Environmental Science Officer (HNS) 17 views

Are you passionate about protecting public health and the environment?

Can you deliver in a fast paced, operational environment?

Do you want a challenging role where you will be in the forefront of making a difference to the safety and protection of the sea and shoreline?

If so, we are looking for a Environmental Science Officer (HNS)  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.

A member of the MCA’s Counter Pollution and Salvage team, the Government body responsible for responding to marine pollution and salvage incidents on behalf of the MCA as the UK Competent Authority.

As the role holder, it will be your responsibility to concert with other counter pollution officers, to ensure that the Agency is fulfilling its role as the government body responsible for responding to counter pollution incidents inside the UK Exclusive Economic Zone (UK EEZ).

In addition, you will ensure that adequate scientific, technical and environmental support is available to meet the Marine Pollution Prevention, Preparedness and Response regulatory requirement.

You will support the assessment, monitoring and where appropriate respond to both actual and potentially polluting incidents at sea, and support response organisations on the shoreline.

Your responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Develop and maintain a high level of proficiency in Hazardous and Noxious Substances (HNS) policy, regulation and contingency planning and response.
• As a Subject Matter Expert (SME) provide direct MCA support to Local Authorities (LAs) at Operational Response Centres during shoreline pollution incident response; representing the Agency in LA operational centres when directed.
• Delivery of accurate and timely operational, scientific, technical and environmental advice to incident response personnel on all aspects of oil, HNS and other forms of potential and actual pollution, seeking and arranging additional specialist advice where necessary.
• Forge, facilitate and maintain working links with Other Government Departments, (OGDs)/Agencies/Non Government Departments (NGOs) and other appropriate stakeholders with respect to research and best practice in maritime and environmental planning, environmental impact assessment and response, and spill modelling in relation to HNS.
• Participate in the delivery of Local Authority marine pollution courses, both National and Beach Supervisor courses; and to assist in the annual update and review of all MCA counter pollution training course lecture modules and development of new training modules as required.

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

About You

To be successful in this role, you will need a First Degree or equivalent in marine chemistry or other related subjects. If a degree is not held, extensive appropriate relevant occupational experience would be considered.

You will have experience of working with emergency response planning, plans and management, preferably in the maritime sector. In addition, you will have working knowledge of response strategies and techniques to deal with HNS in the marine and coastal environment.

Environmental impact and monitoring of oil and HNS in the marine and coastal environment, including trajectory and fate modelling, and familiarity with GIS and remote sensing systems is something you have knowledge of.

You will have an understanding of EU and UK environmental regulation wrt maritime pollution and its consequences and the ability to work in operational situations, often fast moving and requiring dealing with multiple issues both in parallel and in quick succession.

Additional Information

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.

There will be a requirement for occasional travel on official duty (UK and overseas), including overnight stays at short notice.

Medical

Successful candidates will be expected to undertake a physical medical for this role, please see the attached document. 

Please refer to the special features section on the role profile for further information.