Summary

We welcome applications from all communities and we don’t discriminate against any identity. We’re interested to hear from you, regardless of your background.

Are you a solution focused, engaging and dynamic person?

Do you pride yourself on your excellent communication skills and your ability to make effective decisions under pressure?

If so, this is your opportunity to help protect the environment and save lives with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA).

Job description

This is an excellent opportunity for a dedicated individual to work within our fast-paced team here at the MCA as the Counter Pollution and Salvage Officer (Northern England), providing a timely and effective response to marine pollution and salvage incidents within the UK’s Exclusive Economic Zone. This is a fantastic chance to improve safety and environmental outcomes while supporting and maintaining strong working relationships with a diverse range of stakeholders.

The Counter Pollution and Salvage branch of the MCA has specific responsibility for counter pollution preparedness and response at sea and the management of the UK Government’s stockpiles of response equipment and dispersant. In nearly every incident the Counter Pollution and Salvage Officer is one of the first points of contact via a Coastguard Operations Centre or the National Maritime Operations Centre.
 

Responsibilities

As part of the role your responsibilities will include:
• Respond to day to-day maritime incidents including potential and actual oil pollution events
• Be present on scene, when circumstances dictate, to protect UK interests from threat of spilled oil and other hazardous noxious substances
• Assist in the development of hazardous and noxious substances response plans and conduct audits with Ports and Harbours and oil handling facilities to ensure regulations and current legislation compliance is adhered to, initiating enforcement measures when required
• Responsible for being the agency point of contact, liaison and support for the oil industry and other stakeholders
• Assist local authorities in the development of their onshore pollution contingency plans, training and exercises
• Co-ordinate emergency response situations, minimising maritime impact
• Perform a one week in five on-call function as part of the counter pollution and salvage roster, responding to marine pollution incidents and providing operational and technical support

The role holder will work across the North of England and will, from time to time, be expected to spend several nights away from home. During major incidents it may be necessary to deploy to other parts of the UK. A work vehicle or transport will be available for operational use. Please note, a full driving licence suitable for use in the UK is required.

For the right candidate we will consider the role being based at other MCA locations anywhere in the UK with good transport links to the North of England.

In addition to this, the role is subject to health standard requirements.

For more information about the role please see the attached job profile.

About you –

The successful candidate will have a good knowledge of marine pollution preparedness and response, and of contingency planning.

You will understand the external issues that can have impact on this area of work and can implement robust tactics and activities that will create value and meet the needs of all stakeholders.
You will need to be able to communicate and explain complex information clearly, be confident to use your own initiative and make prompt informed decisions.

You must be resilient with the ability to withstand difficult situations and recover quickly from them.

Operational spill response experience, involvement in marine salvage, or of working as an auditor or trainer in connection with pollution response will be important for this role.

Ensuring your own personal development is kept up-to-date will require your commitment to gaining and maintaining the relevant industry qualifications.

You will be expected to demonstrate a knowledge of marine vessel operations.

To be successful you will have a flexible approach to challenges, take ownership of your varied and challenging workload and welcome the autonomy that this role allows.

About Operational Delivery Profession (ODP)



Operational Delivery Profession (ODP) is the largest and most diverse professional community across the Civil Service. Many of us will have an association with several professional communities or specialisms, ODP applies to all public facing roles / or a role that is primarily aligned to supporting the work of those with public facing roles. All critical to the delivery of UK public services’.

Licences

Full driving licence suitable for use in the UK

Qualifications

Operational spill response experience, involvement in marine salvage, or of working as an auditor or trainer in a pollution control capacity

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions

Benefits

Being part of our brilliant Civil Service means you will have access to a wide range of fantastic benefits. We offer generous annual leave, attractive pension options, flexible working, inclusive working environments and much more to support a healthy work/life balance.

Find out what it's like to work at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency

Things you need to know Security

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.

People working with government assets must complete basic personnel security standard checks.

Medical

Successful candidates will be expected to have a medical.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.

We are closely monitoring the situation regarding the coronavirus, and will be following central Government advice as it is issued. There is therefore a risk that recruitment to this post may be subject to change at short notice. In addition, where appropriate, you may be invited to attend a video interview.

Please continue to follow the application process as normal and ensure that you check your emails regularly as all updates from us will be sent to you this way.

The sift is due to take place w/c 16th November 2020.

Interviews/assessments are likely to be held w/c 7th December 2020.

This interview could be conducted via a video interview, details of which will be provided to you should you be selected for interview.

We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates will change. You will be provided with sufficient notice of the confirmed dates. The selection process will be designed specifically for the role. As a result, your assessment could include:
• an interview
• an interview with one or more exercises

You’re encouraged to become familiar with the role profile, as you may be assessed against any of the criteria recorded within.

Please see attached candidate notes for further information about our recruitment process.

How to apply

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV and statement of suitability. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Please tailor your statement of suitability to reflect your experience of:
• Counter pollution and/or salvage knowledge
• Understanding of auditing organisations against laid down criteria and report writing
• Demonstrable of knowledge and experience of working in a response organisation
• Undertaking relevant qualifications

Further Information

To learn more about applying for a role within the Department for Transport, visit the Application Process page of our Careers website.

Before submitting your application, we encourage you to visit our Things You Need to Know page for further information about applying for a role within the Department for Transport and the Civil Service.

Throughout this job advert there are links to the DfT Careers website, which provides you further information to support your application. Should you be unable to access the information on our website, please email [email protected] for assistance.

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

Nationality requirements

Open to UK, Commonwealth and European Economic Area (EEA) and certain non EEA nationals. Further information on whether you are able to apply is available here.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code 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.

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.