About the job

Job summary

• Do you have a strong attention to detail?
• Are you interested in learning how to provide quality assurance of IT services?

If so, the Quality Practitioner (Level 4) apprenticeship is for you.

Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and Dstl Digital is looking to welcome you to a new apprenticeship and position as their IT Service apprentice.

Working in a team of friendly colleagues, and apprentices within the division more widely, your learning and growth will focus on the quality assurance of IT service management, the planning, co-ordination and execution of projects and continuous supplier improvement.

In this apprenticeship, you will learn and develop skills in (and more):

• auditing,
• assurance,
• data gathering and manipulation
• process mapping; and
• identifying vulnerabilities and exposures

Although working in the IT space, you won’t be expected to code or develop software.

Being part of Dstl Digital, you will become part of the team providing vital support behind the science. You will share our values collaboration, innovation and impact, which are at the heart of everything we do.  

Your growth will be encouraged and you will be given a voice to question the norms and bring innovative ideas to tasks. You will be trusted to engage directly with internal and external customers, partners and industry. Your studies will be supported by our training provider and the area you work in.

Your current situation

You may have never worked in an office, be finishing sixth form, leaving the armed forces, looking for a career change or not enjoying your current studies. No matter what your current situation is, if you are at least 18 years old you can join us as a IT Service Apprentice.

What’s next?

Once you have successfully completed your apprenticeship, if you have demonstrated the required behaviours, we will support you in applying for a permanent position at Dstl

Job description

In this role you will:

• Apply your studies to genuine projects as you develop IT service and quality assurance skills
• Improve your presentation and communication skills as you present your findings and influence the customer
• Challenge norms and bring new ways of thinking to projects

Person specification

You will have:

• An interest and passion for launching a career in assurance within the defence industry
• The desire and ability to learn and apply new skills.

A full list is available on the attached profile on Civil Service (CS) Jobs

Person specification

You will have:

• An interest and passion for launching a career in assurance within the defence industry
• The desire and ability to learn and apply new skills.

A full list is available on the attached profile on Civil Service (CS) Jobs

You will possess these essential skills:

• Effective communication
• Experience using MS Office
• The ability to effectively prioritise your workload in order to deliver work on time with support from your Team Leader.

You may have this desirable skill:

• Working as part of a team

Your experience doesn’t have to be in a work environment. A full list is available on the attached profile on CS Jobs

Important Information

Our work in defence, security and intelligence requires our employees to be UK Nationals who are able to gain a high level of security clearance to undertake the projects we are involved in to protect us from security threats. For this reason, only UK Nationals will be able to apply for this role. If you are an international or dual-national candidate and you think you have the skills we need, please consider applying to any of our government, security or defence partners.

This role will require full UK security clearance and you should have resided in the UK for the past 5 years. You must be at least 18 years old in September 2024 to undertake this apprenticeship.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £22,754, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory contributes £6,143 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

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

We want you to have your best chance of success in our recruitment process, so If at any stage of the application process you would like help or assistance please contact the Dstl Recruitment Team dstlrecruitment@dstl.gov.uk and we will do all we can to support you.

Applications will be reviewed the week commencing 25th February 2024 and interview will take place from 18th March 2024.

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

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. 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

Open to UK nationals only.

This job is not open to candidates who hold a dual nationality.

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.