About the job

Job summary

DE&S Deca is a specialist part of Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) tasked with supporting a vast range of defence avionics, electronics and components to provide high-quality, cost-effective support to the UK Armed Forces. We have a rich heritage as the MOD’s in house repair, maintenance, overhaul and upgrade service provider by offering innovative solutions to guarantee best value for Defence.

The role of the Mechanical Technician is to provide serviceable equipment in a timely and efficient manner whilst complying with legislative and organisational standards for Air, Land and Maritime environments.

Being mindful of the scrutiny on Public Sector pay and in accordance with Civil Service Terms and Conditions, salary on appointment is normally at the minimum point of the salary range and this should therefore be the expectation. Existing Civil Servants will be appointed in line with the normal Civil Service pay rules.

Job description

The responsibilities of the role are as follows:

1. Work in accordance with individual skill sets and training ensuring that the correct knowledge is maintained and current.
2. Upon arrival of equipment carry out a survey, in-depth diagnosis to component level and test to assess the initial condition and serviceability.
3. Assist in the creation of costings and bill of material to complete each task for the customer approval.
4. Carry out maintenance, modification or repair of equipment and test to ensure full serviceability achieved.
5. Complete all relevant paperwork as required to meet internal and legal obligations, for example, F731 forms and JAMES form 7.
6. Ensure all work undertaken follows the relevant procedures as defined in the DE&S Deca business system and complies with all statutory requirements such as COSHH.
7. Manage own time and workload to meet the requirements of the teams supply plan, satisfying the business and customer delivery requirements.
8. Assist colleagues and apprentices by sharing experience and knowledge as required.
9. Carry out all work in accordance with the specified Approved Source Information (ASI) in either hard copy and/or online.
10. Ensure all relevant mandatory training is kept up to date.
11. Ensure tool control is maintained in accordance with the DE&S Deca business system.
12. Maintain work area to the required level of cleanliness to avoid Foreign Object Damage (FOD) and understand why this is important.
13. Display a high degree of personal professionalism in all aspects of the role.

Person specification

Essential Criteria:

• Level 3 Engineering qualification or demonstrated time served and GCSE Mathematics grade C/4 or equivalent  
• Experience and knowledge of mechanical maintenance
• Demonstrable knowledge of mechanical fault finding
• Good overall knowledge and experience of engineering principles
• IT literate to level of MS office and programmes used on machinery

Desirable Criteria:

• EITB ONC in Production & Mechanical Engineering
• Knowledge of armed forces IT systems JAMES

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £25,000, DE&S Deca contributes £6,750 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 Experience and Technical skills.

At application you will need to provide a personal statement and CV of up to 250 words evidencing your suitability, and how you meet the essential criteria of the role.

At interview stage you will be assessed on your knowledge of best practice and fault finding.

All employees joining DE&S Deca who are new to the Civil Service will be subject to a six-month probation period, which will be effective from the
employment start date.

A smoke-free organisation As of 31st December 2022, we’re a completely smoke-free organisation, with the use of all tobacco products, e-cigarettes and vaping devices prohibited on DE&S Deca sites.

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 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.