Appointment details

Non-Executive Director - Maritime and Coastguard Agency

Summary

• Organisation: Maritime and Coastguard Agency
• Sponsor department: Department for Transport
• Location: Various
• Sectors: Transport
• Skills: Business, Transformation
• Number of vacancies: 1
• Time commitment: 24 day(s) per annum
• Remuneration: £458 per day
• Length of term: Three years
• Application deadline: Midday on 10 July 2026

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Timeline for this appointment

1. Opening date

   29 May 2026

2. Application deadline

   Midday on 10 July 2026

3. Sifting date

   28 August 2026

4. Interviews expected to end on

   30 October 2026

Timeline dates are only an estimate and can change

About the appointment

Introduction from the Minister

Welcome Note from Rt Hon Heidi Alexander MP, Secretary of State for Transport

Dear Applicant,

Thank you for your interest in the non-executive director role on the Board of Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA). This is an important time for the Department for Transport. We are investing heavily in infrastructure and public transport to improve journeys, boost connections, support economic growth. Central to our mission is delivering transport that works for everyone in our society.

The position on the MCA Board requires an ability to provide challenge and support on a wide variety of management and operational issues and contribute to the effective strategic and operational leadership of the MCA.

We strongly welcome applications from all backgrounds. As part of the Department’s commitment to diversity, we believe our public appointments should reflect our customers who come from all walks of life and have different experiences. We value collaborative leadership, thoughtful challenge, integrity, and long-term impact. We very much welcome fresh talent, expertise, and perspectives, to help us better understand the needs of the communities we serve and support better decision making for all. This includes people who may have never applied for a public appointment – but could bring new ideas, insights and energy.

If you are interested in the role and work of MCA, I encourage you to apply.

RT HON HEIDI ALEXANDER MP

Secretary of State for Transport

Introduction from the Chair

Overview from Lord Stevens of Birmingham, Kt (MCA Chair)

As an island nation, the maritime sector plays a vital - though sometimes underappreciated - role in our prosperity, security and environmental future. Within that broader context, the MCA has a distinctive role in ensuring safety at sea for seafarers, passengers, fishing and shipping, as well as maritime environmental protection.

The MCA also sits at the nexus of a changing and challenging economic, technological and regulatory maritime international ecosystem. It therefore has an important contribution to help the UK capitalise on significant opportunities - not only in our established maritime clusters but as an international leader in applied innovation such as maritime autonomy, greener fuels and propulsion, and navigational safety. To succeed over the next decade the MCA will therefore need to assess and support new technologies, frame smart regulation, and develop and credential future-facing maritime skills, while ensuring operational excellence in its core functions.

The Agency’s non-executive directors serve as ‘critical friends’ and ‘force multipliers’ as it squares up to these challenges. If this sounds like the sort of opportunity where you could bring meaningful experience, sound judgement and personal energy then we greatly look forward to hearing from you.

LORD SIMON STEVENS

Chair of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency

Appointment description

The MCA is seeking a Non-Executive Director to join its Board at an important moment for the organisation as it navigates a period of major strategic change. The Agency is modernising the UK’s maritime regulatory framework, introducing new digital transformation across coastguard, strengthening resilience across a safety-critical operational environment, and supporting the global competitiveness of the UK Ship Register.

As a Non-Executive Director, you will bring independent judgement, constructive challenge and support to the MCA’s senior leadership team. You will bring strategic insight alongside strong interpersonal and influencing skills to help the Agency make good decisions, deliver its core responsibilities effectively, and prepare for future opportunities such as emerging technologies, greener propulsion, and improvements to public facing services.

This role is an opportunity to make a positive impact on a safety critical national organisation and to support its mission of keeping people safe and supporting the UK maritime sector. We are particularly keen to hear from candidates whose perspectives are under-represented at Board level and who can bring fresh thinking, constructive challenge, and inclusive leadership. We therefore encourage applications from all backgrounds, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, social background, religious beliefs, ethnicity, or age.

