Chief Officer

Location: Kyle of Lochalsh, IV40 8AJ

Salary: Competitive salary plus excellent benefits

Schedule: 48 hours per week, 6 weeks on, 3 weeks off

For applicants who live further than 80 miles away from Kyle of Lochalsh, Serco will pay a maxiumum of 0.45p per mile for travel to and from base.

Ready to impact a better future?

As a Chief Officer in our Kyle of Lochalsh (BUTEC) operations team, you’ll play a key role in keeping our vessel operations running safely, smoothly, and with real purpose. Every decision you make and every standard you uphold supports our work that touches lives and creates positive impact for communities.

You’ll help shape the future of our maritime capability by maintaining exceptional standards across deck operations and vessel safety. Your work will support reliable services that people trust and depend on every day.

What You’ll Do As a Chief Officer

• Plan and supervise the maintenance of all deck areas, including holds, hatches, and superstructure.
• Oversee correct loading, discharge, and ballasting of the vessel, ensuring safety, stability, and compliance.
• Manage deck stores, including stowage, inventory, and re‑ordering.
• Inspect deck machinery, equipment, and records, ensuring high standards and readiness.
• Prevent infringements of Oil Pollution Regulations and work closely with the Chief Engineer during bunkering and bilge transfer.
• Act as a Watchkeeping Officer, normally taking the 4–8 watch and maintaining full navigational control.

Does this sound like you?

• A Certificate of Competence as Chief Officer (under 3000GT as a minimum).
• Up‑to‑date STCW qualifications, including survival, fire‑fighting, safety, and security duties.
• Strong organisational skills and a methodical approach.
• Experience working within safety‑critical environments.
• An unrestricted ENG1 medical.

Vetting And Checks

This role requires Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) clearance, which involves verifying your identity, employment history, nationality, and criminal record to meet government security standards. Depending on the nature of the role, you may need to obtain formal Security Clearance (such as CTC or SC), which includes more detailed background checks on employment, criminal record, and financial history to ensure suitability for working in secure environments. UK residency requirements may apply for certain levels of clearance. You will also complete an Occupational Health Questionnaire so we can identify and provide any support you may need to undertake the role effectively.

Discover all you need to keep growing

We’re one of the top 1% of international employers, so you can have confidence you’ll be part of a highly supportive culture with leaders you can count on to help you achieve your goals. From mentoring and training to our focus on internal progression, we’re proud to offer clear development opportunities – and the support and tools to help you seize them.

What We Offer

• Pension: Up to 6% contributory pension scheme.
• Training and development: Over 1,100 internal courses available, funding for qualifications and apprenticeships (including L3 Team Leader and L5 Operations Manager apprenticeships), mentoring opportunities, and a focus on internal progression.
• Health and wellbeing: 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme, BUPA Anytime HealthLine, wellbeing app, Simplyhealth cash plans to claim back money towards healthcare costs, 30% off at Serco-managed leisure centres.
• Discounts: Discounts across around 1,000 retailers, from food and clothing to days out, entertainment and travel.
• Charity: Paid volunteering day, tax‑free charitable giving through Payroll Giving Scheme, donate your pennies from your monthly pay to the Serco People Fund Charity.
• Employee networks: Our networks support inclusion and connection by providing spaces for collaboration, learning, and belonging. They represent and empower all our colleagues including LGBTQIA+ employees, women, parents and carers, people with disabilities, veterans, and people from all cultural backgrounds.

Let’s impact a better future, together. Apply today.

To discover more about our careers in Defence, meet our team, and to find out more about what we offer, please follow this link. We’re also a signatory of the UK Governments Women in Defence Charter, to find out more please click here.

Please click on the apply button to complete your application. Occasionally we receive a large volume of applications for our roles and when that happens, we sometimes bring the closing date forward, so please apply promptly to avoid disappointment.

At Serco, we see people first and foremost for their performance and potential. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive organisation that supports the needs of all. As such we will make reasonable adjustments at interview through to employment for our candidates and strongly encourage applications from a diverse candidate pool. We are open to discussions around flexibility and flexible working. As a proud Disability Confident Leader and holder of the Gold Inclusive Employer Standard, disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job will be given the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities at an interview.