See job eligibility requirements: Junior Geospatial Specialist

Reference number

266865

Salary

£21,693

Rising to £27,606 upon development into EO grade (further information in short summary). Further pay information can be found in the attached Document “Additional Pay Information”.

Job grade

Administrative Officer

Developing onto Executive Officer (EO)

Contract type

Permanent

Business area

UKHO – Operations Content

Type of role

Analytical
Operational Delivery
Science

Working pattern

Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time

Number of jobs available

10

Location

Taunton, Somerset, South West

About the job

Job summary

These roles, which sit within Operations Division at the UK Hydrographic Office, are being advertised as development roles, where successful candidates will undertake a comprehensive training and development programme that will involve working across two different teams. Confirmation of temporary promotion (on completion of your defined development in your first team) and subsequent substantive promotion to the B3/EO grade (on meeting the competency requirements of your second team) will be evidence based and subject to approval by a review panel.  The time it will take to reach temporary and substantive promotion will vary between individuals and be dependent on achieving competency/behaviours milestones that will be defined and evidenced in a development passport.

In these roles you will be directly involved in the flowline for the delivery of services or products for customers; whose safety at sea relies on the accuracy and timeliness of the information the UK Hydrographic Office provides. Within these roles, and as you progress, you will develop a number of these analytical and geospatial skills:

› Geospatial Data Analysis & Manipulation

› Geospatial Data Management

› Geospatial Data Standards and Quality

› Cartography and Interactive mapping

› Geospatial Tools, Software and systems

You will have the opportunity, in whichever teams you are assigned to, to work alongside and learn from subject matter experts in fields such as geospatial data management, GIS, data standards, hydrography, cartography, and navigation.  You will also have the experience of working in a modern, flexible and supportive working environment with great benefits, alongside colleagues who are passionate about what we deliver for our customers.

Please note, we are currently planning cohort starts for mid April 2023, late June 2023 and September 2023– numbers on each will be dependent on business need.

Our teams across Operations work in different ways to provide flexibility for team members wherever possible.  Some Teams, due to the nature of their work, require team members to attend the office in Taunton most days, whilst others can support hybrid working.  The balance of office versus remote working will be discussed on a case by case basis with your line manager, where your needs and the needs of the team will be taken in to account. 

There will be introductory classroom training for these roles which will be onsite at our office in Taunton.   This will be for a minimum of 2 weeks but could be up to 10 weeks depending on the team you are allocated to.

Job description

These roles support the acquisition, analysis and management of hydrographic and marine information and subsequent processing into navigational products and services.  

Following introductory training, you will work within a team of approximately 10 – 12 staff of differing levels of experience and will be mentored on the job.  GIS and other bespoke software and databases are used in all roles, so you will build hands-on, practical experience. 

Day-to-day activities include database management, using GIS based production systems to complete rules-based editing of UKHO geospatial products, data sourcing, data capture and distribution and quality checking.  Other tasks may include managing and maintaining records, archival research and job preparation.

As you progress through your development, and depending on your team, examples of day to day tasks are as follows:

•  Interpret and assess a full range of incoming analogue and digital data against product masters, databases and services and recommend subsequent actions.
• Assess impact of complex source data on databases and update accordingly.
• Update and deconflict data in databases from new and historical sources.
• Produce ENCs as a result of changes to the database.
• Compile Submarine bathymetric ENCs.
• Maintain authoritative, feature specific master data layers.
• Produce specialist analogue and digital products in support of RN deployments.

Person specification

Please note that we will only score against the sift and interview criteria and not the essential and desirable information below.

If you have a real interest in building geospatial skills and experience within an Organisation that is responsible for providing all users of marine/hydrographic information with the data, products and services they need to make effective decisions, then this could be the right opportunity for you.  

If you are a supportive team player, who has great attention to detail and the ability to work at pace to meet the needs of our customers worldwide, then we would love to hear from you.

Things you need to know

SC – non reserved
This is a Ministry of Defence non-reserved post and although open to UK, British Commonwealth and European Economic Area nationals, successful applicants will require a security clearance (SC) and therefore need to have resided in the UK for a minimum of 12 consecutive months within the last 5 years.

Behaviours

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

• Working Together
• Making Effective Decisions
• Delivering at Pace

Technical skills

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

• Understanding/awareness of the uses of geospatial information and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
• Good attention to detail

We only ask for evidence of these technical skills on your application form:

• Understanding/awareness of the uses of geospatial information and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

Benefits

At the UK Hydrographic Office, it’s very important to us that our people feel valued. 

We offer a huge range of benefits such as training and development, well-being support, flexible/ homeworking, a fantastic state of the art building, high spec equipment, and so much more. 

See our attached Candidate Pack for more details.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

How to Apply: 

Click Apply Now at the bottom of this page and enter the requested information from your CV and a Personal Statement including examples of how you meet the experience criteria below.  You will also be asked for details inline with the technical criteria below.

Timeline:

• Advert Closes for applications: 19th February 2023
• Shortlisting will take place on 28th February 2023
• Assessment centres will take place week commencing 6th March

 Sift/Shortlist Criteria:

 All applications are processed anonymously. You will be short-listed against the following criteria:

Experience:

• You will be asked to enter your Job History, Full Qualifications and Pervious skills and experience.  This is for information purposes only.
• A Personal Statement of up to 500 words will also be required and will be assessed against the following criteria
• How you work as part of a group/team, including what/how you contributed to the successful outcome of the activity.
• How you have managed competing priorities or deadlines to ensure outcomes are delivered to time/quality. 

Technical:

• Your understanding/awareness of the uses of geospatial information and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

Assessment Centre Criteria:

Short listed candidates will be invited to attend a virtual assessment centre, which will last approximately 2.5 hours.  You will be assessed through tests and a group scenario against the following criteria:

Civil Service Behaviours (Level1):

• Working Together
• Making Effective Decisions 
• Delivering at Pace 

Technical Skills:

• Good attention to detail 

See here for further information: Success Profiles – Civil Service Behaviours (publishing.service.gov.uk)

 Process:  

• Single Stage group Assessment centre via TEAMS. You will be contacted to book a suitable slot if you are shortlisted (see our Candidate Pack for further information)
• Short listed candidates will be invited to attend a virtual assessment centre, which will last approximately 2.5 hours.  You will be assessed using tests involving 3 exercises followed by a group scenario
• The Assessment centres will involve a panel of no more than 4 people  

 Onboarding Checks:

In the event you are offered a role with us, you will be required to go through Basic Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks which will include Employment and Right to Work Checks. You will also need to apply for SC (Security Checked) Clearance, but you may be able to start your role before gaining this.  Please see our attached Candidate Pack for further details and Terms. 

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check.

See our vetting charter.

People working with government assets must complete basic personnel security standard checks.

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)
• 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

Further information on nationality requirements

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code 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.

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.

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name :recruitment.queries@ukho.gov.uk
• Email :recruitment.queries@ukho.gov.uk

Recruitment team :

• Email :recruitment.queries@ukho.gov.uk

Further information

The Department’s recruitment processes are underpinned by the requirement of selection for appointment based on merit, open and fair competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles, details of which can be found at http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact recruitment.queries@ukho.gov.uk If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can further contact the Civil Service Commission at: civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk or view more details at http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk

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