About the job

Job summary

Job title – Senior Platform Data Engineer

Profession-  Digital Data & Technology

Directorate – Data Operations

Full Time equivalent - 37.5 hours

No of Roles – 5

Contract Type – Permanent

Location – Hybrid

UKHSA operates a hybrid working model where business needs allow.  This provides us with greater flexibility about how and where we work, to get the best from our workforce. As a hybrid worker, you will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of your contractual working hours (approximately 3 days a week pro rata,(averaged over a month) working at one of UKHSA's locations (Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, and London).  Specialist or regional roles will be based at the appropriate UKHSA site. For certain roles, some additional flexibility may be possible, which will be agreed upon with the hiring manager based on individual requirements and business needs.

Working Pattern – Full Time / Flexible Working / Hybrid Working

Grade & Salary – Grade SEO. National banding- £38,724  - £44,393 Inner London –£42,716- £48,068 Outer London - £40,721- £46,231

This role comes with a Market Pay Supplement of up to £7,500

*please note this Market Pay Supplement is still going through internal approval processes, if approved this will be awarded to successful applicants

New entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band.

The internal roles rules apply to existing Civil Servants, i.e. level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive 10% increase. Either case is determined by whichever is the highest.

This role is to be appointed under Civil Service Terms & Conditions. Full details on the T&C’s are found https://www.ukhsa.reed.com/.

Closing Date – 13/02/2024. 23:55pm. Unfortunately, late applications will not be considered

Interview Date – W/C 26/02/2024 – 18/08/2023 Please note, these dates are subject to change.

Job description

COVID-19 has reinforced the impact that threats to health can have on society and the economy and driven health security as a critical component of our national security architecture. The United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is a system leader for health security; taking action internationally to strengthen global health security, providing trusted advice to government and the public and reducing inequalities in the way different communities experience and are impacted by infectious disease, environmental hazards, and other threats to health.

UKHSA’s remit, as an agency with a global-to-local reach, is to protect the health of the nation from infectious diseases and other external threats to health. As the nation’s expert national health security agency UKHSA will:

• Prevent: anticipate threats to health and help build the nation’s readiness, defences and health security
• Detect: use cutting edge environmental and biological surveillance to proactively detect and monitor infectious diseases and threats to health
• Analyse: use world-class science and data analytics to assess and continually monitor threats to health, identifying how best to control and mitigate the risks
• Respond: take rapid, collaborative and effective actions nationally and locally to mitigate threats to health when they materialise
• Lead: lead strong and sustainable global, national, regional and local partnerships designed to save lives, protect the nation from public health threats, and reduce inequalities

 

UKHSA will build on the legacy of the COVID-19 response to ensure resilient and scalable infrastructure to secure the UK in the strongest position to protect the public from future threats to health.

UKHSA mission is challenging, innovative and in the spotlight. To achieve our objectives effectively and fairly, we commit to representing modern Britain and all its diversity. UKHSA recognises that diversity of background and life experience brings different insights, creates challenge, and encourages change and innovation. This in turn produces more accountable and trusted public services and better decisions; better because they are more attuned to the needs and interests of all our communities. Differences of thought and outlook are not only respected but expected. We want all our employees to feel that they can be themselves at work and that they are valued.

 

Data Operations

 

The UKHSA Data Operations Directorate provides strategic leadership and oversight for developing and managing a common and bespoke suite of performant, modern, secure, data and analytical tools, services, platforms and applications, ensuring access to high quality data and analytics services, internally and externally.

Job Overview

You will work in the Data Engineering and Enablement Division that reports into the Data Operations Directorate.  It’s an exciting time to join as we seek to create leading Health Protection data capabilities that enable data scientists and data analysts to develop insights that inform public health decisions with resilience platforms and curated data assets.

The core activities of Engineering and Enablement include the ingestion of data sources, building data pipelines, curated data views and data capabilities fused from data, models and software that enable the exploitation of data by analysts, data scientists and MI teams.

