Ordnance munitions and explosives specialist (integrated degree)

About the role

This occupation is found in the ordnance, munitions and explosives (OME) sector represented across the public and private industries. A fully competent OME Specialist can work in a wide range of organisations, including defence, chemical, commercial, military, security, nuclear and analytical services (from multi-nationals to SMEs) and government bodies (e.g. MoD).

The broad purpose of the occupation is to provide specialist expertise, advice and guidance and direction towards delivering complex scientific and technical OME solutions to directly evolve the UK OME defence and security capability in existing and emerging technologies.The OME specialist works in an environment which is a unique mixture of physics, chemistry and engineering that is not found in any other sector. This involves extreme environments which are outside the traditional view of the subjects. The OME specialist will provide advice, guidance and leadership in OME functionality taking place at high temperature pressures and mechanical strain rates not typically encountered in other fields of science and engineering. They will need to understand appropriate OME lifecycles and apply appropriate approaches to developing systems, including their interrelated dependencies and benefits.They will usually operate within challenging scientific, technical, political and business environments requiring them to understand the wider context in which their advice is given and may influence the wider OME industry or government strategy on OME defence and security.

In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with multi-disciplinary teams including engineering and scientific specialists within their own or from other organisations in the OME sector, such as academia, government agencies, police and security services, policy leads (up to and including Permanent Secretaries) and Ministers, armed forces and regulatory bodies, where an understanding of handling, use and control of OME devices and materials is essential. Frequently this advice will draw on expertise from other disciplines (such as material scientists, statisticians, computer modelers). To this end, a typical day will likely include stakeholder visits, technical design management, team working and leadership tasks, commissioning work from others and overseeing and conducting field and desk-based analysis. OME Specialists will work both independently as well as working in, or leading, teams. They will have extensive technical networks, communication, influencing and leadership skills.

An employee in this occupation will be responsible for developing and implementing OME scientific and technical programmes that underpin policy and business decisions for the defence and security of the UK. OME Specialists will develop sources of specialist knowledge within their organisation and be experts in their field. They will often concentrate on an area such as evaluating OME and dependant technologies, research and development, mitigating technical risk, specifying controls and controlling high hazard environments. The OME Specialist operates with considerable autonomy, as an acknowledged specialist in their field and will most likely have experience across all OME lifecycle phases. They are fully accountable to senior stakeholders, depending upon the size of the organisation and for managing trade-offs between scientific, technical and other factors e.g. human and environmental. Employees will normally hold the appropriate level of security clearance as part of their role. They will work in secure premises, within the UK or international locations, potentially within hazardous environments and are likely to travel in order to establish and maintain professional relationships and may be required to work outside normal hours.

Individuals will be accountable for providing specialist scientific and technical delivery within the following key capabilities, either as a subject matter expert or as technical and scientific leadership at systems or team level:

• Exploitation of research and development outputs.
• Providing technical specialist input into strategic planning and the creation of technical roadmaps in line with organisational objectives.
• The application and development of industry standards to current and emerging OME technologies.
• Developing technical specifications for OME performance against specified customer requirements.
• Review, validation and authorisation of OME performance against technical specification.
• Writing technical appraisals of conforming and non-conforming OME.
• Systematic evaluation, development and implementation of new technologies.
• Recording and communicating the analysis of scientific/technical investigations and projects.
• Development of technical specifications for delivery of training, mentoring and coaching activities around OME.
• Authorisation of OME regulatory and safety compliance.
• Capability management e.g. budgets, resources, time, people and equipment.

Entry requirements

Whilst any entry requirements will be a matter for individual employers, typically an apprentice might be expected to have a minimum of a Degree in science or engineering related subject, the OME professional degree apprenticeship or relevant industry experience on entry.

Entry requirements are ultimately set by each employer — treat these as the baseline, not the bar.