Location: Operating from Gosport, but sailing around the UK and near-continent
Contract: Full Time, permanent
Salary: £30,800 gross per annum
Closing Date: 31 March 2025
Are you a commercially endorsed Yacht Skipper who is looking for a new opportunity?
The Marine Society & Sea Cadets (MSSC) is a vibrant and growing charity, delivering life-changing nautical adventure for young people, to give them the best possible head start in life. We also provide personal and professional development opportunities for seafarers with the Marine Society. Working with our staff, cadets, and volunteers, we have built a vision and five-year strategy to take us forward and further improve the astounding contribution already made through our work to the lives of thousands of young people and seafarers, while fully supporting our volunteers who are vital to our success.
We are currently looking for a Yacht Skipper to join our team.
About the role
The primary purpose of the Yacht Skipper is to be responsible for the safe operation and navigation of any of the MSSC’s yachts allocated to them. The delivery of safe and effective sail training and the co-ordination and liaison of all routine safety checks and maintenance & repair of the offshore yachts.
The MSSC Rustler 42’ yachts operate together and undertake mainly six-day voyages for six Cadets on each yacht. The sail programme sees the yachts operate around the coasts of UK and near-continent, from March to November. From December to February, the yachts undergo winter maintenance, including a lift, usually in the Gosport area. The particular demands of seagoing employment require the incumbent to be available for duty for prolonged periods and working hours cannot be defined in terms of numbers of hours per week, nor will overtime be recognised. The hours of rest for this role will be within the confines of the terms of the Maritime Labour Convention. The uncertain nature of the working hours will be recognised by the holiday arrangements afforded.
Responsibilities
- Execute and plan the directed programme.
- Responsible for the safety, discipline, morale, welfare and day-to-day employment of embarked personnel.
- To be the single point of contact at local level with outside authorities or harbour staff at locations remote from Gosport, especially in relation to matters of berthing or entry into overseas countries.
- Responsible for safety, security and cleanliness of the yachts and any spaces specifically allocated to the yachts during maintenance.
- Plan and schedule the delivery of weekly food orders, taking into account known allergies and intolerances of the embarked crew and cadet trainees.
- Advise on suitability of personnel to serve as relief crewmembers.
- Responsible for the maintenance and husbandry of hull, machinery, mast, spars, sails, standing and running rigging, electrical and mechanical systems and safety equipment, both above and below decks during the sail training season and throughout the winter refit period.
- Ensure the offshore yachts remain in all respects, within the requirements of their code of practice certification.
- Ensure cadets and staff operate in line with the MSSC’s safeguarding and other policies.
Requirements
- Yacht Master (Offshore) Commercially Endorsed.
- Good management and leadership skills and ability to direct staff and cadets with clarity and in a positive manner. Ability to instruct and education youth trainees in sailing techniques and general ship’s living routines.
- Ability to plan and execute defined sail training programme liaising with other vessel Skipper to agree safe passages.
- Must be a team player who can work closely in a small team.
- Possession of an ENG 1 or ML5 medical certificate, or an ability and willingness to obtain
Desirable
- RYA Cruising Instructor.
- Knowledge of Sea Cadet training procedures.
- Experience of using a Safety Management System to maintain all safety and routine maintenance systems.
Benefits
- 104 days annual leave per annum, 84 individual days during the sailing season and 20 working days during the winter refit period.
- Life assurance (4x salary) for those that join the charity’s pension scheme.
- Private medical insurance.
- Pension (employer contribution up to 10%).
- Wellbeing portal and EAP with 121 counselling.
- Employee development: We are investing in our employees’ development and have an annual calendar of learning and development opportunities, designed to support employees to develop into their roles and stretch them to achieve their full potential.
- National staff conference: All employees come together once a year to reflect on the past year and celebrate success at our offsite staff conference. This is a great opportunity to listen to employees’ views, and for employees to network, share information and socialise.
For further information, please download the Recruitment Pack.
If you are interested in this Yacht Skipper vacancy, please apply now!
Additional Information
MSSC positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates from all backgrounds. Equity, diversity, and inclusion really matters to us, so we can best serve our beneficiaries from every community. We work to ensure a fair and consistent recruitment process and aim to be a charity where diversity of experience, identity and skills are valued and welcomed. MSSC is an equal opportunities employer.
We recognise our responsibilities to safeguard and protect the young people and vulnerable adults with whom we work. We do all we can to promote their health, safety and wellbeing, and we expect our staff to share this commitment and work in line with safeguarding policy, the MSSC’s values and ethos of inclusivity. We adhere to safer recruitment practices and therefore employment is subject to detailed pre-employment checks for successful candidates, including references and criminal disclosure checks and the completion of a disclosure questionnaire.
All successful applicants are required to attend safeguarding training and undergo a criminal record check.