The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 plus 6 letter word ORDINARY SEAMAN
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
O
R
D
I
N
A
R
Y
S
E
A
M
A
N
More clues leading to the result ORDINARY SEAMAN
- Doing his job should be plain sailing?
- Potentially a senior army and navy chap
- This sailor is a reason I’m randy at sea
- Sailor briefly having a break, being between two ships
- Rating a marine as on dry ground
- Mariner’s on a day off – this one?
- Distressed oarsman, I’d yearn to become a sailor
- Oh yes! He is called to serve on board
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Doing his job should be plain sailing" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case doing his job should be plain sailing = ordinary seaman.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.