About the job

Job summary

The UK Hydrographic Office is a leading centre for hydrography, providing marine geospatial data to inform maritime decisions. We work with a wide range of data suppliers and partners to support maritime navigation, safety, security and marine development around the UK and worldwide.

These Year in Industry Placements sit within Operations Division and will run from Summer 2024 through to Summer 2025 (12 months).  These opportunities are specifically designed for students undertaking a relevant undergraduate degree with a Year in Industry placement option at the end of the second year.   This is a pre-requisite for applying.

These opportunities will enable you to gain “real-world” experience of using the skills and knowledge that you have been building (depending on your course of study).  You will be directly involved in the flowline that delivers of services or products for customers whose safety at sea relies on the accuracy and timeliness of the information the UK Hydrographic Office provides.

You will have the opportunity, in whichever team you are assigned to, to work alongside and learn from subject matter experts in fields such as geospatial data management, GIS, hydrography, cartography, oceanography and navigation.  You will also experience the wider benefits 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.

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. 

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 5 weeks depending on the team you are allocated to.  After that, working in the office regularly is very much encouraged so that you can benefit from in person interactions with your team and colleagues across the wider business – ensuring you get the most out of your industry placement year. The expectation would be to attend the Taunton office 3 days out of 5. 

 

Job description

The overarching purpose of the role is to support the acquisition and use of hydrographic information and subsequent processing into navigational products and services.  As a Year in Industry Placement student you will be integral to our operational activity and contribute to meeting safety and production targets.

If successful, You will join the UKHO as a cohort and receive a tailored package of training before joining a team, where you will continue to receive on the job training in our processes and GIS systems and bespoke software, enabling you to contribute to the production and maintenance of navigational and geospatial products and services. 

Following introductory training, you will be deployed into 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 receive hands-on, practical experience.

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

 

Person specification

Year in Industry placements are an excellent way of building your technical and “workplace” skills and experience.  If you have a real interest in working with marine/geospatial information and delivering products and services for customers, whilst building practical experience of using GIS software packages and other bespoke systems, then this could be the right placement opportunity for you. 

If you are a team player, with great attention to detail and the ability to work to deadlines, 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.  You will asked to complete a Personal Statement covering the criteria below.

Timeline:

• Advert Closes for applications: 15th January 2024
• Shortlisting is likely to take place week commencing 22nd January 2024
• Assessment centres are likely to take place week commencing 5th February 2024

Please note the above dates are subject to change.

 Sift/Shortlist Criteria:

 All applications are processed anonymously.

These opportunities are specifically designed for students undertaking a relevant undergraduate degree with a Year in Industry Placement option at the end of the second year.   This is a pre-requisite for applying.

You will be short-listed against the following criteria:

Experience:

A Personal Statement of up to 750 words will be required and will be assessed against the following criteria:

• Please tell us about your understanding/awareness of the uses of geospatial information and Geographic/Geospatial Information Systems (GIS)
• Please tell us about your experience of working with a high level of attention to detail to achieve effective outcomes.
• Please provide an example of how you have worked as part of a team to achieve a successful outcome.  We are interested in your contribution – what you did and how you did it

Assessment Centre Criteria:

Shortlisted 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 (Level 1):

• Working Together (Group Assessment Centre Exercise)
• Making Effective Decisions (Test)
• Delivering at Pace (Group Assessment Centre Exercise)

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 2, 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.