As a Non-Executive Director your key responsibilities will be to:

• Contribute effectively to discussions on the leadership and performance of the business at the MCA Board and Executive/Non-Executive meetings as required (up to 5 MCA Board meetings per year/ 5 ARAC meetings per year).
• Encourage the MCA to examine, challenge and support the operational delivery and commercial implications of major projects and programmes, monitoring performance, and supporting strategic and organisational issues.
• Work with the MCA and senior managers to scrutinise the MCA’s management information to ensure performance and delivery of the MCA’s Business Plan and other key objectives are ambitious and achievable.
• Bring an independent perspective to the work of the MCA Board, as well as providing external scrutiny.
• Contribute as members of Board sub-committees within the MCA corporate governance framework. Working with other Board Members, you will ensure strong governance, clear accountability and high public standards of public value.

Organisation description

The MCA work to prevent the loss of life on the coast and at sea. They produce legislation and guidance on maritime matters, and provide certification to seafarers.

MCA is an executive agency, sponsored by the Department for Transport.

The MCA’s Business Plan for 2025/26 is here.

The MCA’s Annual Report for 2024/25 is here.

The working relationship between the MCA and DfT is set out here.

Board composition

The current non-executive members of the MCA board are:

• Lord Stevens of Birmingham, Kt., Chair
• Sir Martin Connell, NED
• Andre Katz, ARAC Chair
• Britt Pickering, NED
• Kevin Daffey, NED
• Nigel Pusey, NED (retiring)

Person specification

Essential criteria

• Motivation and connection to the MCA: You should have evidence of strong interest in the maritime sector, the MCA’s responsibilities (such as seafarer welfare or environmental protection), or the wider public service environment (such as emergency services).
• Experience leading significant change in complex multi-stakeholder organisations: You should bring strong experience of improving organisational performance in environments with multiple stakeholders or delivery partners, such as leading cultural, digital, or operational transformation. (e.g. skills and people management, digital transformation, volunteer management).
• Ability to operate effectively as a Non-Executive Director: You should understand good governance and be able to offer independent challenge and support, work collaboratively, analyse performance information, and use strong interpersonal and influencing skills to shape decisions.

Application and selection process

How to apply

In order to apply you will need to create an account or sign in.

Once you are logged into your account, click on 'apply for this role' and follow the on-screen instructions To apply, all candidates are required to provide:

• A CV or equivalent biographical information (maximum two sides A4, minimum 12 font) setting out your career history and including details of any professional qualifications.  
• Provide a summary of why you are interested in the role and how you meet the specification and essential criteria. This can be in a form that allows you most ably to present your interest and credentials, for example a short, bullet-point slide presentation (no more than 5 slides), a short video (no more than 2 mins) or supporting letter (no more than two A4 pages, minimum 12 font). Make sure you refer to the contents of this advert and provide specific examples. If you wish to provide your supporting summary in video format, please contact DfTpublicappointments@dft.gov.uk in advance of the closing date.
• You will also be asked to provide diversity data, and to declare any potential conflicts of interest or reputational issues.

If you have any queries about this role, please contact Lorine Parkinson or Adam Noott on DfTPublicAppointments@dft.gov.uk.

Overview of the application process

This role is being competed in accordance with the Governance Code on Public Appointments (October 2025) , which sets out the regulatory framework for public appointments processes. The Code is based on three core principles – merit, openness, and fairness.

The selection panel for this appointment competition will be: 

• Lord Simon Stevens (MCA Chair)
• Lola Fadina (Director for Maritime, Department for Transport)
• Jacquie Findlay (Independent Panel Member)

At the shortlisting meeting the selection panel will assess each application against the essential criteria and decide who to invite for interview.

The DfT Public Appointments Team will acknowledge your application and keep you updated on the progress of the competition.

At the short-listing meeting the selection panel will assess each application against the essential criteria and decide who to invite for interview.  

Interviews are expected to take place in central London (Venue TBC) for between 45 and 60 minutes. Further details about the format will be provided to you in advance.

Please note: Expenses incurred by candidates during the recruitment process will not be reimbursed except in exceptional circumstances and only when agreed in advance with the DfT Public Appointments Team.

You can expect the recruitment process to take approximately 6 months, however, applicants will be kept informed of progress. 

