Principal Consultant Surveyor - Training and Technical Performance

Job summary

Can you provide expert technical leadership to support the safe, consistent and compliant delivery of maritime surveyor services?

Do you have experience of developing technical capability, assuring performance and improving standards within a regulated maritime or operational environment?

Have you completed MCA Surveyor Core Competencies and built strong technical knowledge through marine surveyor, maritime, engineering or assurance work?

If so, we’d love to hear from you!

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is seeking a Principal Consultant Surveyor – Training and Technical Performance to support the delivery of high-quality, consistent and safe technical service across UK Technical Maritime Services (UKTMS). Working within the Training and Technical Performance team, you will help develop technical training, strengthen workforce capability, support performance assurance and promote the consistent application of maritime regulations, standards and best practice. This is an opportunity to use your technical expertise to influence national standards, support continuous improvement and contribute to effective maritime safety and regulatory outcomes.

Joining our department comes with many benefits, including:

• Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here
• 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave), plus 8 bank holidays and a privilege day for the King’s birthday
• Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.

Read more in the Benefits section below!

Find out more about what it's like working at: Maritime and Coastguard Agency - Department for Transport Careers

Job description

As a Principal Consultant Surveyor – Training and Technical Performance, you will play a key role in supporting the Head of Training and Technical Performance by providing expert technical leadership, developing technical workforce capability, assuring training quality and overseeing technical performance activity across UK Technical Maritime Services.

Your responsibilities will include, but aren’t limited to:

• Supporting delivery of UKTMS business plan objectives in line with MCA policies, standards and procedures.
• Providing expert technical advice and guidance to promote consistent interpretation and application of maritime regulations and standards.
• Contributing to the oversight, management and performance of the Consultant Surveyor network and other consultancy arrangements.
• Designing, delivering and continuously improving technical training, workshops, briefings, coaching and workplace learning activity.
• Leading audit, verification and evaluation of internal and externally contracted training to assure quality, outcomes and value for money.
• Leading activity monitoring and technical performance workstreams, including remote verifications and oversight visits.
• Analysing technical information, risks and trends to provide evidence-based recommendations to improve performance, consistency and compliance.
• Building effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders, represent UKTMS when required and manage staff as delegated.

Great line management is important to us as an organisation, and we will equip and support line managers to develop the skills they need. We aim to empower line managers to create teams where people can flourish and deliver excellent outcomes for the public.

For further information on the role, please read the role profile. Please note that the role profile is for information purposes only - whilst all elements are relevant to the role, they may not all be assessed during the recruitment process. This job advert will detail exactly what will be assessed during the recruitment process.

Person specification

Required experience:

To be successful in this role you will need to have the following experience:

• Experience of providing specialist technical advice within a regulated, operational, engineering, maritime, or assurance environment.
• Ability to lead or oversee performance assurance, audit, monitoring, verification, or compliance-related activities.
• Experience of/involvement with designing, developing, delivering, and/or assuring technical training and development.
• Ability to analyse complex technical information, identify trends and risks, and make evidence-based recommendations to improve performance and compliance.
• Experience of building effective working relationships and influencing a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.
• Experience of contributing to policy, standards, governance, or continuous improvement activities.
• Ability to communicate complex technical information clearly through reports, briefings, presentations, and stakeholder engagement.
• Experience of leading teams, developing staff capability, and promoting a positive and inclusive working culture.
• Knowledge of quality management, audit readiness, and assurance processes, including evidence management and compliance requirements.
• The post holder needs to be computer literate and familiar in the use of Microsoft 365 suite of applications.

Additional Information

Successful candidates will be expected to undertake a physical medical health questionnaire for this role. Please see the attached document for further information.

Working hours, office attendance and travel requirements

Full time roles consist of 37 hours per week.

Whilst we welcome applications from those looking to work with us on a part time basis, there is a business requirement for the successful candidate to be able to work at least 32 hours per week.

Hybrid working available

This role is suitable for hybrid working, which is a non-contractual arrangement where a combination of workplace and home-based working can be accommodated subject to business requirements.

The expectation at present is a minimum of 60% of your working time a month will be spent at either your designated workplace (one of th e locations cited in the advert) or, when required for business reasons, in another office/work location/visiting stakeholders. Your designated workplace will be your contractual place of work. Ther e may be occasions where you are required to attend above the minimum expectation.

• The post-holder will operate to a flexible (smarter) working pattern consisting of a 7.4 hour working day and over the course of a year the post-holder is contracted to work 1931 net conditioned hours.
• On occasion, there will be a requirement to work outside of normal conditioned hours.
• Work/Travel on official duty within and short-term visits overseas or offshore, which may involve overnight stays away from home.

If you have a question about hybrid working, part time/job share hours, flexible working, travelling for work, or require a reasonable adjustment, please contact the Vacancy Holder during the recruitment process to avoid possible disappointment later in the process should your working arrangements not be compatible with the requirements of the role (see below for contact details).

Visa Sponsorship

Please note that we will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa where a role has been deemed to be business critical. This role does not meet that category, and we will not sponsor a visa . Therefore, this role is not open to applications from those who require sponsorship – candidates must ensure they have the appropriate right to work in the UK before applying. Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.

• Licences
• 1. A valid passport for international travel
• 2. Full Driving licence valid for driving in the UK

Qualifications

Previous experience as an MCA surveyor, having completed minimum of Core Competencies as per Marine Surveyor development Scheme (MSDS) within the preceding five years.

The minimum academic qualification required is one of:

a. MCA Recognised STCW II/2 Master unlimited Certificate of Competency; or

b. MCA Recognised STCW III/2 Chief Engineer unlimited Certificate of Competency;

c. Honours Degree in Naval Architecture, Ship Science, Marine Engineering, Mechanical and Marine Engineering or Marine Technology.

d. Applicants without the qualifications stated in a, b or c above, may also be eligible if they are Chartered Engineer (CEng) (through Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA) or the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST)), but in such cases evidence of the equivalent level of learning plus marine industry experience will need to have be demonstrated to the satisfaction of an MCA S&I technical review panel.

Full details are in the Job Description attached.

You will be required to provide evidence that you hold any essential qualifications/licenses at some point during the recruitment process. If you cannot provide evidence, your application will be withdrawn.

Behaviours

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

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

Technical skills

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

• As detailed in MCA document MSF 4989 (Level 3): - General competencies

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £63,645, Maritime and Coastguard Agency contributes

£18,437 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.

Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

• Being part of our brilliant Civil Service means you will have access to a wide range of fantastic benefits:
• Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here
• 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave).
• 8 Bank Holidays plus an additional Privilege Day to mark the King’s birthday.
• Access to the staff discount portal.
• Excellent career development opportunities and the potential to undertake professional qualifications relevant to your role paid for by the department, such as CIPD, Prince2, apprenticeships, etc.
• Joining a diverse and inclusive workforce with a range of staff communities to support all our colleagues.
• 24-hour Employee Assistance Programme providing free confidential help and advice for staff.
• Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.

Find out more about the benefits of working at MCA (opens in a new window).

Things you need to know

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 (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window) , and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

Our selection process ensures a comprehensive assessment of each applicant's qualifications, skills, and potential fit within our organisation.

The selection process for this role will be:

Stage 1: Sift of CV and personal statement

Stage 2: Interview

You must be successful at each stage to progress to the next stage.

Stage 1: Sift

At sift, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements:

• Experience – you will be asked to provide a CV (unlimited wordcount) and personal statemen