Organisation: Defence Equipment & Support
Salary: £36000 per annum (plus generous benefits)
Grade: Senior Technical Specialist I
Working Pattern: Full Time, Part Time, Job Share, Flexible Working
Contract Type: Permanent
At Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), we supply and maintain vital equipment and services for the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force. Together, we deliver a vast range of essential defence programmes, and strive for what's next. Because it helps keep our military at the top of their game and our nation safe – for today, and tomorrow.
DE&S has recently been integrated into the National Armaments Director Group (NAD Group). The NAD Group brings together key Ministry of Defence (MOD) organisations to unite expertise across science, technology, procurement, infrastructure, and support to provide integrated capabilities faster and more efficiently for our armed forces and our allies. This is an exciting new opportunity to enable better ways of working and empower greater collaboration across Defence. For further information about the NAD Group, please visit: National Armaments Director Group - GOV.UK
We offer 25+ days’ holiday, flexible and hybrid working, enhanced parental leave schemes, shopping discounts, and an exceptional employer pension contribution of 28.97%, to help make work work for you.
This role requires you to have lived in the UK for the last 5 years and obtain Security Check (SC) security clearance. Clearance must be obtained without any caveats that prevent you from carrying out the role you’ve been recruited for. If it isn’t obtained, or is obtained but with caveats that prevent you from carrying out the role, any conditional offer made to you will be withdrawn. Obtaining SC security clearance can be a lengthy process, and we reserve the right to withdraw any conditional offer made if the necessary security clearance isn’t obtained within 12 months.
We’re unable to offer visa sponsorship.
Job description
Are you an experienced Health and Safety Advisor with a passion for keeping people safe in high‑risk environments? Are you ready for a role where your expertise will make a real difference to the UK’s most critical Defence operations? If so, Defence Munitions (DM) have an exceptional opportunity you won’t want to miss.
In this role, you will be at the at the heart of ensuring our compliance with Health, Safety and Environmental legislation, helping to safeguard both people and the environment on behalf of the Head of Establishment. You will play a key role in shaping a proactive safety culture by providing timely, expert advice across a wide range of activities conducted on site.
You will play a pivotal role in developing and strengthening measures for hazard identification and risk management by delivering timely, professional, and effective guidance across all activities undertaken on site. You will act as the Subject Matter Expert (SME) to deliver risk assessment, the safe movement of transport and effective assurance to determine performance against safety and environmental goals.
Working at DM Crombie offers a rare opportunity to deepen your professional experience in high‑hazards site. You will be supported to build expertise in Major Accident Control Regulations (MACR the MOD’s adaptation of COMAH), fire safety, and the control of radiation sources.
We champion flexible working arrangements. While 100% on-site attendance is required to foster the benefits of face-to-face collaboration, we offer flexible hours to support a healthy work-life balance.
Please note: This role involves minimal travel to other locations across the UK for training and development opportunities, with transportation provided where necessary.
What you'll be doing
- Provide competent Occupational Health and Safety advice and guidance on an operational site, ensuring that all on‑site activities are conducted in line with legislative requirements, best practice, and internal standards.
- Develop and maintain a robust inspection and first‑line assurance programme that effectively measures compliance. This includes planning and conducting inspections, producing clear and actionable reports, monitoring progress, and ensuring all follow‑up actions are completed to drive continuous improvement.
- Build and maintain strong working relationships across the business, collaborating confidently with colleagues at all levels as well as external stakeholders including Delivery Partners, Contractors, and wider Defence organisations.
- Lead on site incident management by conducting investigations, delivering root cause analysis, identifying lessons learned, and producing high‑quality reports.
- Delivering subject matter support to Committees and Management Boards, providing informed guidance, contributing to decision‑making discussions, and ensuring that safety considerations are fully integrated into strategic planning and operational oversight.
- Lead on fire safety compliance, ensuring that all statutory and organisational fire safety requirements are met. This includes reviewing fire risk assessments, coordinating exercises and drills, managing control measures, and supporting continuous improvement in fire prevention and response arrangements.
Person specification
To be successful with your application, you'll need to show that you meet the following essential criteria:
Lead Criterion - Minimum NEBOSH General Certificate or an equivalent Level 3 qualification in a relevant health & safety discipline.
Experience working in a Health & Safety role.
Experience working in environments with higher‑risk activities.
A valid UK driving licence, as travel between sites is required.
In addition to the responsibilities above, the following technical competences and behaviours will be assessed at interview:
Core Behaviour 1: Communicating and influencing – CSBC3
Core Behaviour 2: Delivering at Pace – CSBC 3
Technical Competence 1: Incident Reporting and Investigation – Practitioner
Technical Competence 2: Audit and Assurance (OHSEP) – Practitioner
Offered benefits
Improving innovation and enriching our culture, diversity of thought is vital to our success. So whether you’re looking for a new opportunity, a next step, or a helping hand as you return from a career break, bring your experiences and help deliver for the defence of tomorrow. Here you’ll find a supportive, family-friendly organisation to be a part of - and if you need any assistance with your application, just let us know.
Further Information
Civil Service Recruitment Principles: Recruitment Principles - Civil Service Commission
Candidate Information Pack: https://bit.ly/DES-candidate-information-pack
Terms and Conditions: https://bit.ly/DES-Terms-and-Conditions
Civil Service Code: The Code - Civil Service Commission
Any personal data that you provide during the Recruitment process will be treated in accordance with the MOD Privacy Notice
Disability Confident:
Please note as a Disability Confident Leader we want to ensure you receive any reasonable adjustments that you need throughout the recruitment process. If you do require any reasonable adjustments, you can let us know on your online application under the section ‘Please indicate and give details of any reasonable adjustments you may require during the recruitment process.’
Conflicts of Interest:
The Ministry of Defence requires all candidates who are successful at interview to declare any outside interests. These declarations will be discussed with successful candidates following the interview process and before a formal offer of employment is made, as some outside interests may not be compatible with MOD civilian roles. This will not, in the majority of cases, prevent employment in MOD, but it is a measure that must be taken to ensure that appropriate mitigations can be put in place to manage any potential, perceived or actual conflicts of interest from the first day of employment.
Selection Process Details
Your application will go through the following stages of assessment:
CV Review
Core Behaviour 1
Core Behaviour 2
Technical Competencies
Please Note: In the event of a tied score at interview, the Order of Merit will be distinguished based on the ranking of the assessed behaviours and competencies below:
- 1st: Core Behaviour 1
- 2nd: Core Behaviour 2
- 3rd: Technical Competencies
- 4th: CV Review
In the event of a further tie using the method above, we reserve the right to utilise the Lead criteria, and/or an additional assessment. Please note for this specific assessment, the Lead Criteria will be:
Minimum NEBOSH General Certificate or an equivalent Level 3 qualification in a relevant health & safety discipline.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview.
If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance you should contact department via email: [email protected].
Offering at a lower level
If you’re not successful at interview, we may offer you a role at a lower level if this is a match for your skills and experience. If this applies to your application, you’ll be scored against criteria for the lower-level role and offers will be made in merit order. If you accept this position, you’ll be able to take advantage of opportunities to develop your career as part of our team.
