Senior Technical Specialist in Belfast

Can you bring clarity and insight to the complex world of maritime decarbonisation, driving progress through collaboration and deep technical understanding?

Do you feel confident navigating strategic conversations with senior stakeholders to shape the future of maritime innovation and transformation?

If so, we\'d love to hear from you!

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) implements the government’s maritime safety policy in the United Kingdom and works to prevent the loss of life and occurrence of pollution on the coast and at sea. The Directorate of UK Customer Maritime Services is responsible for all Seafarers Services, the UK Concierge Service, and Maritime Futures.

The Maritime Futures team are responsible for horizon scanning domestically and internationally to consider how emerging trends and developments might affect current regulation and to provide insight that helps the MCA to present regulation that is future proofed for new and emerging technologies. The team will support the delivery of government policy as required, acting as a central hub and coordination of technical expertise, working in partnership with industry, academia and across government agencies. Maritime decarbonisation is at a critical point with the United Kingdom committed to Net Zero 2050. Digital transformation and autonomy will also play a significant part in the future of maritime and understanding the impact they will have on policy and regulation is essential.

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 and 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: Maritime and Coastguard Agency - Department for Transport Careers

The Senior Technical Specialist will provide strategic leadership, insight and intelligence on Maritime Decarbonisation and associated areas including digital innovation, autonomy, and the ship to shore interface. They will provide in-depth knowledge of the agenda and keep pace with the speed of technology evolution, the market and the policy environment. They engage and provide thought leadership at a senior level with the Department for Transport Maritime Directorate, other government departments/agencies, infrastructure providers, academia, and the shipping industry.

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

• Providing in-depth and current intelligence and insight, across all aspects of Maritime Decarbonisation and Digitalisation (including policy/regulatory, behavioural, economic, structural and organisational matters) and be able to ground these insights with an understanding of the context of the wider maritime sector both domestically and internationally.
• Proactively developing and maintaining knowledge and understanding in key areas including technology evolution, the market, academic research, and the policy environment. Establish and maintain professional and technical credibility with stakeholders at all levels. Leverage relationships to achieve agency and wider govt ambitions.
• Actively engage with government and industry to provide the team’s \'big picture\' view on decarbonisation: technologies and fuels are likely to prevail, constraints of infrastructure, economic and technology development. Identifying required actions and supporting a coherent approach between industry, government and academia.
• Carry out technical analysis and critical reviews to generate evidence and new knowledge where required, or manage others in carrying out this work, including technical review and supervision. This includes input into business-critical models in central government where required.
• Responsible for the effective management of relevant staff ensuring that performance, attendance and conduct management are effectively delivered.
• Support, where required, requests for information around other future and emerging technologies and their potential impact on regulation.
• Working with other teams throughout the MCA to share knowledge and ensure a coherent approach to decarbonisation and technology priorities, with a joined-up narrative presented externally.

Great line management is important to us as an organisation, and we will equip and support line managers to develop the skills they need. We aim to empower line managers to create teams where people can flourish and deliver excellent outcomes for the public.

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.