Head of Maritime Skills, Diversity and Careers
| Posting date: | 23 February 2026 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £57,515 per year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 08 March 2026 |
| Location: | Leeds |
| Company: | Government Recruitment Service |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 449599/2 |
Summary
Have you developed and delivered policy that drives strategic objectives and stands up to constructive challenge?
Are you excited by the opportunity to shape the future of a sector critical to the UK’s economy?
If so, we’d love to hear from you!
We have a unique opportunity to join a supportive and friendly team shaping policy in an area vital to the UK. With 85% of imports arriving by sea and 18 million passengers travelling by sea in 2024, a skilled and diverse maritime workforce is essential to sustaining growth.
We take a holistic view of maritime skills, from seafarers and port workers to the UK’s renowned shipping support services in finance, legal and insurance. Working closely with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Whitehall departments and industry bodies in the UK and globally, you will help deliver policy that responds to advances in technology, new fuels and automation, while benefiting from tailored learning and development opportunities.
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: Department for Transport Central - Department for Transport Careers
As Head of Maritime Skills, Careers & Diversity Policy, you will hold responsibility for delivering all areas of policy across this portfolio. You will provide line management to a Senior Executive Officer (SEO) and oversee shared SEO resource across the division, requiring exceptional organisation, prioritisation and decision-making skills to ensure maximum impact from limited resource.
This is a high-profile role requiring you to see the bigger picture — aligning sector skills policy with wider government objectives, labour market needs and long-term industry transformation.
Your responsibilities will include, but aren’t limited to:
- Lead on all aspects of policy development and delivery for the maritime skills, diversity and careers portfolio, a high-profile policy area attracting substantial ministerial and stakeholder interest.
- Lead on the drafting of the skills, diversity and careers element of government publications from their inception through to publication, including managing stakeholder engagement and testing out new policy approaches.
- Build and maintain the Department’s relationship with a wide range of stakeholders across Whitehall, trade bodies, private sector companies, academia, research councils, international delegations and trade unions. Progress the positive aspects of these relationships and common ground but also manage the complexities and differing opinions with a solution based collaborative approach.
Great 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 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.
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