Advisory Assessment Panel (AAP)

–

has no political activity to declare.

Advisory Assessment Panels (AAP) are chosen by ministers to assist them in their decision-making. These include a departmental official and an independent member. For competitions recruiting non-executive members of a board (apart from the Chair), the panel will usually include a representative from the public body concerned.

AAP’s perform a number of functions, including agreeing an assessment strategy with ministers, undertaking sifting, carrying out interviews in line with the advertised criteria and deciding objectively who meets the published selection criteria for the role before recommending to ministers which candidates they find appointable. It is then for the minister to decide who to appoint to the role.

Eligibility criteria

This is a non-reserved post and therefore open to UK Nationals, British Nationals Overseas, British Protected Persons, Commonwealth Citizens, EEA Nationals and certain non-EEA family members and Swiss Nationals under the Swiss EU Agreement.  There must be no employment restriction or time limit on your permitted stay in the UK. You will not be asked to produce evidence to confirm your eligibility at the application stage, but you will be required to do so should you be invited to the final panel interview.

Security clearance

The successful candidate will be required to have or be willing to obtain security clearance to Security Check (SC) level. Pre-appointment checks will also be undertaken on immigration and criminal convictions. It usually takes between 4-6 weeks to obtain the security clearance. The role will be offered on a conditional basis until the successful candidate passes all security checks. 

Additional information for candidates

Equality and diversity

We believe that by being a diverse and inclusive workplace, where everyone is valued, we are more motivated, higher performing and more committed to our team. We welcome all applicants, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, social background, religious beliefs, ethnicity, or age.

As part of the application process, we ask candidates to complete equal opportunities monitoring information in the application portal/as required by the Cabinet Office. This will help us to monitor selection decisions to assess whether equality of opportunity is being achieved. This part of the form will be treated as confidential and used for statistical purposes only. The form will not be treated as part of your application.

Disability confident

The Department for Transport values and promotes diversity and is committed to equality of opportunity for all and to the appointment of disabled people. As part of the Disability Confident scheme, we will select the disabled candidates who best meet the essential criteria for the role. ‘Best meet’ is defined as providing/demonstrating strong examples of all essential criteria.

In order to guarantee an interview to disabled candidates (as defined by the Equality Act 2010) who best meet all the essential criteria for the role and wish to be considered under the Disability Confident Scheme, we need candidates to declare a disability and that they wish to be considered under the Scheme.

What do we mean by a disability?

To be eligible for consideration under the Scheme, you must be considered disabled under the Equality Act 2010.This means that you must have or have had in the last 12 months, a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial long-term adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. This includes those whose disability has lasted, or is likely to last, for 12 months, or if the disability or condition is likely to progress or recur. You do not have to be registered as a disabled person to apply under this scheme.

Reasonable adjustments

We are committed to making reasonable adjustments to make sure applicants with disabilities, physical or mental health conditions, or other needs are not substantially disadvantaged when applying for public appointments. This can include changing the recruitment process to enable people who wish to apply to do so.

Some examples of common changes are:

• ensuring that application forms are available in different or accessible formats;
• making adaptations to interview locations;
• allowing candidates to present their skills and experience in a different way;
• giving additional detailed information on the selection / interview process in advance to allow candidates time to prepare themselves;
• allowing support workers, for example sign language interpreters;
• making provision for support animals to attend.

When you apply you will have the opportunity to request reasonable adjustments to the application process.

Principles of public life

The Seven Principles of Public Life (also known as the Nolan Principles) apply to anyone who works as a public office-holder.

1. Selflessness

Holders of public office should act solely in terms of the public interest.

2. Integrity

Holders of public office must avoid placing themselves under any obligation to people or organisations that might try inappropriately to influence them in their work. They should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family, or their friends. They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships.

3. Objectivity

Holders of public office must act and take decisions impartially, fairly and on merit, using the best evidence and without discrimination or bias.

4. Accountability

Holders of public office are accountable to the public for their decisions and actions and must submit themselves to the scrutiny necessary to ensure this.

5. Openness

Holders of public office should act and take decisions in an open and transparent manner. Information should not be withheld from the public unless there are clear and lawful reasons for so doing.

