Emergency Planning Officer

Job Description

Job title: Emergency Planning Officer
Department: Chief Harbour Master
Reporting to: Marine Compliance Manager
Grade: 7
Salary: £44,130 per annum
Contract Type: Full Time (35 hours per week)
Base: London River House, Gravesend, DA12 2BG.
Closing date: 15th July 2024 (Please note that the PLA reserves the right to end the recruitment process early should sufficient candidates be found)
Interview date: TBC

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A rare opportunity has arisen to join the Port of London’s Marine Compliance team providing specialist services in support of the PLA’s core safety functions.

Based at our Head Office in Gravesend overlooking the iconic River Thames the successful candidate will play a key role in safeguarding the river and planning the ports emergency response to marine incidents.

In this role you will be assisting the Marine Compliance Manager by having responsibility for marine emergency planning, which will see you planning and executing emergency exercises along the river Thames, representing the PLA at external forums and events and liaising with key internal and external stakeholders on the development of the PLA’s marine emergency plan.

This is a varied role in which you will also contribute significantly to the ongoing development and maintenance of an effective safety management system and supporting regulatory framework whilst providing statistical analysis and reports to senior management.

This is an excellent opportunity for someone looking for their first shore-based role and provides an excellent grounding for aspiring future Harbour Masters and port managers.

Applicants should ideally hold an STCW (OOW Unlimited) Certificate of Competency or BML, preferably with some experience in navigational safety management, risk assessment, training, and emergency management.

You should be confident with the ability to hold a room and engage with colleagues at all levels of the business. Excellent IT skills are essential, as is a curiosity to learn and develop new software systems. In return we offer a competitive salary, excellent career progression opportunities into Deputy and Harbour Master roles, health insurance, generous leave and a contributory pension scheme.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Support the Marine Compliance Manager to ensure the PLA maintains appropriate and effective marine emergency and contingency plans, supported by effective and relevant training, exercising and partner liaison and communication.
• Contribute and participate in a system of liaison with official bodies and emergency services in order to promote mutual understanding of the PLA’s role in relation to emergency response on the Thames.
• Prepare and conduct safety exercises in line with the marine emergency and oil spill contingency plans, represent the PLA when invited to attend exercises with external stakeholders and participate, as required in multi-agency exercises, training and other events.
• Deliver training on the PLA Emergency Plan and associated equipment as well as the PLA Marine SMS and its associated systems as required.
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date Marine Compliance and Emergency Planning information on CHM SharePoint sites and the public facing website.
• Coordinate, maintain and continually develop the Workplace Inspections as per the CHM Workplace Inspections procedure:
• Allocating inspections to CHM management staff,
• Managing findings and follow up actions,
• Ensuring fully auditable evidence is available for inspection at any time.
• Coordinate the daily operation of the suite of CHM SharePoint sites, providing administrator-level support to users where required and assisting the Marine Compliance Manager with the ongoing development of each site and content creation.
• Review incident report submissions for refusal or acceptance into the Navigational Incident Management System, ensuring that compliance with relevant legislation is maintained at all times.
• Responsible to the Marine Compliance Manager for carrying out Quality Assurance Checks on all completed incident investigations and rejecting these back to Harbour Masters, providing guidance, where required.
• Responsible for the preparation and publication of various internal ad-hoc SMS reports, regular management reports and associated management information.
• Co-ordinate the daily operation of the PLA’s Risk and Incident management systems, providing administrator level support to users where required and assisting the Marine Compliance
• Manager with the ongoing development of each system.
• Remain fully conversant with the roles and responsibilities of the Marine Compliance Officer in order to provide cover and support for the following duties:
• Maintain the scheduled, rolling review of PLA marine regulatory publications, guidance, marine policies, and navigational information.
• Co-ordinate the provision of a detailed and robust central records process in respect of the port’s marine Safety Management System (SMS) and the PLA’s compliance with the Port Marine Safety Code (PMSC). This includes thorough document reviews or the development of new documents (of all types and levels), where required.
• Monitor and review notices and publications from government bodies, industry agencies and authorities, ensuring relevant information is promulgated to the wider CHM team and organisation as appropriate.
• Ensure accurate, timely and cost-effective publication and distribution of hard copy and electronic notices, regulations and other PLA marine publications and documents, working directly with printers and contractors as necessary.
• Continually develop and maintain the PMSC internal audit system including:
• Conducting audits
• Coordinating a trained team of auditors
• Managing findings and follow up actions (from minor issues to serious non-compliances) at all levels of the PLA.
• Ensuring fully auditable evidence is available for inspection at any time.

The above list is not exhaustive and other duties may be attached to the post from time to time. Variations may also occur to the duties and responsibilities without changing the general character of the post.

What we are looking for:

• Hold a STCW OOW (Unlimited) Certificate of Competency or equivalent, or a BML Certificate, and/or have recent relevant port or vessel management experience.
• Due to the high standard of written skills required for the role, a Foundation Degree level (or higher) is preferred.
• A good understanding of the requirements of the PMSC (and supporting Guide to Good Practice).
• Good communication/presentational/interpersonal skills; writing, time management and administrative skills are essential, with an ability to work under pressure and within an agreed level of autonomy.
• Ability to represent the PLA on national, regional, and local ports, marine safety, training, and contingency management forums.
• Significant knowledge and demonstrable understanding of: –
  • Safety Management Systems
  • Emergency Planning & Response
  • Contingency Management
  • Marine Risk Assessment Techniques
  • Auditing and compliance monitoring
  • Document Management Systems
  • Microsoft Office 365 (in particular, an advanced knowledge of SharePoint, Excel, PowerBi and Word.)
  • Basic knowledge of any common programming language is desirable.

Benefits package:

• Equivalent of 28 days annual leave
• Medical Cash Plan (Westfield Health)
• Generous pension
• Onsite parking with electric charging
• Access to Occupational Health, Mindfulness, Counselling and Physiotherapy
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Access to MyGymDiscounts

For further information or if you would like to have an informal discussion about the position, please contact Paul Evans, Marine Compliance Manager on paul.evans@pla.co.uk during the working hours of 08:00am to 16:00pm.

The PLA are not registered with the UK Home Office and do not sponsor candidates who require a visa or work permit to work in the UK, therefore an offer of employment cannot be made unless you currently hold the rights to live and work in the UK.