Navy Command, HMS Nelson Small Arms Maintainer 1

At Navy Command, we lead, support, and sustain the Royal Navy across every theatre of operations. We coordinate the people, platforms, and missions that keep the Fleet ready for today’s challenges and tomorrow’s opportunities. Together, we uphold centuries of naval tradition while driving innovation that ensures the Royal Navy’s readiness to protect our nation and secure our future.

As the authority responsible for generating the Royal Navy’s operational capability, Director Force Generation ensures ships, submarines, aviation, commando forces, and supporting elements achieve the required levels of readiness. By balancing capability, risk, and operational demand, the directorate provides assured force output and acts as the Fleet’s scheduling authority, ensuring the Royal Navy can deliver whenever and wherever required.

You'll be based at HMNB Portsmouth, one of the oldest and busiest naval bases in the world. It is home to the Royal Navy’s aircraft carriers (HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales) alongside destroyers, frigates, and specialist squadrons. As a vibrant hub of maritime power and innovation, Portsmouth sustains the Fleet and supports thousands of personnel.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

Are you an experienced Quality professional with a passion for excellence in maritime defence? If so, we have an inspiring opportunity for you to join Navy Command. In return, we offer stability, career progression, and access to world-class training and development. Step into a role where your work truly matters, ensuring the Royal Navy remains ready, resilient, and capable of protecting the UK’s interests at sea.

Naval Base Commander Portsmouth (NBC(P)) provides an armoury facility to support large lodger units at readiness and individual personnel to deploy into conflict areas with individual personal weapon systems. This facility also supports front line units conducting continuation training whilst alongside in HMNBP.

This role is operate and manage the armoury in HMS NELSON conducting appropriate maintenance routines of all small arms to ensure 85% availability across all weapon outfits; to manage the correct issue and receipt of all weapons and ancillaries (including timely preparation, delivery and collection of assets to and from the airhead); to remain up to date on weapons maintenance policy and procedure such that routine inspections and assurance visits by both Navy Command and Small Arms School Corps are successful and assure Command; to monitor AinU levels; to compile timely and accurate assessments of equipment; to manage and control all weapon outfits, including Specialist Tools and Testing Equipment (STTE); and to maintain and prepare 3lb saluting platforms at 6 hours notice to fire in direct support of national events as a Primary Saluting Station. This last element of the role means that a driving licence is essential to allow for short notice recall to site to conduct weapon preps for firing.

It is essential that Applicants must hold a recognised advanced weapons maintenance qualification, either as a WES719B Small Arms Advanced Maintainer (Royal Navy) or Class 1 Armourer (Army or RM)

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.

As part of Defence Reform, Navy Command continues to review and evolve its Target Operating Model to support more agile ways of working. In this context, the role and responsibilities of this role may develop over time to reflect changing business priorities and opportunities.

Candidates will be required to provide CV details to include job history; qualification details and previous skills and experience.

Candidates will be required to provide a statement of suitability. (500 word count).The statement of suitability is to set out your motivation for applying for this vacancy and show how your skills and experience meet the essential requirements for the role as outlined in the advert.

At sift, candidates will be assessed against their CV and Statement of suitability and the following Behaviours:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Changing and Improving
• Seeing the Big Picture

In the event of a high volume of applications, only the lead Success Profile will be assessed at sift. The Lead Success Profile for this campaign is Making Effective Decisions.

At interview, candidates will be assessed against their Experience for the role and the following Behaviours:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Changing and Improving
• Seeing the Big Picture

Further information:

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

There may be occasions where it is not practicable or appropriate to interview all DCS candidates that meet the minimum criteria for the job. For example, in certain recruitment situations such as a high volume of applications, seasonal demand, or peak periods, the employer may wish to limit the overall number of interviews offered to both DCS and non-DCS applicants.

As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came into effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points-based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical. This role does not meet that category, and we will not sponsor a visa. It is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points-based system.

Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.

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.

The Ministry of Defence adopts a zero-tolerance approach to unacceptable behaviours, which includes bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, and victimisation. You will not be eligible and will not be considered for this post if you have been dismissed from a role for such unacceptable behaviours within the last five years. This will also apply if you resign or otherwise leave a role but, because of an adverse decision, would have been dismissed for gross misconduct had you continued in that employment. Pre-employment checks will be carried out.

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