Details
Reference number
423803
Salary
£31,213
Salary of £31,213 increasing to £36,996 on successful completion of a training and development programme. A Recruitment and Retention Allowance up to a maximum of £10,000 is also applicable to this role on top of the basic salary. It is awarded according to a framework of specialist skills, knowledge and experience – some of which will be gained once developed in the role.
A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
GBP
Job grade
Executive Officer
B3 (Progressing to B2 upon development)
Contract type
Permanent
Business area
UKHO - Operations Content
Type of role
Analytical
Defence Operations
Surveying
Other
Working pattern
Full-time
Number of jobs available
3
Contents
* Location
* About the job
* Benefits
* Things you need to know
* Apply and further information
Location
Taunton, Somerset, South West
About the job
Job summary
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.
Selection Process:
Candidates who pass the sift will be invited to undertake a technical test, which will be undertaken virtually. If the pass mark is achieved, you will then be invited to an interview hosted on MS Teams. Please note these stages will happen in a relatively short timeframe.
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.
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
› 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 toshare 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.
Qualifications
Officer of the Watch CoC (Unlimited) or Navy Equivalent (Minimum)
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
* Delivering at Pace
* Communicating and Influencing
* Making Effective Decisions
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
* Strong understanding of passage planning techniques including the use of nautical publications and charts
* Relevant experience in practical navigation, as a senior/sole watchkeeper.
Benefits
Alongside your salary of £31,213, UK Hydrographic Office contributes £9,042 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
At the UK Hydrographic Office, it's very important to us that our people feel valued.
We offer a huge range of benefits such as training and development, well-being support, flexible/ homeworking, a fantastic state of the art building, high spec equipment, and so much more.
See our attached Candidate Information Pack for more details.
Things you need to know
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles, 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.
Artificial Intelligence:
Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
Timeline:
* Advert Closes for applications: 02/10/2025
* Shortlisting date: 08/10/2025
* Tests will be conducted: 13&14/10/2025
* Interviews will take place: 17&20/10/2025
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. 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 EO Level)
* 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 (EO Level):
* Communicating and Influencing
* Delivering at Pace
* Making Effective Decisions
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 )
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:
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.
Please note, we are unable to offer visa sponsorship.
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)
* 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
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.
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.
Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy .
Apply and further information
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.
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Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
* Name :
* Email :
Recruitment team
* Email :
Further information
The Department's recruitment processes are underpinned by the requirement of selection for appointment based on merit, open and fair competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners' Recruitment Principles, details of which can be found at If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can further contact the Civil Service Commission at: or view more details