We are seeking to mature our advanced platform capabilities with standardised practices, machine learning and agility needed to pro-active detect and respond to new public health issues.  We are looking for a Senior Platform Engineer to work as part of the Engineering and Enablement team to support the operation and the development of our Enterprise Data and Analytics platform, specifically:

• Work on the design and maintenance of scalable and reliable infrastructure, ensuring optimal performance and continuous optimisation.
• Develop and maintain tools and scripts for automating deployment and monitoring, whilst managing systems to maintain environment consistency.
• Enhance CI/CD pipelines for automated software delivery, ensuring rapid and reliable code integration and deployment.
• Apply security best practices, including access control and threat detection, and ensure compliance with industry standards.
• Address performance bottlenecks in the infrastructure, conducting load testing and capacity planning for increased workloads.
• Improve monitoring and alerting systems for proactive issue detection and quickly troubleshoot infrastructure-related incidents.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams and effectively communicate technical concepts and solutions to non-technical stakeholders.
• Contribute and review our comprehensive documentation for infrastructure and processes.

We work collaboratively in agile multi-disciplinary teams, and we are looking for engineers who can operate in an environment that values DevOps principles and agile methodologies.

We are developing our engineering community of practice to share knowledge, enhance our standards and processes to provide a strong foundation to develop individuals, teams and innovation. 

Main Duties of the Job

As a Senior Platform Engineer, you will be responsible for:

 

• Working on the design and implementation of robust, scalable, and highly available infrastructure solutions, while continuously monitoring, maintaining, and optimising existing infrastructure for performance and reliability.
• Develop and maintain automation scripts and tools to streamline deployment, configuration, and monitoring processes, and implement configuration management systems for environment consistency.
• Enhance CI/CD pipelines to automate software delivery, testing, and deployment, managing code integration for rapid and reliable releases.
• Apply security best practices including access control, vulnerability scanning, and threat detection, and ensure infrastructure compliance with industry standards and regulations.
• Address performance bottlenecks and optimisation opportunities within the infrastructure stack, and conduct load testing and capacity planning for anticipated increased workloads.
• Improve monitoring and alerting systems for proactive issue detection and resolution and troubleshoot and resolve infrastructure-related incidents promptly.
• Contribute to our comprehensive documentation for infrastructure, processes, and procedures, ensuring it remains up-to-date and accessible to team members.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams such as developers and system administrators, and effectively communicate technical concepts and solutions to non-technical stakeholders.
• Stay informed about emerging technologies and industry best practices in platform engineering and DevOps, introducing innovative solutions to enhance infrastructure and processes.
• Encourage a diverse range of people, promote business objectives, and model the behaviours and standards expected of an experienced civil service member.

 

• Contribute to the decision-making throughout the product life cycle and phases of product delivery, from stakeholder engagement to analysis, development of platform designs, and implementation.
• Act as a DevOps champion and promote DevOps and Agile best practices with passion.
• Be a team player, support team members for success, recognising the bigger picture, and going the extra mile for high quality delivery in a high-performing organisation.
• Understand the needs of technical and business stakeholders into technical requirements, manage stakeholder expectations, and contribute to challenging discussions.
• Apply knowledge of techniques and concepts required for the role, liaise with other technical teams for seamless service delivery, and identify areas for impactful innovation in data tools and techniques. 
• Advance engineering excellence across the Agency through contributions to our engineering community of practice, focusing on sharing knowledge, enhancing standards, and providing a foundation for technical growth.

Person specification

Essential Criteria

 

 

• Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Working knowledge with designing, implementing, and maintaining infrastructure using Terraform, and of IaC principles that ensure scalability, reliability, and security.
• AWS Expertise: Hands on experience with Amazon Web Services (AWS), including but not limited to EC2, S3, Lambda, IAM, Redshift, and VPC configurations, along with an understanding of AWS best practices. Azure experience is also applicable.
• Git/GitHub: Experience using Git/GitHub for version control, including creating and managing repositories, setting up branching strategies. Azure DevOps expectance is also applicable.
• DevOps Methodologies: Knowledge of DevOps principles and practices, with an understanding of how to orchestrate and automate end-to-end CI/CD pipelines for software deployment, testing, and monitoring.
• Scripting and Programming: Extensive experience with programming languages (e.g., Python, Scala, R, Bash). Able to code, test, correct, and document programs and scripts. Facilitated code reviews and applied refactoring techniques to enhance an application’s codebase.
• Disaster Recovery and High Availability: Knowledge of disaster recovery plans, as well as strategies for achieving high availability and fault tolerance.
• Containerisation and Orchestration: Experience with using containerisation technologies such as Docker and container orchestration tools like Kubernetes, to enable efficient deployment and scaling of containerised applications.
• Security and Compliance: Working knowledge of security in cloud and infrastructure management, and the need for robust security measures and compliance standards within the environment.
• Experience: At least 1-3 years as a Platform / DevOps Engineer, with experience in both routine business operations and projects addressing data processing and advanced analytic challenges.

