About the job

Job summary

The first duty of Government is to protect the public. Since 1782, the Home Office has led work to keep the country safe from those who seek to do it harm; in doing so, we make a vital contribution to HM Government’s plan for a stronger, fairer, outward-looking and united Britain.

The Home Office covers three systems: Homeland Security, Public Safety and Borders, and Immigration and Citizenship. These systems work collaboratively to deliver our cross-cutting priorities, whilst providing increasingly efficient and secure services for the public.

These are challenging areas that can rapidly change in the global environment we work in – this makes us one of the most exciting and stimulating government departments in which to work.
If you work with us, you'll be making a real difference.

Digital Data and Technology (DDaT) enables the Home Office to keep citizens safe and the country secure, as well as at the front line of making the Home Office a modern and capable department at a time of unprecedented global change.

We design, build and operate services that are critical in helping the department achieve its mission. You could be designing and building solutions to help people prove their identity or apply for visas or working on the critical IT systems that support policing and counter terrorism, and help protect UK borders. Our success in this role depends on our ability to exploit the latest technologies to create leading-edge, world class solutions whilst ensuring they are secure and resilient.

Job description

An Operational Support Tooling Engineer administers, supports, and maintains enterprise network and infrastructure tooling solutions and services providing technical support as required throughout the service lifecycle, according to the departmental policy and Home Office strategy.

As a member of the DDaT Operational Support Tooling (OST) team you will support tooling used for real-time monitoring of the health and performance of highly secure & complex network and infrastructure environments ensuring that the systems and services which monitor and manage the Home Office estate are running as expected and that key application metrics are monitored appropriately.

Working pattern is 37 hours per week, Full-time Mon - Fri, with participation in out-of-hours on-call support.

Recruitment and Retention Allowance (RRA): 

This post is eligible for DDaT Recruitment and Retention Allowance (RRA) of between £3,000 and £5,000. Successful candidates with exceptional skills and experience may apply for RRA. 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.

Your main day to day responsibilities will be: 

•    Building, configuring, transitioning, administering, and supporting enterprise toolsets and monitoring solutions used for monitoring the health and performance of the Home Office compute, storage, networking, physical and cloud infrastructure using commercial off the shelf (COTS) and open-source packages and solutions.

•    Implementing and supporting event management solutions, toolsets, and methods of event aggregation from multiple sources and integrations with the IT Operations Manager of Managers.

•    Proactively managing alerts & thresholds for monitored infrastructure and services, ensuring that technical solutions continue to meet business requirements.

•    Responding to and supporting the resolution of incidents, problem analysis, root cause identification and fix; monitor resolution activities and progress updates to users.

•    Using logical designs created by technical architects and required standards, methods & tools (including prototyping tools where appropriate) to build and implement enterprise tooling solutions.

•    Working in cooperation with testing to ensure the integrity & quality of enterprise toolsets and solutions.

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

•    Create, update, and maintain technical documentation, work instructions and guidance notes for supported tool-sets.

•    Work with well-understood technology and identify appropriate patterns.

•    Build and test simple interfaces between systems, or work on more complex integration as part of a wider team.

Person specification

Essential Criteria:

You’ll have a demonstrable passion, skills, knowledge, or some experience in:

•    Understanding of core technical concepts, techniques and methods related to enterprise tools and ability to implement and support tooling solutions and offerings.

•    Experience or knowledge of implementing and supporting event management solutions, toolsets, and methods of event aggregation from multiple sources.

•    Experience or knowledge of the use of IT Operations Management (ITOM) suites such as ServiceNow for Event, Incident, Problem, Change Management etc.

•    Experience or understanding of troubleshooting and resolving issues involving technologies across a variety of platforms.

•    Experience of showing an ability to keep up to date with changing technologies and how they could be applicable to the current business.

•    Experience of effectively communicating at different levels, across support and engineering, business users, architecture, and suppliers.

•    Experience of working within an ITIL Framework.

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:

Strategy and Architecture 

•    Business Strategy and Planning
              o    IT Management (ITMG) - Level 4

Development and Implementation

•    Systems Development
              o    Systems Design (DESN) - Level 3

•    Installation and Integration
              o    Systems Installation/Decommissioning (HSIN) – Level 1

Delivery and Operation

•    Service Operation
              o    IT Infrastructure (ITOP) – Level 1
              o    Problem Management (PBMG) - Level 3
              o     Incident Management (USUP) - Level 2

Desirable Criteria:

Knowledge and/or Experience of the following are desirable and would help strengthen your application, however, is not essential.

•    Networking concepts, switching, routing, fire-walling, and load balancing.

•    Hybrid cloud, network, virtualisation, compute, and storage technologies.

•    Maintaining focus on the whole life cycle of service delivery from design, development, and implementation through to operation and support.

•    Building effective partnerships with diverse teams across multiple locations and technologies.

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, Experience and Technical skills.

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 (maximum 1000 words) 

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

Please note your statement of suitability should show your suitability, including all experience relevant to the role and be aligned to the Essential Criteria as set out in the job advertisement.

The sift will be held on the statement of suitability.

CV is for information purposes only and will not be scored.

Those invited to interview will be asked about their statement of suitability and tested on the behaviours and technical skills (SFIA) listed in the advert.

Sift and Interview dates

The sift will commence from 15th January 2024.

Interviews are expected to take place from 30th 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.

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
• Skype for Business/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

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.

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).

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. 

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.