Lifting Operative

Babcock International; Plymouth; On-site; GBP 29,000 - 35,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous holiday allowance

Pension with life assurance

Aviva DigiCare+ Digital GP and health

Employee shopping portal

Paid professional fees

10-days reservist leave

Holiday Trading

Be Kind Day

Job summary

Babcock is hiring a Lifting Operative to support critical defence projects at Devonport Royal Dockyard. You will move equipment safely, follow lift plans, and help maintain exclusion zones while working in a skilled team. The role offers long-term career development in defence, engineering, and naval operations.

The position is full-time, on-site at Devonport, with 35 hours per week. A 32,200 GBP gross annual salary applies, and successful candidates must achieve SC security clearance.

Qualifications

• Experience in lifting operations or similar hands-on industrial roles.
• Ability to follow procedures and work safely in a structured environment.
• Strong communication skills, including signalling to crane operators.

Responsibilities

• Carry out slinging and lifting operations safely and efficiently.
• Support fleeting operations on submarines and warships.
• Produce and follow lift plans and operational instructions.
• Set up and maintain safe exclusion zones during lifting activities.
• Inspect lifting equipment and report or isolate non-compliant items.

Skills

Lifting operations

Procedures & safety

Crane signaling

Learning mindset

Job description

As a Lifting Operative, you'll play a vital role in supporting critical operations within our submarine and warship programmes. Working in a highly skilled team, you'll be responsible for safely moving equipment and materials that keep major defence projects progressing. Day-to-day, you'll have an opportunity to build a long-term career in defence, engineering, and naval operations. You'll gain specialist skills, work in a unique dockyard environment, and contribute directly to projects that support national security.

• Carrying out slinging and lifting operations safely and efficiently
• Supporting fleeting operations on submarines and warships
• Producing and following lift plans and operational instructions
• Setting up and maintaining safe exclusion zones during lifting activities
• Inspecting lifting equipment and reporting or isolating non-compliant items.

This role is full time, 35 hours per week and is based on site at Devonport Royal Dockyard. There is an opportunity for Optimised Working Patterns (OWP) within this role. OWP is a temporary variation to your standard terms and condition that commits you to support 7-day working arrangements. For full details of the patterns, pay and durations, this can be found in the OWP 1 and OWP 2 agreements (available from hiring manager). Primarily, it involves 4-week shift cycles consisting of either day/back shift or day/night shift. An example of the remuneration for these shifts is as follows: Gross salary: £32,200

• Experience in lifting operations or similar hands-on industrial roles
• Ability to follow procedures and work safely in a structured environment
• Strong communication skills, including signalling to crane operators
• Willingness to learn, develop, and undertake further training
• Experience in marine, construction, or heavy engineering environments is desirable.

Qualifications for the Lifting Operative

• CPCS Blue A40 Slinger Signaller, NPORS 402 Slinger Signaller, or NVQ Level 2 in Lifting and Moving Loads (or equivalent)
• Additional rigging or lifting certifications are advantageous but not essential.

We're Babcock - a global FTSE 100 organisation with over 26,000 people working together to make a difference.

Here, you'll be part of something bigger. From initial design to final decommissioning, your work will contribute to products and services that are essential to national security and public infrastructure. Together, we're building a future that lasts - not just through the impact we make, but through meaningful careers that respect your work-life balance. We call that lifetime engineering. Join us and see how far we can go, together.

The successful candidate must be 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. Further details are available at.

What we offer

• Generous holiday allowance
• Matched contribution pension scheme, with life assurance
• Access to a Digital GP, annual health check, and nutritional consultations through Aviva DigiCare+
• 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. This Window opens February through to March annually.
• '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