Future Technologies Human Element Specialist
| Posting date: | 13 January 2026 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £35,663 per year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 24 January 2026 |
| Location: | Southampton |
| Company: | Government Recruitment Service |
| Job type: | Temporary |
| Job reference: | 443275/1 |
Summary
Do you have a passion for the health, safety and wellbeing of essential workers such as seafarers? Do thrive in looking at future issues and dealing with uncertainty?
Have you had experience in a policy role, or elsewhere gained an understanding of shipping and/or a human factor?
If so, we’d love to hear from you!
The seafarer safety and human element team work with other departments and stakeholders to improve the life of those working aboard ships in the UK and beyond. Alongside safety at work regulations, we look at human factors/human element issues such as seafarer wellbeing, mental health and fatigue. Increasingly, our work involves preparing for future technologies such as automation and decarbonisation.
Joining our department comes with many benefits, including:
- Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here
- 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave), plus 8 bank holidays a privilege day for the King’s birthday
- Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.
Read more in the Benefits section below!
Find out more about what it's like working at MCA roles: Maritime and Coastguard Agency - Department for Transport Careers
In this role you will support resolution of policy issues regarding the health, safety and living and working conditions of seafarers, in the contexts of automation and other emerging technologies. You will identify new policy issues for seafarer safety/wellbeing and participate in horizon scanning as appropriate. This may include data analysis, discussions with stakeholder groups and research in to emerging issues and technologies. Topics include seafarer fatigue, ship-shore interface and the impact of autonomy on wellbeing.
Your responsibilities will include, but aren’t limited to:
Work with future technologies technical leads to ensure the human element is considered at every stage of policy developmentIdentify new/emerging policy issues affecting health, safety or wellbeing of seafarersBe a source of human factors/human element knowledge within the MCAContribute to development of policy at international level, in liaison with future technologies technical and seafarer training policy leadsProvide policy advice and guidance on seafarer wellbeing issues, in particular where future technologies can help/hinder efforts to improve seafarer welfareGreat line management is important to us as an organisation, and we will equip and support line managers to develop the skills they need. We aim to empower line managers to create teams where people can flourish and deliver excellent outcomes for the public.
For further information on the role, please read the attached role profile. Please note that the role profile is for information purposes only - whilst all elements are relevant to the role, they may not all be assessed during the recruitment process. This job advert will detail exactly what will be assessed during the recruitment process.
Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme