Customer Liaison Officer

DEA Specialised Airborne Operations; Laneham; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 48,000; Full time

Job summary

DEA Specialised Airborne Operations is seeking an embedded Customer Liaison Officer to operate on-site in Dover, bridging the customer, mission crews and support teams. You will advise on sensor outputs, platform capabilities and operational limitations, ensuring accurate display and understanding within the command centre.

The role requires calm, credible communication under pressure, with fault-diagnosis and escalation handled per procedures. On-site shifts and security vetting are required.

Qualifications

• Operational experience in military, law enforcement, or related security/defence environments.
• Ability to explain technical matters in clear, practical language.
• Experience working with customers or operational staff in time-sensitive settings.

Responsibilities

• Act as on-site Customer Liaison during shifts, maintaining professional relationships with customer teams.
• Provide timely advice on platform availability, sensor outputs and operational limitations.
• Support understanding and use of sensor outputs; identify factors affecting collection/display quality.
• Coordinate live queries between Customer Centre, DEA mission crews and support teams, ensuring clear communication.

Skills

Customer liaison

Shift work

Fault finding

Live video

Sensor feeds

Education

Technical qualification or equivalent

Tools

Mission systems

Video display systems

IT interfaces

Job description

To act as DEA's embedded Customer Liaison Officer within a Customer's centre in Dover, providing the day-to-day operational and technical link between the customer, DEA mission crews, and support teams. The liaison officer will be responsible for providing sensor payload output advice on the utilisation of the platform and resolving any issues with the interface. The role will provide first-line support to ensure sensor outputs are correctly received, displayed and understood within the command centre, escalating technical faults where required and maintaining continuity through clear shift handovers. This is a shift-based, customer-facing role requiring a calm, credible and technically confident operator.

Key Responsibilities

Customer Liaison and Operational Support

• Act as DEA's on-site representative during assigned shifts, maintaining a professional and effective working relationship with customer watchkeepers, command staff and operational teams.
• Provide the customer with timely advice on platform availability, sensor outputs, tasking considerations, capabilities and operational limitations.
• Support the customer in understanding and using sensor payload outputs, including explaining what the platform can deliver and any factors affecting collection or display quality.
• Coordinate live operational queries and issues between the Customer's Centre, DEA mission crews, and support teams, ensuring information is passed through the agreed command and communication routes.

Sensor Output and Platform Advice

• Maintain a practical working knowledge of the platform sensor payload, output formats, display characteristics and key operational limitations.
• Advise on effective utilisation of the platform and sensor payload to support customer requirements, including appropriate use of available sensor products and outputs.
• Confirm that live feeds, imagery, video and associated data are being received and displayed correctly within the Customer's Centre.
• Explain any known collection gaps, degraded outputs, latency or other limitations to the customer and support identification of workable operational alternatives where possible.

Interface, Display and Technical Support

• Provide first-line diagnosis and resolution of interface or display issues affecting the delivery of sensor payload outputs into the command centre.
• Complete agreed system checks and basic recovery actions, including connection, display, and configuration checks, within authorised procedures and access permissions.
• Identify whether faults are likely to sit within the local display/interface, communications path, mission system or aircraft platform and engage the appropriate support team.
• Escalate unresolved technical issues promptly, providing clear fault details, timings, symptoms, actions taken and current operational impact.
• Confirm restored service with the customer following corrective action and record the outcome to support traceability and recurring fault analysis.

Compliance, Handover and Reporting

• Conduct structured shift handovers covering platform status, customer priorities, current faults, outstanding actions and any operational limitations.
• Maintain concise operational and technical logs, capturing customer requests, interface issues, resolutions and matters requiring follow-up.
• Handle customer information, imagery and operational data in accordance with company procedures, customer security requirements and Customer site rules, raising risks or recurring issues through the appropriate management route.

Technical Experience and Expertise

• Demonstrable operational experience in a military, law enforcement, border security, command and control, intelligence, aviation, technical operations or similar environment; an ex-military or law enforcement background is highly desirable.
• Strong technical aptitude with experience of live video, sensor feeds, mission systems, IT interfaces, communications or control-room display systems, and the confidence to carry out first-line fault finding.
• A relevant technical, communications, avionics, IT, ISR, or operational qualification is desirable; equivalent practical experience will be considered.
• Experience working directly with customers or operational command staff in a live or time-sensitive environment is desirable.
• Able to work a shift pattern on-site in Dover and meet all company and customer security, vetting, and site access requirements.

Skills Profile

• Confident and credible customer-facing communicator, able to build trust with operational staff and explain technical matters in clear, practical language.
• Calm and methodical under pressure, with a strong problem-solving approach and the judgement to distinguish between issues that can be resolved locally and those requiring escalation.
• Technically curious and comfortable working with unfamiliar systems, interfaces and display equipment while following controlled procedures.
• Strong attention to detail, with disciplined logging, handover and incident reporting habits.
• Able to work independently, take ownership of issues and maintain momentum while remaining closely connected to the wider DEA operational and technical teams.
• Reliable, flexible and team focused, with the ability to support shift work and changing operational priorities within a customer command-centre environment.