Maritime Operations Officer - Bangor (Belfast) Bangor, Northern Ireland
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Operational Delivery
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About the job
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About the job
Job summary
You answer a 999 call, someone’s in trouble at sea and they need help – quickly.
You work with a close team of professionals to organise a response – coastguard, ambulance, police, fire.
You make the critical difference in one of the most important ways possible.
You are a Maritime Operations Officer.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) implements the government’s maritime safety policy in the United Kingdom and works to prevent the loss of life and occurrence of pollution on the coast and at sea. Our vision is to be a world-leading organisation, accelerating the transition to sustainable shipping with non-negotiable safety standards. We put our people, our customers, and our planet at the heart of everything we do.
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.
Job description
You will be operating through the radios, phones, and other systems in one of our rescue coordination centres, so whilst you won’t be out at sea, that doesn’t make what you’re dealing with any less real. You alone will be the first point of call for people who need our help, everyone from someone who has spotted a mysterious something floating in the water through a ship in genuine distress; sometimes with life-changing consequences and everything in between.
Key Responsibilities
- Act as the first point of call for all public contact
- Coordinate responses to both emergency and routine issues
- Work as part of a team to organise the response to emergencies, including working with other external agencies such as ambulance and police
- Ensure that you work to strict operating procedures
- Accurately record, update and maintain incident logs, records and databases.
For further information about the role, please see the attached Role Profile.
Person specification
About You
This is an excellent opportunity to access a new career path, we don't ask for you to be an expert in this role and you should rest assured that we will provide you with all the training you need. What we particularly need from you are a number of core skills such as:
- Resilience - this can be a very difficult job, you will be involved in responses to incidents that don't always end well and this can include keeping people in serious distress calm and even incidents that end in fatalities. We don't expect that this will be a job for everyone and we support each other to cope with difficult situations, but it's important you understand what this job entails.
- Teamwork - you will often have to act alone and you individually will be the first and sometimes only person a member of the public may speak to, but you will work with a team to coordinate responses. It's essential that you're the kind of person who can work effectively with others when it really counts.
- Communication - you have to be a good communicator, you will be speaking to people who could be going through one of the most difficult experiences of their lives, they may be scared and panicked. You will have to keep them calm so as to be able to get the right information from them quickly and then effectively pass that on to others.
Additional Information
We are an emergency service and have to be able to respond 24/7/365, so you will have to work in a way that can be antisocial. Maritime Operations Officers are required to work 12-hour shift patterns (typically, 2 day shifts then 2 night shifts followed by 4 days off) to allow HMCG to provide its 24 hour emergency service to the public, 365 days a year. On average the shift pattern equates to 37 duty hours per week over a 12-month period. As such, this position attracts a number of allowances to reflect the shift working and unsociable hours.
You will be required to start in your role prior to the 28th August 2023 as your training will begin online on the 11th September 2023. You will then be required travel to our Coordination Centres in Fareham and Southampton frequently throughout your training (expenses will be paid).
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Delivering at Pace
- Making Effective Decisions
- Communicating and Influencing
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
Selection process details
How to Apply
After submission of the first stage of your application you will be invited to complete a Numerical test. If you successfully pass the test, you will be invited to complete the final stage of the application which will include you having to provide evidence of a CV/Personal Statement (see below for further details).
Please complete the online test as soon as possible (within 24-48 hours is recommended) to give yourself enough time to complete your full application (CV/Personal Statement). Should you complete the test too close to the close date/time, where this does not enable you to submit the next part of your application (CV/Personal Statement) then your application will not be considered. Therefore, it is encouraged to complete the test a considerable amount of time before the advert close date.
The closing date for the test is 23:55 on Thursday 20th April 2023 (which is the same as the advert). If you fail to complete the online test before the deadline your application will be withdrawn. Guidance for the test will be available when you are invited to take the test. The tests are administered online and accessed via the CS Jobs website.
- Ability to work in a high-pressure environment; whether that pressure comes from the volume, pace or nature of the work.
- Experience of working in a fast-paced, service-led environment.
- That you can communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, so you are properly understood by all.
You should be mindful of providing specific examples of where you can evidence these skills rather than talking theoretically about what you could or would do. Your personal statement will be limited to a maximum of 750 words.
The sift is due to take place from 21st April 2023.
The selection process will be designed specifically for the role. As a result, your assessment will include:
- A first stage assessment process to test your abilities which will include 1) a call listening exercise, 2) an IT skills exercise
- If successful at this stage, you will then be invited to a final interview. This interview will be conducted face to face at one of our MCA offices, details of which will be provided to you should you be selected for interview.
1st Stage - Assessment process is likely to be held from 2nd May 2023.
2nd Stage - Interviews are likely to be held from 11th May 2023.
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.
This vacancy is using Success Profiles. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, drives up performance and improves diversity and inclusivity.
Further Information
If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.
For more information about how we hire, and for useful tips on submitting your application for this role, visit the How we hire page of our DfT Careers website.
Before submitting your application, we encourage you to visit our Recruitment in detail page of the DfT Careers website. You will find detailed information about the entire recruitment process and what to expect when applying for a role in 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.
Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.
A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
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Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
- UK nationals
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with settled or pre-settled status or who apply for either status by the deadline of the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
- relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service
- relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service
- certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals
Working for the Civil Service
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).
Apply and further information
Contact point for applicants
Further information
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Visit the Civil Service Commission website Here
