Energetics and General Trials Conducting Officer

Dstl Porton Down, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP4 0JQ At Dstl, our vision is to have a modern way of working efficiently, accommodating and enabling our people to create, collaborate and deliver. To do this successfully in this job will require attendance at a Dstl location; Government Departments including wider MoD or Delivery and Mission Partner's premises for 100% of your working time. Where business needs allow, and with the agreement of your line manager, there may be the option for a combination of workplace and home-based working. This is a non-contractual arrangement. Job Summary As an Energetics & General Trials Conducting Officer, you will be responsible for ensuring the safe and effective conduct of trials at Dstl. You will play a critical role in trial planning and delivery while ensuring the highest standards of health and safety are adhered to at all times. You will also contribute across the full delivery lifecycle and provide constructive recommendations related to safety, design and change. You will support less experienced colleagues in their development and drive continuous improvement across the range service.

You will apply your technical knowledge to oversee complex trials with multiple safety implications. The role requires a high degree of autonomy and sound judgement skills. In This You Will Be Involved In The Following:

• Be accountable for the safety of energetic trials conducted on the Range.
• Translate trial technical objectives into the land range environment and offer ‘applied advice' as required.
• Support a Dstl Trials Manager in preparing trial plans, risk assessments, and environmental impact statements; ensuring alignment with Range safety requirements.
• Implement approved plans, safe systems of work, and effective control measures across all activities.
• Ensure compliance with internal and external regulatory requirements (principally, work to the Defence Safety Authority (DSA) regulations for Ranges).
• Communicate clearly and effectively, taking ownership of decisions and tailoring communication style to suit the audience.
• Leverage specialist networks to share knowledge and best practice. For more information on the job responsibilities, please see the job profile attached below. You will apply your technical knowledge to oversee complex trials with multiple safety implications. The role requires a high degree of autonomy and sound judgement skills. In This You Will Be Involved In The Following:
• Be accountable for the safety of energetic trials conducted on the Range.
• Translate trial technical objectives into the land range environment and offer ‘applied advice' as required.
• Support a Dstl Trials Manager in preparing trial plans, risk assessments, and environmental impact statements; ensuring alignment with Range safety requirements.
• Implement approved plans, safe systems of work, and effective control measures across all activities.
• Ensure compliance with internal and external regulatory requirements (principally, work to the Defence Safety Authority (DSA) regulations for Ranges).
• Communicate clearly and effectively, taking ownership of decisions and tailoring communication style to suit the audience.
• Leverage specialist networks to share knowledge and best practice. For more information on the job responsibilities, please see the job profile attached below. Person specification We are looking for someone who has strong stakeholder engagement, sound judgement and commitment to ensuring the highest level of health and safety guidelines are adhered to at all times For more information on the essential criteria, please see the job profile attached below. Important Information: Our work in defence, security and intelligence requires our employees to be UK Nationals who are able to gain a high level of security clearance to undertake the projects we are involved in to protect us from security threats. For this reason, only UK Nationals will be able to apply for this role. If you are an international or dual-national candidate, and you think you have the skills we need, please consider applying to any of our government, security or defence partners. This role will require full UK security clearance and you should have resided in the UK for the past 5 years. For some roles Developed Vetting will also be required, in this case you should have resided in the UK for the past 10 years. Behaviours We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
• Leadership
• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing Technical skills We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
• Please list your Qualifications and professional memberships relevant to the role
• Essential Experience for the role Alongside your salary of £40,224, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory contributes £11,652 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides . Benefits Dstl's full range of great benefits can be found in the information pack which includes:
• Financial: An excellent pension scheme starting from 26% employer contribution (find out more here). In Year Rewarding Achievement bonuses and thank you vouchers. Rental deposit scheme and cycle to work scheme.
• Flexible working: Options include alternative working patterns such as; compressed hours, job shares and annualised hours (agreed number of hours per annum paid monthly i.e. working term-time only).
• Working hours: Flexibility around your working day (e.g. start time, finish time). Ability to bank hours in a 12 month reference period including the ability to accrue and use 3 days per calendar month.
• Where you work: Depending on your role, blended working may be available including remote working to suit you and your team. This can be discussed at interview.
• Annual leave: 25 days pro rata (rising to 30 after 5 years) plus 8 public holidays with the ability to buy/sell 5 additional days per annum.
• Family: Maternity, adoption or shared parental leave of up to 26 weeks with full pay, an additional 13 weeks statutory pay and a further 13 weeks unpaid
• Learning and Development: Dstl encourages and supports charterships, accreditations and provides employees access to fully funded apprenticeships up to level 7 (Masters Degree). Dstl will pay for 2 memberships with relevant bodies/institutions. Employees also have access to Civil Service Learning.
• Facilities: Onsite parking, EV Charging points, restaurants, cafés and gyms. Artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use. Selection process details This vacancy is using Success Profiles , and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills. We want you to have your best chance of success in our recruitment process, so If at any stage of the application process you would like help or assistance please contact the Dstl Recruitment Team dstlrecruitment@dstl.gov.uk and we will do all we can to support you. At the application stage, we will assess your submitted application against the essential criteria set out in the job profile. Sifting will take place week commencing 12th October 2026 with interviews to held face to face at Dstl Porton Down from the week commencing 2nd November. Interviews will consist of behavioural and technical competency-based questions and a presentation. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. This vacancy is using Success Profiles , and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills. Security Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check .See our vetting charter . People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard checks. Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check .See our vetting charter . People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard checks. Nationality requirements Open to UK nationals only. This job is not open to candidates who hold a dual nationality. Working for the Civil Service The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles . The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy. The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles . The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative. Contact point for applicants Job Contact :

• Name : Dstl Recruitment Team
• Email : dstlrecruitment@dstl.gov.uk Recruitment team
• Email : dstlrecruitment@dstl.gov.uk Further information Should you wish to raise a formal complaint about the Dstl recruitment process you should email dstlrecruitment@dstl.gov.uk stating the nature of the issue. We will respond within 5 working days.