6. Honesty

Holders of public office should be truthful.

7. Leadership

Holders of public office should exhibit these principles in their own behaviour and treat others with respect. They should actively promote and robustly support the principles and challenge poor behaviour wherever it occurs.

Code of conduct for board members

 You will be expected to demonstrate high standards of corporate and personal conduct. All successful candidates will be asked to subscribe to the Review Body’s “Codes of Practice”. Candidates will be expected to abide by the “Seven Principles of Public Life” set out by the Committee on Standards in Public Life.

Management of outside interests and consideration of reputational issues

The purpose of these provisions is to avoid any danger of Board members being influenced, or appearing to be influenced, by their private interests in the exercise of their public duties.

Public appointments require the highest standards of propriety, involving impartiality, integrity, and objectivity, in relation to the stewardship of public funds and the oversight and management of all related activities. This means that any private, voluntary, charitable, or political interest which might be material and relevant to the work of the body concerned should be declared. It is important, therefore, that you consider your circumstances when applying for a public appointment and identify any potential conflicts of interest, whether real or perceived. 

There is a requirement to declare any actual or potential conflict of interest you may have in being appointed to the Board upon applying. Any actual or perceived conflicts of interest will be fully explored by the Panel at interview stage.

Status of appointment

It should be noted that this post is a public appointment; Non-Executive Board members are neither employees of the Crown nor the Department for Transport. Such appointments are not normally subject to the provisions of employment law.

Appointment and tenure of office

Appointments are for the term set out in this advert, with the possibility of re-appointment for a further term, at the discretion of Ministers. Any re-appointment is subject to satisfactory annual appraisals of performance during the first term in the post. There is no automatic presumption of reappointment; each case should be considered on its own merits, taking into account a number of factors including, but not restricted to, the diversity of the current board and its balance of skills and experience. In most cases, the total time served in post will not exceed more than two terms or ten years in any one post. 

Remuneration, allowances and abatement

• £11,000 for 24-days per annum (based on a day rate).

• If invited to chair a sub-committee, additional remuneration will be provided. 

• Remuneration is not taxable through payroll, and the appointment is not pensionable.

• Members can claim reimbursement for reasonable travel and subsistence costs necessarily incurred at rates set centrally by the Department for Transport.

• Applicants should note that the successful candidate cannot be remunerated for this role if they are being paid for an existing full-time role from the public purse.

Pension and redundancy

This is an office holder appointment and does not attract any benefits under any Civil Service Pension Scheme. You will not be eligible for redundancy pay as you are not an employee. No other arrangements have been made for compensation upon the end of your term of appointment because an office holder who is appointed for a limited duration would have no expectation of serving beyond that period.

Application feedback

We will notify you of the status of your application. We regret that we are only able to offer detailed feedback to candidates who have been unsuccessful at the interview stage.

How to complain

If you are not completely satisfied with the way your application is handled at any stage of the competition, please raise any complaint in the first instance with: 

Via email: DfT Public Appointments DfTPublicAppointments@dft.gov.uk

Public Appointments Team 

Shareholding, Appointments and Inquiries 

Department for Transport

Great Minster House

33 Horseferry Road

London

SW1P 4DR

We will reply to your complaint within 20 days.  

Data protection

The Cabinet Office will use your data in line with our privacy policy.

The Department for Transport (DfT) is the joint controller, with the Cabinet Office, for any personal data which you provide to us as part of your application.

Information provided as part of this application will be kept securely within DfT and destroyed within 5 years of the conclusion of the recruitment campaign.

DfT uses this form to gather evidence on DfT’s public appointments. 

The lawful basis that applies to this processing is that it is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest to inform DfT’s recruitment policies in accordance with the Department’s public sector equality duties. For processing special category personal data (disability, religion, sexual orientation and ethnicity), we rely on Article 9(2)(g), reasons of substantial public interest (equality of opportunity and treatment).

Attachments

• MCA Candidate Pack

Contact details

For further queries, please contact Adam Noott, Public Appointments Campaign Manager at Adam.Noott@dft.gov.uk