Head of Operational Assurance

Do you have extensive operational experience in HM Coastguard Maritime, Coastal or ARCC operational roles or within a similar emergency or search and rescue service environment?
Are you a confident communicator who enjoys collaborating with a variety of stakeholders to achieve successful outcomes?
Could you lead and manage a remote, diverse team across multiple locations?
If so, we are looking for a Head of Operational Assurance to join us at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and we'd love to hear from you!
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.
Safer lives. Safer Ships. Cleaner Seas.
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 are committed to giving all our colleagues purpose, professionalism and pride in what we do. We work in supportive, diverse and inclusive teams.
We want everyone to feel valued and supported to achieve their potential at MCA.
This culture of inclusion is underpinned by our staff networks groups covering, Women’s, LGBTQI+, Race, Carers, Mental Wellbeing and volunteer Respect Ambassadors., HM Coastguard is the operational arm of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency with responsibility for 6 key missions - Search and Rescue, Pollution Response, Vessel Traffic Management, Maritime Safety, Maritime Security and Emergency and Disaster Management. There are three delivery disciplines within HM Coastguard, Maritime & Aeronautical Operations, which coordinates activities from an operations room environment, and Coastal Operations which manages resources and operational service provision on the coast.
We are looking to be joined by a motivated individual as the HM Coastguard Head of Operational Assurance within the Headquarters Policy, Standards & International (PSI) Branch who will lead a team to support HM Coastguard Operations, through assessing and measuring quality and performance.
Reporting directly to the Deputy Head of Policy, Standards & International, the successful applicant will take responsibility and accountability for evaluating, monitoring, measuring, and reporting on the performance of HM Coastguard's functions across aviation, maritime and coastal branch locations.
The HM Coastguard Head of Operational Assurance will oversee and provide guidance in relation to incident reviews, reviewing processes and ensuring compliance with MCA policies, procedures and practices and ensuring the timely delivery and action of reports and learning.
The role holder will take leadership of the Standards Officers team to ensure they carry out their role effectively and competently ensuring excellent support for operational standards reviews, and will travel to lead the team in complex investigation cases.
This role brings lots of internal and external stakeholder engagement and the HM Coastguard Head of Operational Assurance will liaise across the HM Coastguard business to facilitate and measure lessons learned activities, ensuring lessons are taken forward and recommendations are identified and acted upon. The successful applicant will provide direction and guidance and technical advice and subject matter opinion across the organisation.
Responsibilities include but are not limited to:
+ The development and implementation of HM Coastguard Standards processes to provide assurance that the policies and procedures laid down by Coastal, Maritime and the Aeronautical Response are effective, consistent, and robust.
+ Ensuring that regular review is undertaken of the 6 Coast Guard Functions and Aeronautical procedures and processes as set by the respective Heads of discipline, to ensure that these obligations are met in accordance with current MCA and HMCG direction and policy and any relevant national legislation, and as required by international conventions and treaties.
+ The implementation of formal reviews of Coastguard incidents under the direction of the relevant Head of discipline and the Head of Policy, Standards & International branch and ensuring that they are conducted correctly and with due attention to impartiality, fairness and balance.
For an in-depth insight into the role, please refer to the Role Profile attached to this advert., This role will be based in the Southampton HQ. MCA supports flexible working and operates a hybrid working model between home and office for this role, giving you greater flexibility over where and when you work.
The expectation is that you will spend a minimum 60% of your working time based at your principal workplace or out on official business. Details of the arrangement will be discussed further with your line manager.
Please note: This is a uniformed role and uniform will be required to be worn at all times when on duty.
A valid driving licence and a passport valid for international travel are required.
About Operational Delivery Profession (ODP)
Operational Delivery Profession (ODP) is the largest and most diverse professional community across the Civil Service. Many of us will have an association with several professional communities or specialisms, ODP applies to all public facing roles / or a role that is primarily aligned to supporting the work of those with public facing roles. All critical to the delivery of UK public services., We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
+ Communicating and Influencing
+ Seeing the Big Picture
+ Changing and Improving
+ Managing a Quality Service, It is essential when submitting your personal statement that you provide as much detail as possible, and utilise the full word count given, against the essential criteria outlined above as this will be used in conjunction with your CV to assess candidate suitability to move to the next round in the recruitment process.
Sift and Interview Dates
The sift is due to take place from 23rd - 25th October 2024.
Interviews are due to take place w/c 11th November 2024.
This interview will be conducted via a video interview. Further details of which will be provided to you should you be selected for interview.
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.
The selection process will be designed specifically for the role. As a result, your assessment will include:
+ An interview.
+ A presentation.
In addition, As part of your interview you will be assessed against:
Coastguard Framework
EXCEL HMCG Technical Framework
You’re encouraged to become familiar with the role profile, as you may be assessed against any of the criteria recorded within.
Reasonable Adjustments
As a Disability Confident Leader employer, we are committed to ensuring that the recruitment process is fair, accessible and allows all candidates to perform at their best. If a person with a visible or non-visible disability is substantially disadvantaged, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes., 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.
For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the following page https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/demystifying-vetting
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).
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) (opens in a new window)
+ 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 (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) 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 (opens in a new window).
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 (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.
The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

This role requires an individual who has extensive operational experience in HM Coastguard Maritime, Coastal or Aeronautical operational & strategic level roles or equivalent within a similar emergency or search and rescue service environment. You will also bring experience of command, control, and management of teams in a response environment.
You are a strong leader who is committed and driven, with the ability to inspire your team and lead from the front with the skills and aptitude to develop yourself and colleagues to ensure continuing professional development.
You have great communication skills, clear and credible with the confidence and ability to influence at a strategic level, taking a holistic approach.
Stakeholder engagement skills are key and you will be a good networker, able to build solid professional relationships to develop understanding and impacts across other business areas.
You will have good judgement and problem-solving skills with the ability to handle difficult situations and make decisions with a sense of personal responsibility and integrity. You can identify risks and trends and can build on established good practice and observations to provide clear guidance in order to ensure operational excellence.
We welcome applications from individuals who have an Internal Auditor qualification and/or incident investigation skills or have a willingness to work towards these once in post., A valid driving licence and a passport valid for international travel is required for this role., We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
+ HMCG Technical Framework - Response and Coordination - 2.01 (level 3) - Applies knowledge of HMCG and others’ responsibilities for Coastal and Maritime operations.
+ HMCG Technical Framework - Mission Conduct & Incident Command - 3.09 (level 3) - Applies a knowledge of the process of mission debriefing and post-mission reporting and subsequent reviews and investigations, This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.
As part of your application, you will be required to complete a CV and 1250 word Personal Statement. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.
Within your CV and personal statement please demonstrate your knowledge and experience of:
+ Experience ensuring and reporting on operational response standards.
+ Experience of incident investigation and reporting, including trend and root cause analysis.
+ Experience of using observations and recommendations to influence change and alignment to quality management systems, standard operations and standard operating procedures.
+ Experience of leading and managing a remote diverse team across multiple locations.