 

 

Desirable Criteria

 

• Data Modelling: Experience with data modelling concepts and principles and can produce relevant data models. Have developed data integration procedures.
• Data Ingestion: Hands on experience with data ingestion processes. Have worked with data sharing agreements and Data Protection Impact Assessments.
• Metadata Management: Understand various tools for storing and working with metadata. Be able to manage changes to existing metadata repositories.
• Data Analysis & Analytics: Operational knowledge in business intelligence tools, applications, and systems. Have used a range of statistical practices. Understand how advanced analysis results can be turned into business decision-making insights.
• Monitoring and Logging: Experience using monitoring, alerting, and logging solutions.
• Project Management: Experience using project management tools like JIRA, Azure DevOps, or similar tools within an Agile/Scrum development environment.
• Lifecycle Management: Understanding of software and data lifecycle management for the efficient and structured handling of data.
• Change Management: Familiarity with change management processes to facilitate the transition of technology changes into production environments.

 

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £38,724, UK Health Security Agency contributes £10,455 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, and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Strengths

Stage 1: Application & Sift

As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide a Statement of Suitability in no more than 750 words. This should outline your skills, experience, and achievements, providing evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the experience criteria or the essential criteria (outlined in the person specification section).

You will also be asked to provide information within the ‘Employer/ Activity history’ section of the application form. This is equivalent to the information you would provide on a CV, setting out your career history.

Note: both your Statement of Suitability and Employment History sections will be scored with equal weight in the sifting process. You must complete both to progress. If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to an interview.

If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to interview

 

Stage 2: Panel Interview

Prior to the interview, a coding test assessing the essential criteria in the “Technical skills, knowledge, or equivalent experience” will be sent to the candidates that are successful at the SIFT stage. The coding test needs to be completed within 48h.

Note that submissions that are sent past the 48h deadline will not be considered.

All applicants that progress to interview will be assessed based on Behaviours in the Civil Service Success Profiles. See https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/success-profiles. The Behaviours tested during the interview stage will be:

• Communicating and Influencing

• Delivering at Pace
• Managing a Quality Service
• Making Effective Decisions
• Changing and Improving

 

An oral technical skills test on the essential criteria in the “Technical skills, knowledge, or equivalent experience” section will also be assessed at interview. 

 

Benefits

• Alongside your salary of £38,724, UK Health Security Agency contributes £10,455 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.- https://www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk/joining-the-pension-scheme/benefits-of-the-pension-scheme/
• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• Range of health and wellbeing support

 

Any move to UKHSA 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.

 

Reserve List:

Candidates who pass the interview criteria but are not offered a post will be kept on a reserve list for 12 months and may be contacted if similar roles become available.

If you are interviewed for the post and do not meet the required threshold for the specified grade, your application may be assessed against a similar, lower grade role and you may be offered the post should one be available.

 

DBS - People working with government systems must complete Basic Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks which includes a disclosure and barring security check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed for this role is BPSS however there may be a requirement for this role to be SC cleared and you should familiarise yourself with the criteria of security clearance.

 

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).

 

This role is Open to all external applicants (anyone) from outside the Civil Service (including by definition internal applicants. Appointments to roles within UKHSA will be made in accordance with the Civil Service nationality rules. These can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-rules This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• Nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• Nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• Nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with settled or pre-settled status or who apply for either status by the deadline of the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• Relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service
• Relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service
• Certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles.

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 welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Government baseline personnel security standard

It’s important to note that there are currently exceptions to applications being considered if your conviction relates to any of the following:

• life sentences
• arson
• sexual offences
• hate and terror offences

Some departments will also consider the specific offence against the nature of the business, i.e., a conviction for fraud may rule you out for a finance role

 

Complaint process:

The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact UKHSA Public Accountability Unit via email: Complaints1@ukhsa.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Visit the Civil Service Commission website.

 

 

Contact Details – Sophie.Rigney@reed.com

 

 

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

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.