Operations and Engagement Support Officer
Description
- Job grade: Executive Officer
- Contract type: Permanent
- Business area: MCA - UK Customer Maritime Services
- Type of role: Administration / Corporate Support
- Working pattern: Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time
- Number of jobs available: 1
Location
About the job
Job summary
Are you looking to grow and develop with a career in the Civil Service?
Are you curious, interested and keen to learn about Innovation?
Have you got experience of providing administrative, operational or business support in a professional environment?
If so, we’d love to hear from you!
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is seeking an Operations and Engagement Support Officer to join the UK Maritime Innovation Hub within UK Customer Maritime Services. The Hub connects industry, academia and government to support the safe development and adoption of emerging maritime technologies, including digitalisation, autonomy and alternative fuels. You will provide high-quality operational, administrative and stakeholder engagement support, acting as a central coordination point for enquiries, meetings, events, reporting and governance. Working with colleagues across the Hub and external partners, you will help maintain effective stakeholder relationships, accurate records and efficient ways of working that support innovation across the maritime sector.
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 an Operations and Engagement Support Officer, you will support the effective day-to-day delivery of UK Maritime Innovation Hub activities. You will coordinate enquiries, meetings, events, governance and reporting, while maintaining accurate records and providing a professional, customer-focused service. Working across the MCA and with external partners, you will help the team deliver its priorities and continuously improve its operations and stakeholder engagement.
Your responsibilities will include, but aren’t limited to:
- Act as a first point of contact for the Hub, managing enquiries and providing a professional, customer-focused service.
- Coordinate and track innovation enquiries, actions, risks, dependencies and progress across activities and workstreams.
- Build and maintain effective working relationships with industry, academia, government and international stakeholders.
- Organise meetings, workshops, demonstrations, visits, conferences and other events, including logistics and follow-up activity.
- Provide secretariat support for governance groups, including agendas, papers, minutes and action tracking.
- Prepare and coordinate briefings, correspondence, reports, presentations, stakeholder updates and communications materials.
- Maintain accurate records, management information and tracking systems, and support the analysis and presentation of operational data.
- Work collaboratively across the MCA and identify opportunities to improve processes, stakeholder management and service delivery.
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
To be successful in this role you will need to have the following experience:
- Experience of providing administrative, operational or business support within a professional environment.
- Strong organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple tasks and competing priorities.
- Experience of organising meetings, events or stakeholder engagement activities.
- Clear and effective written and verbal communication skills.
- Experience of using Microsoft Office applications, including Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
- Ability to build effective working relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
- Strong attention to detail and the ability to maintain accurate records.
- Ability to work collaboratively, use initiative and exercise sound judgement within established procedures.
Additional Information
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.
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 30 hours per week.
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 the 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. There may be occasions where you are required to attend above the minimum expectation.
Occasional domestic and international travel will be required to attend industry events, demonstrations, conferences and stakeholder engagements, which may involve overnight stays.
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
You will be required to provide evidence that you hold this licence 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:
- Managing a Quality Service
- Delivering at Pace
- Communicating and Influencing
- Working Together
We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:
- Managing a Quality Service
Benefits
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
Selection process details
How to apply:
Our selection process ensures a comprehensive assessment of each applicant's experience, 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:
- Behaviours – you will be asked to provide a 250-word statement on the following Behaviours: Managing a Quality Service
- Experience – you will be asked to provide a CV (unlimited wordcount) and personal statement (250-word count). Please provide evidence of your Experience of the following:
- Experience of providing administrative, operational or business support within a professional environment.
- Strong organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple tasks and competing priorities.
The sift is expected to take place 6 November 2026.
Stage 2: Interview
At interview stage, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements:
- Behaviours:
- Managing a Quality Service;
- Delivering at Pace;
- Working Together;
- Communicating and Influencing.
Interviews are expected to take place on 16 November 2026.
The interview will be conducted in person at the MCA Headquarters in Southampton. Further details will be provided if you are selected for interview.
You can find out more about our hiring process, how to apply, and application and interview guidance on our careers site (opens in a new window).
Please note that we will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates will change.
Further information on the selection process
Adverts with a reserve list
We will also hold a 12 month reserve list for this role, which may lead to potential opportunities beyond the role you applied for. You can read more about our reserve lists here.
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.
Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need during the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at an interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.
If you need a reasonable adjustment so that you can complete your application, you should contact Government Recruitment Service via dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
Document Accessibility
This job advert contains links to the DfT Careers website. Our website provides useful guidance and information that can support you during the application process. If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert or the information on our website, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.
Further Information
For more information about how we hire, and for useful tips on submitting your application for this role, visit the How We Hire page of our DfT Careers website. You can find detailed information about the recruitment process and what to expect when applying for a role.
Pre-employment Checking
If your application is successful but you have been dismissed from the Civil Service, your application could be removed at the pre-employment checking stage depending on the nature of the dismissal.
Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment. 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.
All external applicants and current employees of accredited non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) will be required to undergo a Social Media Check. A Social Media Check is a review of your publicly available online activity, typically across platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and others. The purpose is to identify any public posts or content that could raise concerns for employers, such as:
- Hate speech or discriminatory behaviour
- Threats or acts of violence
- Illegal activity or substance misuse
- Sexually explicit material
- Extremist views or affiliations
Importantly, this check does not involve hacking into your accounts or accessing private messages. It only considers content you have chosen to make public. Employers use this kind of screening to help ensure their workplace remains safe, inclusive, and aligned with company values. It’s not about judging your personality or lifestyle - it’s about checking for potential red flags that might affect the role or company culture. If you have questions or concerns about the social media check, we would be happy to explain in more detail what’s being looked at and how your data is handled securely and fairly.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
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
Working for the Civil Service
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).
Diversity and Inclusion
Apply and further information
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name : Rachel Millican
- Email : rachel.millican@mcga.gov.uk
Recruitment team
- Email : dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Further information
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Visit the Civil Service Commission website Here
Attachments
| Operations and Engagement Support Officer (1) Opens in new window (docx, 70kB) |
Share this page
- Gmail