Lead Cable Hand in Kirkcaldy

Location: Rosyth, Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy, GB, KY11 2YD

Onsite or Hybrid: OnSite

Role Type: Full time / Permanent

Lead high-impact shipbuilding work that helps protect the nation. At Babcock, we’re working to create a safe and secure world, together. If you join us, you can play your part as a Lead Cable Hand at Rosyth Dockyard, near Dunfermline, Fife. At the heart of the UK’s defence, aerospace and engineering sectors, Babcock designs, builds and supports critical assets that protect lives, communities and national security. Joining us means more than a job — it’s a chance to contribute to something meaningful while building a career with purpose, stability and long-term opportunity.

The role

As a Lead Cable Hand, you’ll play a pivotal role in complex naval shipbuilding programmes, leading cable installation activities from planning through to delivery. This is a hands-on leadership role where your expertise will directly influence safety, quality and programme success. You’ll guide and develop a skilled team on board vessels under construction, working collaboratively with engineering and production teams to meet critical milestones. The work you do will help deliver world-class maritime capability — while enhancing your leadership skills, technical knowledge and career progression within a global engineering organisation.

Key responsibilities

• Leading and supervising cable installation activities onboard ships across multiple compartments
• Planning and coordinating cable routes, installation sequences and work fronts
• Reading and interpreting cable schedules, drawings and engineering documentation
• Ensuring compliance with health, safety and quality standards through toolbox talks and risk assessments
• Monitoring progress while mentoring and developing less-experienced team members

This is a 37-hour-per-week role based at Rosyth Dockyard. Travel to other Babcock and customer sites may be required depending on project needs.

Essential experience

• Proven experience in cable installation within shipbuilding or heavy industrial environments
• Strong knowledge of cable routing, segregation rules and installation standards
• Experience leading or supervising small teams in a production setting
• Ability to read and interpret technical drawings and cable schedules
• Sound understanding of health and safety requirements, including confined spaces and manual handling.

Qualifications

• Recognised electrical or industrial cabling experience
• ECS card or equivalent (preferred)
• Shipyard experience (highly desirable)

Security Clearance

The successful candidate must be a sole UK National who is able to achieve and maintain Security Check (SC) security clearance for this role. Many of the positions within our company are subject to national security clearance and Trade Control restrictions. This means that your eligibility for certain roles may be affected by your place of birth, nationality, current or former citizenship, and any residency you hold or have held.

What we offer

• Matched contribution pension scheme, with life assurance
• Access to a Digital GP, annual health check, and nutritional consultations through Aviva DigiCare+
• Employee share scheme
• Employee shopping savings portal
• Payment of Professional Fees
• Reservists in the armed forces receive 10-days special paid leave
• Holiday Trading is a benefit that allows UK Babcock employees to buy additional leave or to sell up to one working week of annual leave from their annual entitlement.
• ‘Be Kind Day’ enables employees to take one working day’s paid leave a year (or equivalent hours) to undertake volunteering work with their chosen organisation or registered charity
• Excellent development opportunities and benefits package including an employee assistance programme supporting physical, mental and financial wellbeing.

We’re a disability confident committed employer. If you have a disability or need any reasonable adjustments during the application and selection stages, please email with the subject header ‘Reasonable adjustments requirement’. We’re committed to building an inclusive culture where everyone’s free to thrive. We are happy to talk about flexible working – please ask about alternative patterns of work at interview.