Job Title: Lifting Operative
Location: Plymouth, Devon
Compensation: £31, + Benefits - Gross OTE £44,
Role Type: Full time / Permanent
Role ID: SF
At Babcock we’re working to create a safe and secure world, together, and if you join us, you can play your part as a Lifting Operative at our Devonport Royal Dockyard site.
The role
As a Lifting Operative, you’ll play a vital role in supporting critical operations within our submarine and warship programmes. Working in a highly skilled team, you’ll be responsible for safely moving equipment and materials that keep major defence projects progressing.
Day-to-day, you’ll have an opportunity to build a long-term career in defence, engineering, and naval operations. You’ll gain specialist skills, work in a unique dockyard environment, and contribute directly to projects that support national security.
1. Carrying out slinging and lifting operations safely and efficiently
2. Supporting fleeting operations on submarines and warships
3. Producing and following lift plans and operational instructions
4. Setting up and maintaining safe exclusion zones during lifting activities
5. Inspecting lifting equipment and reporting or isolating non-compliant items.
This role is full time, 35 hours per week and is based on site at Devonport Royal Dockyard.
There is an opportunity for Optimised Working Patterns (OWP) within this role. OWP is a temporary variation to your standard terms and condition that commits you to support 7-day working arrangements. For full details of the patterns, pay and durations, this can be found in the OWP 1 and OWP 2 agreements (available from hiring manager).
Primarily, it involves 4-week shift cycles consisting of either day/back shift or day/night shift. An example of the remuneration for these shifts is as follows:
Gross salary: £31,
Gross OTE for core Dayshift/Backshift Pattern: £44,
Essential experience of the Lifting Operative
6. Experience in lifting operations or similar hands-on industrial roles
7. Ability to follow procedures and work safely in a structured environment
8. Strong communication skills, including signalling to crane operators
9. Willingness to learn, develop, and undertake further training
10. Experience in marine, construction, or heavy engineering environments is desirable.
Qualifications for the Lifting Operative
11. CPCS Blue A40 Slinger Signaller, NPORS Slinger Signaller, or NVQ Level 2 in Lifting and Moving Loads (or equivalent)
12. Additional rigging or lifting certifications are advantageous but not essential.
Security Clearance
The successful candidate must be able to achieve and maintain Security Check (SC) security clearance for this role.
Many of the positions within our company are subject to national security clearance and Trade Control restrictions. This means that your eligibility for certain roles may be affected by your place of birth, nationality, current or former citizenship, and any residency you hold or have held. Further details are available at Babcock
We’re Babcock — a global FTSE organisation with over 26, people working together to make a difference.
Here, you’ll be part of something bigger. From initial design to final decommissioning, your work will contribute to products and services that are essential to national security and public infrastructure. Together, we’re building a future that lasts — not just through the impact we make, but through meaningful careers that respect your work-life balance.
We call that lifetime engineering.
Join us and see how far we can go, together.
We are a disability confident committed employer.