Ship Standards – Autonomy Advisor (Assurance)

Do you have a background in autonomy and software assurance?

Are you confident at building relationships with stakeholders?

Would you like to input and help develop standards and frameworks to make a positive change to maritime safety and environmental protection?

If so, we’d love to hear from you!

The Future Technical Standards Team sits within the Maritime and Coastguard Agency's (MCA) Directorate of UK Maritime Services (UKMS) and plays a vital role in developing and maintaining the UK's maritime safety and environmental regulations. Working across a diverse portfolio, the team is responsible for standards affecting all types of vessels, from small pleasure craft to large internationally trading ships. This is a technically challenging and rewarding role at the heart of maritime regulation, where you will help shape policy, develop regulatory requirements, and support the delivery of the UK's maritime objectives. You'll work closely with operational colleagues across the MCA, government departments, international maritime administrations, and industry stakeholders to address emerging issues and drive continuous improvement. If you are looking for an opportunity to apply your technical expertise in a collaborative environment while influencing the future of maritime safety and environmental protection, this role offers a unique platform to make a meaningful impact.

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 Ship Standards – Autonomy Advisor (Assurance), it will be your responsibility to support and, in some cases, take a proactive lead in managing and developing UK regulations, standards and guidance for ship safety and marine environment protection subject areas.

Working closely with the Assistant Director Ship Standards and senior colleagues, you will support UK Government objectives for a safe, sustainable, and commercially successful maritime sector. Drawing on your own expertise and collaborating with specialist colleagues, your work will contribute to ensuring high standards of maritime safety and environmental protection while enabling innovation across the sector.

This is an exciting opportunity for you to help drive policy development and make a real contribution in the shipping industry in ensuring safer lives, safer ships, and cleaner seas. This role provides a dynamic working environment, with regular engagement with stakeholders at all levels.

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

• Supported by Senior Colleagues lead on a specific subject matter remit: autonomy (including AI) and software assurance, and software integrity.
• Work with others in the team and the Innovation Hub to manage Stakeholder Groups and represent MCA at such meetings as well as other meetings, working groups, project groups and external events as required in support of key responsibilities and the work of Stakeholder Groups.
• Supported by Senior Colleagues, lead on the drafting of instructions for Government lawyers to facilitate the timely implementation of regulations and draft codes and guidance to implement UK objectives for shipping safety. Coordinate the development of associated impact assessments in conjunction with Government economists.
• To partake in MCA and externally funded Research Projects as requested.

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, Experience and Technical skills.

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 (1000-word count). Please provide evidence of your Experience of the following:

• Candidates must be able to demonstrate a high standard of drafting ability to allow them to draft quality submissions and other documents.
• Experience and technical knowledge of autonomy (including AI), software and assurance processes and developments, which may be obtained through education, research or practical experience.
• Demonstrable knowledge of and experience in use of Microsoft Office Word, Excel and emails.

The sift will take place week commencing 28/09/2026

Stage 2: Interview

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

• Behaviours – (Seeing the Big Picture, Changing and Improving, Working Together, Making Effective Decisions and Delivering at Pace)
• Experience
• Technical – (Analysis and use of evidence – Policy Framing (Level 2)

The framework can be found here Policy Profession Standards

You will also be required to create and deliver a presentation to assess the Technical element listed above. Guidance will be provided if you are invited to interview.

The interviews will take place week commencing 19/10/2026

This interview will be conducted online via Microsoft Teams. Further details will be provided to you should you be selected for interview.

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

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.

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.