Diving Technical Specialist (B3/SEO)

Diverse Perspectives and experiences are critical to our success, and we welcome applications from all people from all backgrounds with the experience and skills needed to perform this role. We look forward to receiving your application. 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 Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is an independent regulator for work-related health and safety in Great Britain. We believe everyone has the right to come home safe and well from their job. That’s why our mission is to protect people and places, helping everyone lead safer and healthier lives.

We don’t just inspect workplaces and investigate incidents, we campaign for better Health & Safety practice, we develop and review guidance and regulations, we provide specialist products and services both here and overseas, and we produce crucial research and statistics, all towards our goal of helping Great Britain work well.

We have an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic and motivated diving specialist to join HSE’s Science Division (SD). This role will appeal to those with a technical background and/or practical experience of diving plant and equipment. The successful candidate will be expected to contribute to other work within the Exposure Assessment and Control (EAC) team (part of the Health Group) or the engineering team (part of Major Hazards Group), dependant on skills and background. SD has a wide range of technical and diverse disciplines requiring flexible and collaborative working.

The position will be based at our Science & Research Centre in Buxton, Derbyshire. The Centre is an internationally renowned scientific facility, providing industry and Government with health and safety solutions. Employing a diverse range of talented scientific, medical and technical specialists, in a purpose-built laboratory at our 550-acre site.

Whatever your role, we take your career and development seriously, and want to enable you to build a fulfilling and successful career with HSE and the wider Civil Service. It is crucial that our employees have the right skills to develop their careers and meet the challenges ahead; you will benefit from regular performance and development reviews to ensure this development is ongoing. As a Civil Service employee, you will be entitled to a large range of benefits, including payment of relevant professional memberships, access to learning and development and the opportunity to attend seminars and conferences both within and occasionally outside the UK.

More details about the services available at the Science & Research Centre and HSE can be found on our website here: www.hse.gov.uk

We have an exciting position which will appeal to individuals with a practical, technical background in the diving industry. You will be required to deliver work to support diving investigations and liaising with HSE specialist diving inspectors. This will include performing visual inspections of diving plant/equipment and conducting objective testing on breathing gases, and diving equipment such as regulators and hats/full face masks. There will be a requirement to provide proactive assistance with testing of diving plant against national/internal standards, as required. You will be expected to work with others in HSE’s Energy Division and the wider HSE. You will be self-motivated and strive for quality outcomes. You will need to, under challenge, think strategically and engage at different levels with technical, regulatory and policy colleagues within the organisation. This role requires stakeholder engagement with external agencies and collaborative working. You will work with others to ensure the timely delivery of HSE’s investigation, research and commercial work. You will be expected to work with and assist colleagues not only across the Health Group but also across HSE as part of their programmes of work.

At HSE, we are proud to be able to offer our people the opportunity to work in a hybrid way which combines working from home and the office. This is a voluntary, non-contractual arrangement and your allocated office will be your contractual place of work.

The practical laboratory based nature of the work means there will be a requirement to regularly attend the Buxton site for practical work in our laboratory facilities, collaborative working and supporting & training colleagues. In addition, you may be required to travel across the UK for site visits, including overnight stays. Please note that if you are successful, hybrid working will be discussed prior to taking up the post.

Part time working hours are available for this role. We can accept part time applicants, who can commit to working a minimum of 30 hours per week.

Responsibilities

The responsibilities of your role will include, but will not be limited to:

• Investigation support to diving investigations including visual inspections of dive plant/equipment and identifying potential defects or areas for concern. You will be required to conduct quantitative assessments including objective testing of the composition of breathing gases, function and performance of diving plant such as regulators, diving hat/masks and buoyancy devices.
• Providing inspection and proactive assistance as required. For example, testing of diving plant to ensure compliance with national/international standards.
• Maintaining and operating the diving testing facilities and equipment.
• Stakeholder engagement with other agencies where HSE is not the enforcing authority (e.g. Police, HM Coroners, Local Authorities).
• Excellent organisational and preparedness skills for planning, scheduling and undertaking a varied workload, to maximise time and productivity and ensuring delivery to time, cost and quality.

Person specification

Essential skills and criteria

You will have:

• Significant, relevant and recent practical experience of diving plant/equipment.
• Technical expertise to perform visual inspections and reporting on visual defects and areas of concern in relation to diving equipment.
• Ability to perform objective testing of breathing gases, function and performance of diving plant from a wide range of manufacturers, such as regulators, buoyancy control devices (BCDs), rebreathers, diving hats/full face masks, and recovering data from dive computers.
• Excellent communication skills, enabling you to manage and collaborate effectively, maintain positive professional working relationships, engage with others at all levels both within HSE and with external agencies and stakeholders.
• Experience of writing reports and communicating findings. With good presentation skills, for internal and wider industry meetings and conferences.
• The ability to work both as part of a team and autonomously across boundaries of the Science Division and rest of HSE.

Desirable past experience and skills

Practical experience in maintenance of respiratory protective equipment (RPE).

Recreation and/or commercial diving qualifications would be desirable.

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing

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

• Practical experience of diving plant/equipment.
• Practical experience of air analysis and measurement.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity

We invest in our people with;

• Competitive rates of pay
• Access to the highly competitive Civil Service Pension Scheme to which HSE contribute 27.1%, far more than in the private sector.
• Family friendly policies and working hours to help balance your home life and career
• Carer friendly policies to help create a supportive working culture
• 25 days annual holiday increasing to 30 days after 5 years’ service, plus bank holidays and 1-day Civil Service privilege leave
• Parental leave benefits

This post is eligible for Excess Fares Allowance. A successful internal candidate currently based at another office may be entitled to Excess Fares Allowance in line with HSE policy (http://intranet/finance/expenses/excess-fares-allowance-policy.htm).

Job contact :

• Name : Nick Baxter
• Email : nicholas.baxter@hse.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : hr.resourcing-team@hse.gov.uk