Engineer

ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine has statutory responsibility under the Fisheries Harbour Centres Acts for the fishery harbour centres at Killybegs, Ros An Mhíl, An Daingean, Castletownbere, Dunmore East and Howth. The Minister is also responsible for fisheries related development at local authority harbours and for maintaining 1902 Act and ex-Congested District Board piers, lights and beacons on the state's coast.

The Minister is responsible for aquaculture licencing and monitoring for land and marine based aquaculture as well as for issuing foreshore leases/licences within the six fishery harbour centres and for fishery related activities.

The Marine Engineering Division (MED) of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is organised on a regional basis with staff based in the Department’s Engineering Offices at Clonakilty, Dublin, Tralee, Galway and Ballyshannon; and in the six Fishery Harbour Centres.

Key Functions of Division

MED’s Mission Statement is to support and manage the sustainable use and development of Ireland’s Aqua/Marine territory in the following key areas:

• Delivery of an aquaculture licence assessment and monitoring programme.
• Ensuring the efficient operational management of the Fishery Harbour Centres [FHCs].
• Develop and implement the Fishery-related Infrastructure Development Programme.
• Provide technical advice where engineering and harbour operational advice is sought.
• Contribute to the DAFM Marine Portfolio, including Foreshore, Environmental and Climate Change

ABOUT THE ROLE

MED has a number of vacancies for Engineers Grade III to work as civil and/or environmental engineers, primarily in the following areas:

I.Fishery Harbour and Coastal Infrastructure

II.Aquaculture/Environmental related Work

I.Fishery Harbour and Coastal Infrastructure

MED is involved in planning and implementing maintenance and development works at the Fishery Harbour Centres (FHC’s)These FHCs which are owned and managed by the Department play a key role in servicing the Irish and EU Fishing Fleet and also facilitate marine leisure activities. MED also inspects and reports on Local Authority harbour work co-funded by the Department.

MED is responsible for health and safety and operational management at the six ports and the Harbour Masters (HMs) and all the industrial staff at the FHCs are under the remit of the Division.

Principal Duties

The principal duties of the Engineer Grade III include:

• Organisation, direction and supervision of site investigation, project construction and maintenance including direction and supervision of direct labour force and contractors working at the FHCs.
• Supervision of consultants and review of technical reports and studies produced, including assisting in choosing optimum design solutions.
• Liaising with relevant stakeholders to ensure the facilities provided fully meet the needs of the fishing industry.
• Assisting with the production of contract documents for the engagement of consultants and contractors, principally in accordance with the Government Contracts Committee for Construction (GCCC) Capital Works Management Framework (CWMF) suite of Contract Documents and Guidance. Management of Public expenditure on capital projects in accordance with the Public Spending Code, and in line with commitment to the Circular Economy and Green Procurement.
• Surveying structures and property and providing drawings and maps including Property Registration Authority (PRA) compliant registry maps.
• Monitoring, contributing to and implementation of Statutory and Departmental Health, Safety and Environmental policies and procedures, ensuring a greener approach to engineering works and commitment to Government emissions and environmental policies.
• Reporting on various activities at the FHC, including operational, health and safety and environmental issues.

II.Aquaculture/Environmental Work

The work of the Division in the aquaculture licensing and inspection area consists of site inspections and reports, reviewing and examining licence applications and general provision of aquaculture engineering advice to the Department. The division is based in regional locations, and this facilitates meetings with applicants and their advisors.

MED also carries out regular inspections of marine and land-based aquaculture installations and provides reports on licence compliance to the Department. The division maintains a GIS database of all the aquaculture installations and shares the information with other agencies including providing the maps required for licensing.

MED is involved in providing technical advice to DAFM on environmental related matters including Environmental Impact Assessment Reports (EIAR), Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEA), Appropriate Assessments (AA), Climate Change and Adaptation, Water Framework Directive (WFD), Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), in so far as they relate to the remit of the Department.

Principal Duties

The principal duties of the Engineer Grade III include;

• Production of reports on aquaculture applications which includes finfish, shellfish and aquatic plants.
• Site Inspections and mapping of marine and shore-based infrastructure.
• Establishing compliance with aquaculture licensing conditions.
• Processing, analysis and maintenance of aquaculture database, including assisting with processes to improve database and MED processing of aquaculture information.
• Assisting working groups in developing aquaculture protocols.
• Reviewing Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA), Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEA), Appropriate Assessments (AA), Climate Change, Water Framework Directive (WFD), Marine Shellfish Framework Directive (MSFD) matters in so far as they relate to the remit of the Department.
• Providing technical advice to DAFM on aquaculture development proposals; with particular reference to hydrology, hydrodynamics, structural design, coastal processes, pollution impact, wild fisheries impact.

Reporting Relationship

MED staff comprises a Chief Engineer and Assistant Chief Engineer, Engineers Grade I, Grade II and Grade III, technical staff, Harbour Masters, Industrial staff (various grades) and administrative staff. The Engineer Grade III (Civil) generally reports to an Engineer II (Civil).

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

The person we are looking for will meet the following essential requirements by 10th November 2026.

Essential Requirements

Candidates must, on or before 10th November 2026:

• Hold a minimum Level 8 qualification on the National Framework of Qualification in Civil Engineering, Engineers Ireland accredited.

OR

• Hold a qualification which would be acceptable to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine as being at least equivalent for the purpose of this competition.

and have:

• Very good interpersonal and communication skills
• The ability to work under pressure and to meet deadlines
• Possess a current full driving licence (Category B) and access to a car (at date of offer)

Desirable Requirements

• Relevant knowledge and/or experience at undergraduate level in any of the following areas:

10. IT skills such as: MS Office (WORD and Excel), MS Project, AutoCAD, GIS, BIM

Important to Note:

· Candidates must have their qualification (as detailed above) on or before the 10th of November2026.

· Where qualification held, documentary evidence of the qualification which verifies how you meet the essential requirements must be attached with your application.

Competencies

Applicants should have all the attributes required of an Engineer Grade III and in particular they must demonstrate, by reference to specific examples from their career to-date, that they possess or have the capacity to acquire the qualities, skills and knowledge required for the role of Engineer Grade III as identified in the following competency framework.

Application and Selection Process

Only Online Applications can be made and should be submitted via the Apply Now button below.

All sections of the form must be fully completed online and in full.

Note: As outlined above, if you do not meet the Essential Requirements under Section 5 as per the competition booklet, your application will receive no further consideration.

Where qualification is held, documentary evidence of the qualification which verifies how you meet the essential requirements must be attached with your application.

Closing Date

Your application must be submitted online no later than Tuesday, 18th August, at 12 noon

All queries relating to this recruitment campaign should be directed to dafm@cpl.ie with thesubject heading“Engineer Grade III’