About the job

Job summary

The first duty of the government is to keep citizens safe and the country secure. The Home Office has been at the front line of this effort since 1782. As such, we play a fundamental role in maintaining the security and economic prosperity of the UK. 

The Home Office leads on immigration and passports, refugee protection, counter-terrorism, policing, fire services, and crime and drugs policy. 
 
Digital Data and Technology (DDaT) enables the Home Office to keep the UK safe and secure. We design and build the services that help people apply for visas or passports; support policing and counter-terrorism operations; and protect the UK’s borders. 
  
This is an exciting time to be at the Home Office. You’ll have a chance to shape the future and support our mission to deliver exceptional public services that work for everyone. 
 
Our work is guided by these principles: 
 
•    we put user needs first 
•    we value delivery and outcomes over process 
•    we work in the open 

Our flexible working policy ensures a healthy work-life balance. We also nurture talent and offer a broad range of learning and development opportunities that will help you flourish in your role. 

We work hard to maintain a positive working culture and are committed to helping you fulfil your potential. We value diversity and provide an open, inclusive and supportive environment to help you do your best work.

Job description

As a senior member of the Enablers Metis Live Services team, you will play a leading role in the management of IT related Change to Services within the Home Office. You will be expected to navigate the complex landscape of technologies, 3rd party suppliers, internal and cross-government teams in order to provide a key service within DDaT. You will need to be able to make difficult decisions based on information gathered and effectively assess risk, applying process, methods, tools and applications to provide the best possible availability and performance from the technology.

You will set the strategy for the Operational Release Management, deciding areas of focus and priority, ensuring that processes are well-documented and reflective of best practice, and agreeing templates and frameworks for process variations that might be applicable across services and portfolios. 

You will be expected to manage and get the best out of team members and suppliers in order to provide the best possible service and deliver work in a timely and efficient manner. You will have strong analytical, communication and stakeholder management skills as well as an ability to prioritise and implement decisions quickly.

You will be expected to understand the organisation’s strategic decisions, direction, policies to ensure the team’s goals and targets are in alignment. 

This post is eligible for a DDaT RRA. Successful Candidates with exceptional skills and experience may be assessed for RRA between (£4,500 - £11,300). This allowance is subject to an initial review within six months of taking up the post and thereafter an annual review in-line with departmental priorities and could be reduced or withdrawn at any time.

Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and home-based working. This is a non-contractual arrangement where all employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in an office, subject to local estates capacity, by Spring 2024. Applicants can request further information regarding how this may work in their team from the Vacancy Holder (see advert for contact details).

Due to business needs, this role is not suitable for part time working.

Person specification

Your main day to day responsibilities will be:

• Leading the team to oversee the process of release, allocating workload and acting as the highest escalation point if there are any issues.
• Providing specialist advice and being responsible for the approval, prioritisation and refusal of major Release Requests, ensuring all authorised releases maintain the integrity of the IT architecture and are within budget and resource constraints.
• Overseeing teams to ensure that services are delivered by the team and suppliers within defined timescales and are well documented.
• Developing policies, processes and procedures in line with best practice to deliver quality services, seeking ways to automate and draw on efficiencies from other Service Management areas where possible.
• Providing reporting to senior IT Operations and wider DDaT management, representing the function on various boards and forms of governance.
• Driving continual service improvements through the measurement and challenge of services and processes, using tools and capability to automate where appropriate, and reflecting on outputs from Post Implementation reviews.

You will also be expected to carry out the following day to day activities: 

• Leading and managing the Release Management process and allocated staff and workload for the assigned services, ensuring that standards and timescales are met, whilst demonstrating value for money.
• Liaising with the Service Architect & Design function to forecast and plan service introduction and releases to minimise disruption to operational services.
• Line managing and developing staff to encourage them to further enhance their professional development: obtaining recognised qualifications, enhancing their skills, mentoring of others within team, job shadowing and encouraging the sharing of knowledge within the team.
• Organising team engagement with Incident Management during major incidents, ensuring that appropriate release management representation is made on technical bridge calls when required.
• Managing patterns or trends of non-compliance of the Release assurance policies and processes, by engaging at a senior level with Business Portfolios, Suppliers, Transition or Project Managers where necessary.
• Engaging with service transition teams to define processes for interim operating model capabilities for those assigned to release management.
• Setting the strategy for the Metis Live Services team, deciding areas of focus and priority, ensuring that processes are well-documented and reflective of best practice, and agreeing templates and frameworks for process variations.
• Participating, contributing to and supporting collaboration initiatives and career development within the IT Operations community, building in-house capability via a professional community of practice.
• Administration and managing JIRA, assisting the product squads with their deliverables. Compiling the relevant release notes in preparation for release to production. 

