alongside and learn from subject matter experts in fields such as geospatial data management, GIS, data standards, hydrography, cartography, and navigation.  You will also have the experience of working in a modern, flexible and supportive working environment with great benefits, alongside colleagues who are passionate about what we deliver for our customers. 

Please note, we are currently planning cohort starts for April 2024 and late Summer 2024 – numbers on each will be dependent on business need the availability of successful candidates.

Our teams across Operations work in different ways, depending on the ways of working of the team and customer needs.  Some Teams, due to the nature of their work, require team members to attend the office in Taunton daily, whilst others can support a more hybrid work pattern. As a default this would be a balance of 3 days in the office for full time staff.  

There will be introductory classroom training for these roles which will be onsite at our office in Taunton.   This will be for a minimum of 2 weeks but could be up to 10 weeks depending on the team you are allocated to.

[Please note our Policy on informal hybrid working (arrangements available as agreed with the line manager) does not extend to working overseas].

 

Job description

These roles support the acquisition, analysis and management of hydrographic and marine information and subsequent processing into navigational products and services. 

Following introductory training, you will work within a team of approximately 10 – 12 staff of differing levels of experience and will be mentored on the job.  GIS and other bespoke software and databases are used in all roles, so you will build hands-on, practical experience.

Day-to-day activities include database management, using GIS based production systems to complete rules-based editing of UKHO geospatial products, data sourcing, data capture and distribution and quality checking.  Other tasks may include managing and maintaining records, archival research and job preparation.

As you progress through your development, and depending on your team, examples of day to day tasks are as follows:

• Interpret and assess a full range of incoming analogue and digital data against product masters, databases and services and recommend subsequent actions.
• Assess impact of complex source data on databases and update accordingly.
• Update and deconflict data in databases from new and historical sources.
• Produce ENCs as a result of changes to the database.
• Compile Submarine bathymetric ENCs.
• Maintain authoritative, feature specific master data layers.
• Produce specialist analogue and digital products in support of RN deployments. 

Person specification

Please note that we will only score against the sift and interview criteria and not the information below.

If you have a real interest in building geospatial skills and experience within an Organisation that is responsible for providing all users of marine/hydrographic information with the data, products and services they need to make effective decisions, then this could be the right opportunity for you. 

If you are a supportive team player, who has great attention to detail and the ability to work at pace to meet the needs of our customers worldwide, then we would love to hear from you. 

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £24,559, UK Hydrographic Office contributes £6,630 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, Experience and Technical skills.

How to Apply: 

Click Apply Now at the bottom of this page and enter the requested information from your CV and a Personal Statement including examples of how you meet the experience criteria below.  You will also be asked for details in line with the technical criteria below.

Timeline:

• Advert Closes for applications: 27th December 2023
• Shortlisting will take place week commencing 8th January 2024
• Assessment centres are likely to take place on 17th January 2024

Please note the above dates are subject to change.

 Sift/Shortlist Criteria:

 All applications are processed anonymously.

Should we receive a high volume of applications they will first be assessed against the Technical lead criteria as shown below.  Only those that score highly enough against that criteria will have their applications considered against the other two criteria listed.

You will be short-listed against the following criteria:

Experience:

You will be asked to enter your Job History, Full Qualifications and Previous Skills and Experience.  This is for information purposes only.

A Personal Statement of up to 500 words will also be required and will be assessed against the following criteria:

• An example(s) of working as part of a group/team to, detailing what/how you contributed to the successful outcome of the activity.
• An example(s) of how you have managed competing priorities or deadlines to ensure outcomes are delivered to time/quality. 

Technical:

• Your understanding/awareness of the uses of geospatial information and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). (Lead criteria)

Assessment Centre Criteria:

Short listed candidates will be invited to attend a virtual assessment centre, which will last approximately 2.5 hours.  You will be assessed through tests and a group scenario against the following criteria:

Civil Service Behaviours (Level1):

• Working Together (Group Assessment centre exercise)
• Making Effective Decisions (Test)
• Delivering at Pace (Test)

Technical Skills:

• Good attention to detail (Test)

See here for further information: Success Profiles - Civil Service Behaviours (publishing.service.gov.uk)

 Process:  

• Single Stage group Assessment centre via TEAMS. You will be contacted to book a suitable slot if you are shortlisted (see our Candidate Pack for further information)
• Short listed candidates will be invited to attend a virtual assessment centre, which will last approximately 2.5 hours.  You will be assessed using tests involving 3, 30 minute exercises followed by a 1 hour group scenario
• The Assessment centres will involve a panel of no more than 4 people  

 Onboarding Checks:

In the event you are offered a role with us, you will be required to go through Basic Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks which will include Employment and Right to Work Checks. You will also need to apply for SC (Security Checked) Clearance, but you may be able to start your role before gaining this.  Please see our attached Candidate Pack for further details and Terms. 

Please note, we are unable to offer visa sponsorship.

SC – non reserved
This is a Ministry of Defence non-reserved post and although open to UK, British Commonwealth and European Economic Area nationals, successful applicants will require a security clearance (SC) and therefore need to have resided in the UK for a minimum of 12 consecutive months within the last 5 years.

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.