Job description for Expert Services – Safety Engineer

Are you passionate about safety, environmental protection, and functional safety? Do you have experience or an interest in safety engineering and assurance? If so, we have an exciting opportunity for you to join our growing Independent Safety and Environmental Assurance (ISEA) team within Expert Services (ES).

The ISEA team is a dynamic group of specialists in safety environment, OME and functional safety assurance. Our mission is to provide independent assurance to safety and environmental areas at all levels, ensuring compliance with legislation, JSP 815, JSP 816, and other lower-level policies such as unified SEMS/ASEMS, regulations, and standards, both defence and civilian where applicable. As an ISEA Specialist, you will bring your expertise in legal, policy, regulatory, and standards frameworks to support Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) environments, technologies, or external customers such as the Submarine Delivery Agency (SDA).

You will be working within a significant and expanding assurance area, providing the business with independent safety assurance services across a range of projects and programmes. Collaborating with a team of experts, you will play a key role in delivering assurance services for complex environment and equipment.

You will have experience with systems safety and its utilisation in complex systems. Knowledge of Defence Standards such as DEF STAN 00-056 and safety standards and other defence safety standards (STANAG, Mil Std, etc).

This is a fantastic opportunity to be part of a growing team that plays a critical role in ensuring safety and environmental compliance across Defence projects.

You will be based out of Bristol and will need to attend this site to support business needs (nominally 1 day per week). However, we endeavour to provide flexible and offer smarter working. These roles do have some travel expectations, including overnight stays, depending on the ES-ISEA Team or Client needs; however, this is typically limited to UK locations and comes with advance notice.

This role requires you to have lived in the UK for the last 5 years and obtain Security Check (SC) security clearance. Clearance must be obtained without any caveats that prevent you from carrying out the role you’ve been recruited for. If it isn’t obtained or is obtained but with caveats that prevent you from carrying out the role, any conditional offer made to you will be withdrawn. Obtaining SC security clearance can be a lengthy process, and we reserve the right to withdraw any conditional offer made if the necessary security clearance isn’t obtained within 12 months.

What you’ll be doing

• Lead technical safety assurance activities and collaborate with stakeholders to assure the systems and equipment we deliver are safe to operate.
• Working in a highly regulated area, educate others with relevant legislation, regulation, policy, processes, and standards to provide assurance against technical documentation for a sub-system. This includes the essential relation to safety and quality of the system, and the interoperability with other systems.
• Identify and analyse safety acquisition risk reduction measures, assuring that these are adequately documented and managed.
• Develops and maintains ISEA safety assurance plans, monitors compliance, and ensures that safety assurance is sufficient to demonstrate that systems are safe to operate. Also produces, reviews, endorses, and recommends acceptance of safety related artefacts, which includes when equipment/system is operational or being modified.

Person specification

To be successful with your application, you’ll need to show that you meet the following essential criteria:

• Must have either demonstrable experience of audit and assurance activities to an applicable standard (e.g. ISO 9001, 45001 or 14001).

• An understanding of Systems Safety in the defence environment, e.g. DEF STAN 00-056

• Hold a Science, Technology, Engineering and/or Mathematics based qualification at Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) Level 4 or demonstrable relevant experience;

• Be professionally registered or intend to be professionally registered with a relevant Professional body/institution related to your discipline, as either:

• Registered Scientist (RSci) or

• Incorporated Engineer (IEng)

• Note: Alternatives to RQF listed above (which cover England, Wales and Northern Ireland only), is the Scottish SCQF or international equivalent qualification backed up by a statement of comparability from UK ENIC.

In addition to the responsibilities above, the following technical competences and behaviours will be assessed at interview:

• Core Behaviour 1: Making Effective Decisions – CSBC 3
• Core Behaviour 2: Changing and Improving – CSBC 3
• Technical Competence 1: ECF_02 Safety Management – Practitioner

Offered Benefits

Alongside your salary of £46,400, Ministry of Defence contributes £13,442 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• 25 days’ annual leave +1 day a year up to 30 days, 8 bank holidays and a day off for the King’s birthday
• Market-leading average employer pension contribution of 28.97%
• Annual performance-based bonus and recognition awards
• Access to specialist training and funded qualifications
• Support for progression
• Huge range of discounts
• Volunteering days
• Enhanced parental leave schemes

Improving innovation and enriching our culture, diversity of thought is vital to our success. So whether you’re looking for a new opportunity, a next step, or a helping hand as you return from a career break, bring your experiences and help deliver for the defence of tomorrow. Here you’ll find a supportive, family-friendly organisation to be a part of – and if you need any assistance with your application, just let us know.

Further Information

• Civil Service Recruitment Principles: Recruitment Principles – Civil Service Commission
• Candidate Information Pack: https://bit.ly/DES-Candidate-Information-Pack
• Terms and Conditions: https://bit.ly/DES-Terms-and-Conditions
• Civil Service Code: The Code – Civil Service Commission

Any personal data that you provide during the Recruitment process will be treated in accordance with the MOD Privacy Notice which can be accessed here.

Please note as a Disability Confident Leader we want to ensure you receive any reasonable adjustments that you need throughout the recruitment process. If you do require any reasonable adjustments, you can let us know on your online application under the section ‘Please indicate and give details of any reasonable adjustments you may require during the recruitment process.’

Selection process details

Your application will go through the following stages of assessment:

1. Pre-sift – We will check that you meet any essential or eligibility criteria that are listed in the Person Specification section of this advert. On your CV, please clearly show how you meet the essential criteria.
2. Sift – Your CV will be assessed against the following categories, using a simple numerical scoring system: Key Achievements; Relevant Experience; Applied Knowledge and Skills. Please follow our guidance on CV writing for best chance of success.
3. Interview – If you’re invited to interview, you’ll be assessed against the Sift categories (CV Review) listed above, as well as the Technical Competences and Behaviours listed in the Person Specification section of this advert.

Please Note: In the event of a tied score at interview, the Order of Merit will be distinguished based on the relative importance of the assessed competencies as per the hierarchy below:

• 1st: Core Behaviour 1
• 2nd: Core Behaviour 1
• 3rd: Technical Competencies
• 4th: CV Review

In the event of a further tie using the method above, we reserve the right to utilise an additional assessment.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview.

If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance you should contact department via email: DESHR-WSC-PMOCOMPLAINTS@mod.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Recruitment Complaints – Civil Service Commission