Chief Instructor

Description

Location: Weymouth National Boat Centre, Barrack Road, Weymouth, Dorset, DT4 8TZ

Contract: Fixed term, Full time (Paternity Cover for 5 Months)

Salary: Competitive

Closing Date: 22 May 2026 (Position may close earlier if right candidate comes forward)

Are you a Chief Instructor 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 through the Sea Cadets 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.

As chief instructor you will develop and deliver activities across sailing, powerboating, windsurfing, paddle sports and rowing to cadet and adult members of the Sea Cadets. You will be responsible for managing a team of volunteers, casual instructors and cadet instructors to deliver a full programme of activities throughout the year, promoting positive, life changing experiences on the water.

We need passionate practitioners, who thrive in a varied environment, and are looking for a sense of fulfilment from working with young people and supporting our 4500 volunteers to deliver the Sea Cadet Experience.

Responsibilities

· To act as Chief Instructor at the boat station.

· Develop and promote an activity programme for our young people.

· Manage the delivery of our all year round activity programme.

· Monitor standards of instruction and support the development of instructors.

· To be a role model and mentor for our Cadets and Volunteers.

· To be involved in the delivery of boating across the charity

· To be a technical advisor that our Volunteers can turn to for advice and guidance.

Requirements

· Expert level knowledge and ability across a range of water sport disciplines.

· A demonstrable background in the delivery of high quality boating activities to a wide client base.

· A strong awareness of health and safety policy and regulation.

· Facilities management experience.

Desirable

· Experience in working with young people and volunteers.

· Experience in developing new client relationships.

· Experience across a range watersports industry sectors.

For further information, please download the Recruitment Pack.

Benefits

• Cycle to work scheme and Season Ticket Loan
• 51 working days paid holiday per annum, pro rata, this includes public and bank holidays observed in England and Wales
• Life assurance (4x salary) for those that join the pension
• 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.

If you are interested in this Chief Instructor 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 pre-employment checks including a criminal record check.