About the job

Job summary

This role is available in seven UK locations and can only be worked from within the UK, not overseas. Most DBT employees will be working a hybrid pattern, spending 2-3 days a week (pro rata) in the office on average. Changes to these working arrangements are available in certain circumstances but must be agreed with the vacancy manager and in line with the requirements of the role and can only be discussed with successful candidates. Travel to your primary office location will not be paid for by DBT, but costs for travel to an office which is not your main location will be covered.

Find out about life at DBT, our benefits and meet the team by watching our recruitment video, visiting our website or reading our blog!

About DBT DDaT 

We are the Department for Business and Trade (DBT). We champion free trade, help British businesses unleash their potential, and create new investment opportunities. The Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) team develops and operates tools, services, and platforms such as great.gov.uk that enable the UK government to provide world leading support to businesses in the UK and overseas. Have a look at our video!

Work with us to constantly push boundaries in an environment free of heavy legacy, driven by curiosity, social purpose, diversity of thought, entrepreneurship, and the aspiration to offer an incredible experience to all our users. Find out more on our blog, Digital Trade.

Job description

We’re a small collaborative, supportive team and as we look to grow and deliver more services, we are looking for an experienced technical architect with a strategic mindset to lead the design of services within one of our portfolios. In this role you will have influence at a high level to guide the design of these services through both Alpha and Omega, and the opportunity to step up to a portfolio level. We code in the open (see our code here: http://github.com/uktrade) and our primary tech stack is Python/Django, Nodejs/React, running on AWS. DBT optimises the architecture for change. We are aware that we don’t know all the future needs of our users and this needs to be reflected in the service architecture.

In your day-to-day role you will:

• Provide technical leadership and mentoring to the development team.
• Design services & system integration, selecting technologies to meet user needs.
• Build and maintain technical roadmaps.
• Facilitate integrations and reuse with other development teams.
• Rapidly build prototypes to demonstrate and test architectural patterns.
• Document, communicate and manage the evolution of services and infrastructure through architecture decision records.
• Advise product managers on the estimated effort and technical implications of user stories.
• Form relationships with external suppliers.
• Be accountable for the technical strategy of a portfolio.

Person specification

Essential skills and experience

You should be able to demonstrate essential skills and experience of:

• Leadership within a fast-changing environment.
• Designing services used at scale using modern back & front-end technologies.
• Being responsible for technical teams and delivering user-focused services in multi-disciplinary agile teams.
• An ability to build consensus between diverse and often conflicting interests, to achieve agreement on technical plans.
• Introducing practices such as TDD, continuous integration, continuous delivery, and DevOps to teams.
• Working with cloud infrastructure and services.
• Knowledge of open-source principles and technologies.
• Designing secure systems and awareness of emerging security issues.
• Communicating with both technical and non-technical audiences.

Desirable skills and experience

While not essential, it would be ideal if you have demonstrable skills and experience of:

• View of technology as an enabler of great digital services.
• Working in a dynamic organisation with changing requirements.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £67,000, Department for Business and Trade contributes £18,090 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

Interviews for this vacancy will be conducted virtually. We will, however, consider in-person interviews by exception.

Please ensure that you check your emails regularly as all updates from us will be sent to you this way.

Assessment and Interview

Unless otherwise specified, all interviews are currently being held online. Please ensure that you check your emails regularly as all updates from us will be sent to you this way.

Sift will take place week commencing: 19th February 2023

Interviews will take place week commencing: 26th February 2024

Please notes these dates are indicative and may be subject to change.

As part of the application process you will be asked to upload a CV which outlines your experience, skills and what makes you fit for the role.

At the sift stage for this role, Inspire People will assess you against the Essential criteria listed above to compile a longlist of applications. If you are progressed through to this stage, you will be asked to complete a short, pre-recorded video interview with Inspire People or provide written answers to questions. These applications will then be sifted by DBT hiring managers.

At the interview stage for this role, we will assess your technical/specialist experience, outlined in the above role description, testing your ability through relevant assessments/presentations and ask you questions around Behaviours and Technical skills, which are part of the Civil Service Success Profiles.

The technical element within the interview, where you will be asked a series of questions to demonstrate your specific professional skills and knowledge related directly to the job role and context, will assess against these Technical Skills:

• Availability and Capacity Management
• Bridging the Gap between the Technical and Non-technical
• Governance
• Information Security
• Making and Guiding Decisions
• Strategy
• Turning Business Problems into Technical Design
• Understanding the Whole Context

You will also be assessed against the Behaviours of:

• Leadership
• Changing and Improving
• Making Effective Decisions
• Delivering at Pace

Offer Stage

Appointments may be made to candidates in merit order based on location preferences.

The salary we will offer is determined using interview performance. Scores at interview translate to proficiency levels and an associated salary. Once a successful candidate has a proficiency level and is part of the capability framework, they will be given opportunities to self-assess to progress through the pay scale within their grade during their time at DBT. For further explanation of proficiency levels and more information about DDaT click here.

The Department for Business and Trade embraces and values diversity in all forms. We welcome and pride ourselves on the positive impact diversity has on the work we do, and we promote equality of opportunity throughout the organisation. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Candidates who pass the bar at interview but are not the highest scoring will be held on a 12-month reserve list for future appointments. Candidates who are judged to be a near miss at interview may be offered a post at the grade below the one advertised.

Security Clearance Details

This role requires you to undergo Security Clearance. The requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for at least 3 of the last 5 years. You will be asked to provide evidence of your UK footprint where you have been physically present in the UK. Failure to meet the residency requirements will result in your security clearance application being rejected.

If you require SC clearance you will need to provide evidence of the below requirements.

Checks will be made against:

• Departmental or company records (personnel files, staff reports, sick leave reports and security records)
• UK criminal records covering both spent and unspent criminal records
• Your credit and financial history with a credit reference agency
• Security Services record
• Location details

Reasonable Adjustments

We are committed to supporting candidates so they can perform at their best throughout the recruitment process. This includes making reasonable adjustments to our process. In order to request an adjustment: 

Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section on the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. 

Alternatively contact the Government Recruitment Service at DBTrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.  

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

Candidate Support

You may want to join a virtual Candidate Support Session. These sessions include helpful tips and advice on the recruitment process, from application to interview.  

Please see attached Candidate Pack for further information on: Diversity and Inclusion; Benefits; Learning and Development; Working Patterns and what we deliver as a department. 

Further Information:

• A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made. Reserve Lists will be for each location and appointments made in merit order based on location preferences.   
• Any move to the Department for Business and Trade from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments.
• The Department will not consider sponsoring a visa or issuing a Certificate of Sponsorship. We are unable to offer advice on any Visa and Immigration cases.  
• 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. Any applicant who has details held on the IFD will be refused employment.   
• A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.  
• Terms and Conditions are attached.  Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.
•  Please note – the successful candidate will be expected to remain in post for a minimum of 18 months before being released for another role.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.

Vetting

The requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for at least 3 of the last 5 years. Failure to meet the residency requirements will result in your security clearance application being rejected.

Feedback

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. 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.