Specialist Diving Inspector - Offshore (Band 3/SEO)

Health and Safety Executive; Ashford; On-site; GBP 74,000; Full time

Job summary

A regulatory authority in the UK is seeking a Specialist Diving Inspector to ensure compliance within the diving industry. You'll engage with various stakeholders, conduct investigations, and influence safety standards. The ideal candidate will have qualifications as a HSE Closed Bell Diver, extensive diving experience, and strong strategic influencing skills. This position offers a competitive salary of £73,335 and excellent benefits including a robust pension scheme, flexible working options, and generous holiday allowances.

Benefits

Salary of £73,335

Pension contributions

Flexible working options

Learning and development opportunities

Generous holiday allowance

Qualifications

• Must have experience as a saturation diver and diving supervisor.
• Ability to demonstrate knowledge of managing diving projects.
• Proven effectiveness in regulatory compliance roles.

Responsibilities

• Ensure compliance with diving industry regulations.
• Investigate accidents and enforce safety measures.
• Advise stakeholders on legal requirements.
• Engage with industry bodies to support regulatory approaches.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Influencing skills

Accident investigation

Stakeholder engagement

Education

Qualified HSE Closed Bell Diver or HSE Part II Diver

ISCED level 4 qualification

Job description

UK diving projects range from entry-level recreational instruction dives to the construction and maintenance of multi-billion-pound offshore wind-farms and major hazard industries. The successful regulation of such a broad portfolio of sectors creates a unique set of challenges and rewards for a Specialist Diving Inspector. You will have the opportunity to influence health and safety standards and HSE regulation of this extensive and varied industry. The post will suit an experienced professional saturation diver looking for opportunities to influence the health and safety of divers and the diving industry. You will work within one of two Diving Inspection Teams involved in regulatory activities across the range of diving industry sectors, seeking to ensure compliance with the relevant health and safety legislation, and taking appropriate enforcement action where required. This is an exciting and challenging career which will take you to varied locations, dealing with a wide range of duty holders from individual sole traders to large multi‑national corporations, adapting your approach as appropriate. You will be a high calibre specialist who can, under challenge, think strategically, and identify underlying core issues. You will officially represent HSE, interacting appropriately and professionally with colleagues, site technical staff, and at the highest levels within an organisation. You will be decisive and able to influence those organisations to bring about improvements. Your primary focus will be to apply your knowledge and experience of the UK major hazard sectors to ensure robust, proportionate and effective regulation of diving operations within that sector. You will be responsible for influencing dutyholders and stakeholders, applying your professional judgement based on extensive time served working in the UK oil & gas or other major hazard sectors, to assess regulatory compliance against current legislative requirements and industry standards. You will be supported by an exceptional team of colleagues and developed to the highest standard to confidently regulate the industry, influencing dutyholders and taking targeted and proportionate enforcement action when necessary.

Responsibilities:

• Ensuring compliance with statutory legislation within the diving industry.
• Applying your specialist knowledge to ensure safe working practices.
• Investigating accidents, complaints and dangerous occurrences.
• Taking enforcement action, including issuing statutory notices in accordance with HSE enforcement policy and EMM.
• Collecting evidence and preparing reports for legal proceedings or accident investigation.
• Advising clients, duty holders, employees and members of the public on legal requirements both orally and in writing.
• Engaging with other stakeholders including industry bodies and regulators to ensure a consistent and efficient regulatory approach is taken to support industry.
• Contributing to the development of the operational policy and strategy for the regulation of the industry.

Full driving licence that permits driving within the UK. However, we are willing to consider any proposals put forward by applicants without a licence that would allow them to do the job by other means. In that case, please select yes and provide details elsewhere.

HSE reserve the right to conduct additional checks, including Google and social media checks, when recruiting candidates into a role within HSE. These checks will be carried out in line with the Civil Service Commission Principles and, if used all candidates will be subject to these additional checks. From 23rd June 2025, if you are successful at interview, as part of your pre‑employment checks, HSE's Recruitment Team are required to check your details against the Internal Fraud Hub (IFH), using your personal details – name, NINO, and date of birth. If you are included on the database, you will be refused employment. If you believe that there has been an error in the inclusion of your data and wish to make an appeal, please contact the CO email box [e-mail]. Details of the types of internal fraud/dishonesty covered by this process are defined by the Cabinet Office and can be found here Internal Fraud Register privacy notice - GOV.UK. It is the candidate's responsibility to ensure they are aware of the terms and conditions they will adopt should they be successful in their application. For a summary of HSE terms and conditions as part of Civil Service Reform, please see the attached HSE Terms and Conditions document. Progression through pay ranges is subject to annual pay awards as permitted within annual Civil Service pay remit guidance and negotiations with Trade Unions.

Nationality requirements:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre‑settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre‑settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Qualifications:

• Qualified HSE Closed Bell Diver or HSE Part II Diver (or equivalent HSE approved qualification)
• Education to ISCED level 4 qualification (or proven ability to work to that level, please answer yes if this applies to you.)

Assessment Criteria:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing Technical skills
• Technical knowledge and understanding of managing diving projects in accordance with legislative requirements that meets industry standards.

A CV that displays your career history, skills and experience working as a saturation diver and, as a diving supervisor, and, your qualifications. A Personal Statement, of no more than 1000 words, that demonstrates how you meet the essential skills and criteria of the role.

HSE's Energy Division (ED) provides effective regulation of the UK's offshore oil and gas, pipelines, mines, diving and renewable power generation. Respected internationally, we have a long‑standing reputation for regulatory expertise that we use to deliver effective and proportionate regulation of these sectors.

Benefits include a salary of £73,335, Health and Safety Executive contributing £21,245 towards your membership of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. You will have access to learning and development tailored to your role, an environment with flexible working options, a culture encouraging inclusion and diversity, competitive rates of pay, access to the highly competitive Civil Service Pension Scheme with HSE contributing 28.97%, family‑friendly and carer‑friendly policies, 25 days annual holiday increasing to 30 days after 5 years’ service plus bank holidays and 1‑day Civil Service privilege leave, parental leave benefits, and access to programmes such as the Cycle to Work Scheme, E‑Gift Cards and Vouchers via our partner EdenRed.

Diversity and Inclusion: The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.