Watch Officer - Coastguard and VTS

Watch Officer - Coastguard and VTS

Application Deadline: 20 November 2026

Department: Coastguard

Employment Type: Permanent

Location: Maritime House (St Helier)

Reporting To: Phil Le Neveu

Compensation: Initial salary £39,241 per year which increases with training, plus shift allowance of £14,503 following initial training

Description

Running 24/7, 365 days a year, it won’t surprise you that no two days/nights will be the same. As a Watch Officer, you must be prepared for anything and be comfortable switching from the routine and predictable to the unusual and fast paced emergency situations.

It’s these core life skills that make you who you are that we’re interested in; you could have gained those from almost any working experience. First and foremost is your ability to interact effectively with anyone from any walk of life and in any circumstance. If you can remain cool, calm and collected and apply sound judgement and common sense to whatever you encounter, and continually look for a positive solution, then we would like to hear from you.

Successful applicants will be provided with the training, support and experience you’ll need to obtain your Coastguard and VTS qualifications.

Key Responsibilities

Vessel Traffic Service ("VTS")

• Operate 24hr VTS service for commercial and leisure vessels within the defined VTS Area.
• Monitoring, controlling, managing traffic movements, routing and scheduling vessel movements.
• Promote maritime safety information in relation to the VTS area.
• Report and log infringements of maritime legislation, local maritime laws and harbour directions, prepare reports.
• Ensure accurate logging of vessel movements to aid customer/stakeholder awareness and planning.
• Arrange for provision of allied services and specific requests by visiting vessels or agents.
• Assist with training and familiarisation of new recruits.

Coastguard

• 24hr monitoring of emergency frequencies, providing first line response to 999 lines and alerting systems, managing and coordinating accordingly. Promulgate maritime safety information such as Nav warnings, Wind warnings and weather forecasts via VHF radio.
• Assist Search Mission Co-Ordinator (SMC) during SAR operations (to the level of Mission Co-ordinator).
• Monitorroutine working frequencies, telephone lines and e-mail addresses and respond accordingly.
• Promulgate maritime safety information via VHF radio and associated means.
• Assist the Coastguard and VTS Manager and Duty Officers with associated reasonable tasks.
• Organise and deliver sea safety advice under the banner of ‘Public Engagement’ through school presentations and MOC visits.
• Carry out daily/weekly equipment tests for the Marine Operations Centre ("MOC") and VTS Tower.
• Document faults and request repairs.
• Monitor routine working frequencies, telephone lines and e-mail addresses and respond accordingly

Communication -

• 24hr primary port of contact for PoJ Harbour estate – defect/security/operational reporting and responding accordingly.
• Port infrastructure and MOC equipment defect monitoring and reporting and carry out daily equipment tests.
• Ensure all manual and automatic communication/information systems within the port are effectively monitored with any faults responded to and maintained according to operational guidelines and manufacturers’ instructions and that any defects are resolved.

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• Relevant maritime experience, either through employment or personal interest.
• It is a requirement of this role that the successful candidate will successfully complete the internationally recognised IALA C0103/1 Vessel Traffic Operator’s qualifying course within 12 months of service.
• Coastguard training will be provided in line with the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency frameworks. This will include Search and Rescue planning, communications and overall mission conduct.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills. The post-holder will liaise with a wide range of stakeholders.
• An ability to act decisively, calmly and positively when under pressure.
• Excellent motivational and team building skills
• Able to take the initiative and seek novel solutions to problems.
• Ability to work under own initiative but also as part of a team
• Excellent situational awareness and the ability to foresee problems which may develop as a result of the information available.

Benefits

At Ports of Jersey we have a company cash health plan scheme you are eligible to join from day one with benefits such as;

• GP £75
• Dental £75
• Optical £75
• Dental accident £300
• Physio/ acupuncture/ chiropractic £200
• Diagnostic tests/ scans £300
• Health assessment £100
• Plus many more discounts (DW gym, discount spa vouchers etc.)

We offer free parking at all of our locations. We also offer a pension scheme to those on permanent contracts, the main benefits of the scheme are as follows;

• 5% employer contribution rate on basic salary plus shift
• Employees can make voluntary contributions and ports will match 1% for 1% up to an employer maximum matched contribution of 5% e.g. Employee opts to contribute 5% Ports will match this and the total employer contributions would become 10%
• You are eligible to join the pension scheme the month after successful completion of your probation
• Minimum joining age – 18
• You are not able to join the pension scheme once you reach Government of Jersey state retirement age
• Cash sum payable to nominated beneficiary if the member dies in service.

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