About the job

Job summary

We are looking for up to five Maritime Advisors to join our Operational team.

The UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) is a world leading centre for hydrography, specialising in marine geospatial data to support safe, secure and thriving oceans. 

As a trading fund of the Ministry of Defence, we support defence, safe maritime navigation and marine development around the UK and worldwide. 

We are looking for maritime professionals to join our team. If you have the maritime qualifications and experience required for the role and want to apply your skills to support the maritime community, then this role is for you. 

The purpose of the Maritime Advisor role is to assess new data to maintain our Sailing Directions Volumes, providing essential information to support port entry and coastal navigation for all classes of ships at sea. 

Quality is paramount and the role is to ensure the volumes of Sailing Directions (SDs) are safe, accurate, clear to users, whilst remaining comprehensive, and up-to-date including Section IV Notice to Mariners supporting the maritime customer. 

Post holders also provide navigational and maritime input for existing and emerging UKHO products and services, often acting as the “voice of the customer” due to their Maritime expertise. 

You would be joining this team as we move towards producing digital SD volumes.

If you are successful, you will undertake a programme of development and will be measured against a defined skills and competency framework and, once the required level is reached, normally within 12 – 18 months, post holders will become B2 Maritime Advisors. 

We are currently working towards a start date in April/May 2024. 

The Maritime Advisor Teams work in a hybrid way, with ways of working agreed in discussion with the Line Manager.  There will be a requirement to attend the Taunton site daily for the first 2 weeks after joining for initial training.  There may then be further onsite training requirements – these will be discussed and agreed with appropriate notice.

The Teams ordinarily meet onsite in Taunton once a month all together, dates are agreed in advance. 

Please note our Policy on informal hybrid working (arrangements available as agreed with the line manager) applies within the UK, and does not extend to working overseas.

 

Job description

On starting, Maritime Advisors will undertake the following activities: 

› Assess new information for its impact on Sailing Directions (SDs) and maintain in steady state maintenance 

› Recommend Notice to Mariner action for SDs and thematic products 

› Provide mariner's input to product development

› Pro-actively seek information for SD content from external sources 

› Prepare, amend and technically edit Sailing Directions volumes for publication. 

Once assessed as competent in these tasks, post holders will progress to undertake the following tasks:

› Verify assessment decisions relating to new information and recommendations of Notice to Mariners action; providing feedback and guidance to support colleagues. 

› Collaborate with others to share knowledge providing the mariners’ perspective on New Charts, New Editions and new chart schemes at specification stage. 

Additional tasks undertaken by Maritime Advisors may include: 

› Provide navigational expertise in response to queries from both internal and external customers.

› Provide mariners perspective/advise to other areas of the business when required.

› Continually develop own skills and provide clear coaching and mentoring for the development of the team.

› Use own expertise to play an active role in development and implementation of new processes and working practices and review and update process documentation.

Person specification

In this role you will have the opportunity to share your external user experience to contribute to and support the development of our products and services to meet current and future customer needs.  We are looking for team players, with a proactive approach to identifying and taking forward improvements to ways of working.  An eye for detail and the ability to use clear written English to produce user focused sailing directions are key requirements for the role.

Additional Information: 

Whilst we welcome applications from those seeking part time work, please note, that there is a business requirement for the successful candidate to work a minimum of 4 days per week which is 30 hours.  There is also a requirement that all successful candidates must work full time at our office in Taunton for their first two weeks so they can take part in mandatory training.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £30,226, UK Hydrographic Office contributes £8,161 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:

Apply by clicking 'Apply Now' and enter the requested information from your CV including job history and full qualifications and upload evidence of the qualification being considered at pre-sift.  You will also be asked to enter a Statement of Suitability of up to 1000 words which will be scored against the experience criteria listed below.

Timeline:

• Advert Closes for applications: Sunday 25th February 2024
• Shortlisting date: Wednesday 28th February 2024
• Tests will be conducted Tuesday 5th March 2024
• Interviews will take place week commencing 11th March 2024

We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates change. You will be provided with sufficient notice of the confirmed dates.

Pre-sift

Only applications from candidates who have the qualification of Officer of the Watch CoC (Unlimited) or Navy Equivalent (Minimum) will be considered at sift.  You will need to upload copies of your certificates to evidence this.

Sift/Shortlist Criteria:

All applications are processed anonymously. Please note the information required from your CV will not be scored but may be used to check you have the qualifications required as part of the pre-sift above so ensure they are included. 

Your Statement of Suitability will be short-listed against the following criteria:

Experience:

• A minimum of 12 months sea time as a sole or senior watchkeeper. Experience within the last 5 years is preferred however other experience within the maritime sector may be considered in lieu of recent sea time, such as editing Sailing Directions at a recognised authority.
• Experience of Passage Planning.
• Experience of practical navigation, including coastal navigation.

Attention to detail and standard of written English within your application will also be considered and scored at sift

Test Criteria

Candidates who meet the requirements at sift will be invited to undertake a 60 minute virtual technical test and an untimed follow up recruitment question form. Only those who pass the test will be invited to an interview.

The test will be scored against the below criteria:

• Making Effective Decisions (Civil Service Behaviour Level 2)
• Technical knowledge in relation to the role
• Attention to detail.
• Clear written English

Interview Criteria: 

You will be interviewed against the following essential criteria:

Civil Service Behaviours (Level 2):

• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace

Experience:

• Strong understanding of passage planning techniques including the use of nautical publications and charts.
• Relevant experience in practical navigation, as a senior/sole watchkeeper.

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

 Process: 

• Single Stage Interview via TEAMS. You will be contacted to book a suitable slot if you are shortlisted
• Interview will be with a panel of no more than 4 people and will last approx. 45 mins

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. Please see our attached Candidate Information Pack for further details and Terms.

Please note, we are unable to offer visa sponsorship.

BPSS – non reserved

This is a Ministry of Defence non-reserved post and is open to UK, British Commonwealth, and European Economic Area nationals. Successful applicants will be required to pass the Basic Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) and will therefore need to provide evidence if they have resided outside of the UK for a period of 6 months or longer within the last 3 years. This is not a bar to employment, but a successful applicant will be required to provide sufficient evidence to allow the UKHO to conduct meaningful background checks. Please contact the recruitment team on the email address below if you have any concerns regarding this.

Eligibility

Due to the secure nature of our work, there may be eligibility restrictions if you hold dual nationality or are not a British Citizen. We will consider each application on a case-by-case basis. We will ask you in our application form to confirm your place of birth and details of any dual or previous nationalities.

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.

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.