Essential criteria

You’ll have a demonstrable passion for change management of a service, with the following skills or strong experience in:

• Experience of developing, implementing and adhering to ITIL v3/v4 management processes and procedures
• Performing a similar role within the Civil Service or at other organisations
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with a proven ability to communicate effectively and professionally
• Proven ability to lead and manage large teams
• Proven ability to build and manage relationships with suppliers and senior stakeholders
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills
• Experience of working on Service Management Toolset Service Now
• Experience of JIRA Administration experience as well as managing release notes and tickets.

The skills listed above are reflective of the Home Office DDaT Profession Skills and Competency Model (based on the industry standard SFIA framework). Please see below for the relevant skills required for your role:

Change and Transformation:

• Change Analysis
• Business Situation Analysis (BUSA) – level 3

Delivery and Operation:

• Service Management
• Service Acceptance (SEAC) – level 4
• Change Control (CHMG) – level 4
• Technology Management
• Technology Service Management (ITMG) – level 3
• Release and Deployment (RELM) – level 5

Relationships and Engagement:

• Stakeholder Management
• Stakeholder Relationship Management (RLMT) – level 3

Desirable criteria

Ideally you will also have the following skills or some experience in:

• Creating and managing end to end plans, containing complex dependences and multiple workstreams
• Navigating cross-government teams and supplier agreements
• Supporting the design, agreement and implementation of a relevant service
• Understanding of Lean, Agile and DevOps principles within a Product-centric delivery model

Qualifications

•  ITIL v3/v4 Practitioner is desirable     

Benefits

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, drives up performance and improves diversity and inclusivity.

As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete: 

• A CV detailing job history/qualifications/skills 
• A statement of suitability (personal statement) (maximum 1000 words) 
• Provide evidence of the behaviour 'Seeing the Big Picture' (250 words maximum) 

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

The Statement of Suitability should concisely explain, your motivation for applying to this role, and evidencing how you meet the essential criteria listed on the Job Specification.

The sift will be based on the Behavioural example and the Suitability Statement. The CV is for information purposes only and will not be marked.

Candidates shortlisted will be invited to an interview which will consist of Behaviour based questions on all listed behaviours.

Sift and Interview dates

Sift is expected to take place from 10th January 2024.

Interviews are expected to take place from  29th January 2024.

We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates will change. You will be provided with sufficient notice of the confirmed dates.

You will be invited to attend a video interview utilising Microsoft Teams.

Further Information

Please read the essential skills for this position carefully. We will only consider those who meet the listed requirement. 

If you have previously made an unsuccessful application for a role with the same essential skills and are not able to demonstrate how you have developed these skills since your last application please reconsider applying as your application is unlikely to be successful.

For meaningful checks to be carried out, individuals need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time to enable appropriate checks to be carried out and produce a result which provides the required level of assurance. You should normally have been resident in the United Kingdom for the last 3 years if the role requires CTC clearance, 5 years for SC clearance and 10 years for DV.  A lack of UK residency in itself is not necessarily a bar to a security clearance and applicants should contact the Vacancy Holder/Recruiting Manager listed in the advert for further advice.

A reserve list of successful candidates will be kept for 12 months. Should another role become available within that period you may be offered this position. 

We often have similar roles available at different grades. If a candidate is suitable for a similar role or a lower grade than they have applied for, we may offer the candidate that role without the need to go through a further selection process providing the role has the same behaviours and essential skills.

Please note: If you are currently an agency member of staff working within the Home Office, you can only apply for roles that are advertised externally, i.e. outside the civil service. If you are eligible to apply for a role, you are required to select yourself as an external applicant and not internal when submitting your application on Civil Service jobs. This will prevent any delays in pre-employment checks should you become successful in being made an offer of employment after the Interview stage.

Visa sponsorship    

We are unable to sponsor any individuals via Skilled Worker Sponsorship / Tier 2 (General) work visas as we do not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker License. 

Every day, Home Office civil servants do brilliant work to develop and deliver policies and services that affect the lives of people across the country and beyond. To do this effectively and fairly, the Home Office is committed to representing modern Britain in all its diversity, and creating a welcoming, inclusive workplace where all our people are able to bring their whole selves to work and perform at their best.

We are flexible, skilled, professional and diverse. We work to recruit and retain disabled staff and area Disability Confident Leader. We are proud to be one of the most ethnically diverse departments in the civil service. We are a Social Mobility Foundation top 75 employer.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant's details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

For further information please see the attached notes for candidates which must be read before making an application.

Existing Civil Servants should note that some of the Home Office terms and conditions of employment have changed. It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure they are aware of the Terms and Conditions they will adopt should they be successful in application and should refer to the notes for candidates for further details.

Transfer Terms: Voluntary.

If you are invited to an interview you will be required to  bring a range of documentation for the purposes of establishing identity and to aid any pre-employment checks.

Please see the attached list of Home Office acceptable ID documents.

Any move to the Home Office from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

Reasonable Adjustments

If a person with disabilities is at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. 

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

• Contact Government Recruitment Service via HOrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs
• Complete the “Assistance Required” section in the “Additional Requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you're deaf, a language service professional

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the ‘Contact point for applicants’ section.

Feedback

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.