Marine Licensing Advisor

Do you have experience working in the maritime sector, marine licensing, shipping, or a related safety and regulatory environment?

Can you apply your knowledge of maritime regulations, navigation safety, and marine operations to support informed decision-making?

Do you understand how marine developments and activities can impact shipping, navigation, and the wider marine environment?

If so, we’d love to hear from you!

Join Marine Safety and PNT Services (MSPS), part of UK Technical Maritime Services (UKTMS), and help support the UK's maritime strategy for safer ships and cleaner seas. The team develops and delivers policies that promote marine safety and environmental protection, working across national and international regulations. Within MSPS, the Navigation Team leads on areas including navigation safety, marine licensing, offshore renewable energy developments, vessel traffic management, and the Ports and Marine Facilities Safety Code. Working with stakeholders across government and industry, you'll help ensure the UK's waters remain safe, sustainable and fit for the future.

Safer lives. Safer Ships. Cleaner Seas.

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 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 MCA:

MCA roles: Maritime and Coastguard Agency - Department for Transport Careers

As a Marine Licensing Advisor within Marine Safety and PNT Services (MSPS), part of UK Technical Maritime Services (UKTMS), you will be working within the Navigation Team, leading on the assessment and coordination of marine licence applications and offshore consenting cases, ensuring navigational safety considerations are fully considered and reflected in decision-making. You will provide expert advice and guidance on marine licensing matters, helping to maintain high standards of marine safety and environmental protection across UK waters.

The role offers the opportunity to work on a diverse portfolio of projects, including marine infrastructure proposals, oil and gas consenting applications, and emerging space launch activities. You will work closely with colleagues across government, regulators and industry stakeholders to assess the impact of developments on navigation and shipping, ensuring compliance with relevant legislation, international conventions and policy requirements. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to innovative and strategically important projects while supporting the transition to a more sustainable maritime sector.

This is a unique and varied role where no two days are the same. You will have the opportunity to work with different stakeholders not only within the MCA, but also with other maritime regulators and organisations throughout the UK. This role will give you vast exposure and allow you to build upon your knowledge and experience of maritime regulations and policies. This is a fast-paced environment where by you can work autonomously to shape the role and make it your own whilst establishing yourself as an expert in marine licensing and consenting.

Your responsibilities will include, but aren’t limited to:

1. Marine Licence Applications (Marine Management Organisation, Natural Resources Wales, Department Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs and Marine Directorate)

• Review, assess and evaluate all Marine Licence and Consent applications from the safety of navigation perspective, to ensure that the risk is As Low As Reasonably Practicable (ALARP) with suitable and appropriate risk mitigation measures, ensuring all necessary information has been included and identify priority. Provide a response to the appropriate body with the required conditions and advice, within the timescales given.

2. Oil and Gas Developments

• Review, assess and evaluate all Oil and Gas Marine Licence and Consent to Locate applications from the safety of navigation perspective, ensuring all necessary information has been included and identify priority. Provide a response to the appropriate body with the required conditions, within the timescale given.

3. Additional Technical Support

• Monitor and manage the NavigationSafety@mcga.gov.uk inbox, answering queries, ensuring stakeholders are kept up to date on consultations and redirecting customer enquiries to the relevant policy leads where necessary.

4. Additional Support

• To coordinate responses to all consultations received and liaise with relevant experts and stakeholders across Marine Protected Areas, Offshore Renewable Energy, Ports and Marine Facilities Safety Code and Vessel Traffic Monitoring.

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.

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

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

How to apply:

Our selection process ensures a comprehensive assessment of each applicant's 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:

Experience – you will be asked to provide a CV (unlimited wordcount) and personal statement (750-word count). Please provide evidence of your Experience of the following:

• Evidence of high level of numeracy, analysis and writing skills combined with appropriate experience in the shipping industry or in maritime administration.
• Knowledge of maritime regulations or experience in a safety related industry.
• An understanding of the marine licensing and consenting regimes, including offshore installations and their impact on navigation safety.

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

The sift will take place week commencing 05/10/2026

Stage 2: Interview

At interview stage, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements:

• Behaviours – (Making Effective Decisions, Communicating and Influencing, Delivering at pace, Managing a quality service)
• Experience

You will also be required to create and deliver a presentation to assess the Behaviours: Making Effective Decisions, Communicating and Influencing. Guidance will be provided if you are invited to interview.

The interviews will take place week commencing 03/11/2026

This interview will be conducted in person at our Southampton office (105 Commercial Road, Southampton, SO15 1EG). Further details will be provided to you should you be selected for interview.

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.

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

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

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