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Mine Clearance Diver
Job Role

Mine Clearance Diver

You’ll identify mines or other explosives and dispose of them, whether they’re in shallow water or out at sea.

Fast trackTechnologyAdventureOutdoor jobsTacticalWarfareStrategicApprenticeships
  • £25,200 - £62,073
  • No qualifications
  • Surface Fleet
  • Warfare
  • Rating level

At a glance

This job sits within the Warfare Profession and is a Warfare Rating role. From the moment you join, you’ll train to become a world-class diver, travelling the world as part bomb disposal expert, part sub-aqua specialist. It’s physically demanding, but hugely rewarding.

£25,200

What you will get paid from day one

£62,073

Earn up to this amount as a WO1 basic pay

Extra pay

Additional EOD pay on completing training starts at £8,537 raising to £21,798 depending on skills and experience as your career progresses

6 weeks

Of paid holiday every year

Travel

All around the world

Zero

Qualifications needed
royal navy clearance diver approaching underwater mine
When the unmanned systems can’t be used to dispose of a device, I’m the person everyone looks to. Knowing that I’m playing a big part in keeping people safe is a great feeling.

Tom

Mine Clearance Diver, Warfare Profession

Role details

What you’ll do

From the moment you join, you’ll train to become a world-class diver, wherever you are in the world. Being a Royal Navy Mine Clearance Diver means you’re part bomb disposal master, part sub-aqua specialist. Because there’s only a handful of divers on any ship, you’ll form close bonds with your team and be central to their – and your crewmates’ – safety. This is one of the most physically demanding roles in the Royal Navy. And it’s hugely rewarding too.

Your role

  • Play a central role in maritime counter-terror operations, whether you’re shore-based or on board a ship.
  • Work collaboratively and inspire team morale, from pairing up on dives, to helping prepare your mate’s equipment.
  • Embrace constant challenges, develop your skills, and have the opportunity to progress quickly to a Command role. 
  • Learn how to deal with a range of ordnance, from state-of-the-art mines to World War Two devices.

Pay & benefits

  • A starting salary of at least £25,200
  • Increasing up to £62,073 as a WO1 basic pay
  • Additional EOD pay on completing training starts at £8,537 raising to £21,798 depending on skills and experience as your career progresses
  • An excellent pension scheme
  • Six weeks of paid holiday every year
  • Free medical and dental care
  • Additional diving pay of at least £4.62 per day when qualified

Skills for life

Qualifications you'll gain

  • We’ll make a contribution towards GCSEs, Masters degrees, and everything in between
  • Specialist vocational qualifications as your career progresses

Skills you'll develop

  • The ability to work accurately and calmly under extreme pressure in challenging and potentially dangerous situations
  • How to use hydraulic tools and hand tools to conduct basic underwater engineering
  • Various search methods on air and mixed gas diving life support equipment while working to a maximum depth of 60 metres

Eligibility

  • Aged 17 to 37
  • You must be a United Kingdom citizen or British Dual National. Dual Nationality restrictions do apply
  • You must have lived in the UK for 5 years continuously prior to application
  • A minimum height of 145cm
  • A Body Mass Index (BMI) between 18 and 28 (between 17 and 27 if under 18)

Skills & Interests

  • An ability to thrive in high-pressure situations
  • A love of teamwork
  • A passion for life at sea
  • A sense of adventure
  • A high level of physical and mental fitness

Joining Process

From picking your role to starting on your first day, these are the steps you'll take to join as a rating.

Step 1

Submit an application

Once you’ve registered your interest in a Profession, and have satisfied some basic eligibility criteria, you will be sent an online application form.

Step 2

Defence Aptitude Assessment (DAA)

You’ll be tested on: Verbal Reasoning, Numerical Reasoning, Work Rate, Spatial Reasoning, Electrical Comprehension and Mechanical Comprehension. You will need to attempt all sections of the DAA.

To help you prepare, you can practise the DAA.

Practise the DAA
Step 3

Interview

A formal Selection Interview to confirm suitability of your chosen Profession followed by discussion of your preferred roles that are available within that Profession, including Submarine Service It will also cover the initial stages of the Security application. This is normally conducted using your own device over the Shine video platform.

Step 4

Candidate Preparation Course (CPC)

This is a four-day induction to life in the Royal Navy, which includes assessments of your Fitness and your Medical eligibility, it is a pass or fail course.

Step 5

Start training

Once you’ve passed all eligibility criteria, including a Security Check, you’ll be offered a place at HMS Raleigh to commence your initial training. Allocation to a specific role within your chosen profession will occur during the latter part of initial training.

Career Progression

From responsibilities to pay, find out where this role can take you.
Day one

our Royal Navy career begins with 10 weeks’ initial training at HMS Raleigh, a shore base in Torpoint, Cornwall. The discipline, teamwork, organisational, firefighting and weapon handling skills you learn here will stay with you right through your career.

Year one
Join a ship as part of the diving team, develop skills
First promotion
Become Leading Hand and further develop skills
Second promotion
Become Petty Officer and lead a team as Diving Supervisor

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