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. 

You can keep up-to-date with our work on the Home Office DDaT blog.

Job description

As a member of the DDAT IT Operations Incident Management team, you will play a key role in the provision of service support at the Home Office, contributing to the delivery of high quality consistent incident, problem and request fulfilment management processes across the estate. 

You will identify and log issues, and support with investigating and addressing Home Office users’ technical queries, requests, incidents and problems in a timely and professional manner, maintaining a clear focus on the user throughout.

You will work closely with other DDAT technical support teams and a variety of suppliers to address issues and restore services within agreed service level agreements. 

You will also get the opportunity to learn about the variety of delivery and support approaches in place at the Home Office including Agile delivery and DevOps.

This post is eligible for a DDaT Recruitment and Retention Allowance (RRA) between £3,000 and £5,000. Successful candidates with exceptional skills and experience may apply for RRA. This allowance can be applied for once in post. Please note that the amount of RRA could be reduced or withdrawn at any time.

Home working will only be allowed under the government’s 60% hybrid working policy with the individual attending Manchester Soapworks or Croydon, Lunar House.

Due to the nature of the role and responsibilities the successful candidate will be required to undertake and business need, this post can only be offered on full-time basis.

Person specification

Your main responsibilities will be: 

• Supporting the effective management of technical incidents in line with incident management processes.
• Reviewing and ensuring accurate information about technical incidents is captured and recorded in order to provide the relevant information to the appropriate DDAT support teams and to facilitate service and management reporting.
• Providing a point of escalation for Service Desk team members.
• Supporting the major incident review process: reviewing major incidents, documenting major incident reports and lessons learned in a timely manner; and ensuring identified actions are completed.
• Providing stakeholders with updates on the status of technical incidents, service requests and problems.
• Regularly engaging with other DDAT teams and / or suppliers to resolve technical incidents, service requests and problems in line with SLAs.

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

• Managing and owning incidents of all priorities to meet user requirements.
• Proactively contributing to continual service improvement through the identification of incident management process and procedure improvements.
• Liaising with Problem Management to support root cause analysis activities.
• Producing and sharing reports and analysis on technical incidents as required.
• Supporting the onboarding of new / updated services as required, undertaking the necessary training to upskill in the support of the new services.
• Undertaking knowledge management activities: identifying, controlling and storing any relevant information, and maintaining knowledge items to ensure that they are current, relevant and valid.
• Sharing knowledge and expertise with others, coaching and supporting team members as required.
• Undertaking appropriate training for the role and seek to constantly improve performance through personal development.
• 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.

Please note, you should currently hold or be willing to undertake NPPV 3 vetting (including financial checks). This is essential for this role and can be arranged once you are in post.

Essential criteria

You’ll have a demonstrable passion for IT support, with the following skills or strong experience in:

• Understanding and/or experience of adhering to ITIL v3/v4 service management processes and procedures.
• Experience of leading technical calls with proven stakeholder management skills.
• Good communication and interpersonal skills, with an ability to communicate effectively and professionally.
• Ability to work as part of a team and to engage effectively with users, third-parties and suppliers.
• Good analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Strong sense of ownership and drive to follow tasks through to completion.
• Customer-focused.

The skills listed above are reflective of the Home Office DDaT Profession Skills and Competency Model (based on the industry standard SFIA 8 framework). Please see below for the relevant skills required for your role:

Strategy and Architecture:
•    Business Strategy and Planning
o    Knowledge Management (KNOW) – level 1

Delivery and Operation:
•    Service Operation
o    Incident Management (USUP) – level 3

Delivery and Operation:
•    Service Operation
o    Problem Management (SLMO) – level 3

Delivery and Operation:
•    Service Operation
o    IT Infrastructure (ITOP) – level 2

Delivery and Operation:
•    Service Design
o    Service Level Management (SLMO) – level 3

Relationships and Engagement:
•    Stakeholder Management
o    Customer Service Support (CSMG) – level 2

Desirable criteria

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

• Experience of leading technical conference calls with proven stakeholder management skills.
• Performing a similar role within the Civil Service or at other organisations.
• Using a Service Management toolset to log and update service incidents.
• Understanding of Lean, Agile and DevOps principles within a Product-centric delivery model.
• Knowledge and experience of using ServiceNow.

• Qualifications 

  • ITIL v3/v4 Foundation is desirable
  • 5 GSCE’s Grades A*-C, one of which must be English, or equivalent 

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 750 words) 
•    Provide evidence of the lead behaviour Managing a Quality Service (250 words maximum) 

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

The statement of suitability should be aligned to demonstrate your skills and experience for the role and how you meet the essential criteria as detailed in the job advertisement.

The sift will be held on the behaviour Managing a Quality Service and the statement of suitability (personal statement). The CV will not be scored.

However, if a large number of applications are received, an initial sift will be conducted on the lead behaviour - Managing a Quality Service. Candidates who pass the initial sift will then be progressed to a full sift consisting of the personal statement. 

The interviews will use Behaviour-based questions on all the Behaviours listed in the advert.

Sift and Interview dates

Sift is expected to take place week commencing the 26th February 2024.

Interviews are expected to take place week commencing the 4th March 2024.

We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert, however on occasions these dates may change. 

Interviews will be carried out via video. Candidates will be required to have access to:

• A laptop (personal or work) with a working webcam
• Good internet connection
• Microsoft Teams

PLEASE NOTE: Due to time constraints we may not be able to offer alternative interview date(s). It is therefore expected that candidates who are successful at sift stage will make themselves available during the above time frame given.

Further Information 

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.

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.

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. 

A reserve list may be held for a period up to 12 months from which further appointment may be made.

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.