Certification Officer – Customer Service 6 views

Your role sits within Seafarer Operations, part of the UK Customer Maritime Services Directorate. Seafarer Operations centres around the Certification and Endorsement of seafarers, which is essentially a licence to allow them to work at sea and onboard vessels.

You will be providing class leading customer service as well as completing the assessment of applications from seafarers for marine examinations and subsequent Certificates of Competency or Flag State Endorsements. This is a customer-facing role and you will provide advice and assistance to applicants and existing Certificate or Endorsement holders.

As part of this service, you will review documents (training records, sea time, medical certificates etc.) from the applicant seafarer, assess the documents against a requirement criteria and, if the seafarer is eligible, issue the appropriate Certificate or Endorsement. Where further information is required, you will contact the seafarer to explain what is required.

Seafarer Services ensures the appropriate standards of seafarer training are maintained and that certificates and endorsements issued to seafarers comply with the relevant requirements. You will use your excellent attention to detail to accurately handle each application, ensuring a high standard of quality management whilst delivering at pace.

You will also contribute to and provide support for other administrative tasks and will be called upon to assist other teams with their workloads when required.

This is a great opportunity for someone who is looking to start their career within the MCA or the Civil Service. Full training will be provided to develop you into a multi-skilled Certification Officer. Therefore, you don’t need any maritime experience to join us, just a dedication to provide a high-quality service to the public.

The Seafarer Services phone lines are open to customers at the following times:

Monday – Friday 8.15am – 5.30pm

The role holder will be required to work within these opening hours on a rota basis. Start/finish times may be variable subject to business need.

Your responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Assessing applications to enable seafarers to sit Merchant Navy Yacht and Fishing Vessel Deck and Engineer oral examinations, contacting them to request further information where required.
• Issuing Notices of Eligibility (NoE) or Notices of Assessment (NoA) to seafarers who are eligible to sit an oral examination and notifying seafarers who do not meet eligibility requirements by explaining why the criteria is not met.
• Assessing applications for Certificates of Competency (CoC) and Flag State Endorsements (FSE) and issuing to seafarers who meet the qualification criteria.
• Answering Certification telephone and email enquiries from seafarers, maritime colleges and shipping companies and provide class leading customer service.

For further information about the role and responsibilities, please see the attached role profile.    

You will be a highly motivated, positive and an enthusiastic individual with a flexible attitude and a keen willingness to learn. You will have excellent organisational skills and time management skills with the ability to complete a range of interesting tasks within agreed timescales. You take great pride in the quality of your work and are experienced in following processes closely, ensuring your attention to detail is thorough and of consistently high standard.

You will have worked in a customer contact environment, providing excellent customer service via telephone and email. Passionate about providing a fantastic service, you continually strive to ensure customers’ experience is positive. You have excellent interpersonal and communication skills and can deliver information professionally, clearly and confidently both verbally and in writing. You will have excellent IT skills and a demonstrable knowledge in the use of Microsoft packages, in particular Microsoft Outlook, Excel and Word.

You are an effective multi-tasker, who is proactive in developing your skills and knowledge, so you can support the wider business in meeting its objectives. You will be team player with the ability to work on your own initiative and under pressure.