Defence Business Services (DBS) - Development Operations (DevOps) Engineer - #1749186

Norcross - Tomlinson House, FY5 3WP, Abbey Wood North, Stoke Gifford, Bristol, South West, BS34 8QW, Kentigern House, Glasgow, G2 3EX.

Job Summary

Are you a dedicated person who is passionate about making a difference?

Would you like to work for the Ministry of Defence? 

Defence Business Services (DBS) is one of the largest shared service organisations in Europe that provides a wide range of corporate services, to over 1.2 million end users, including serving and past military and families, as well as MoD civil servants and industry. DBS delivers large scale administration and smaller specialist services to enable the wider MOD to focus on its core aims, maintaining the UK’s Defence and Security. Services include Human Resources, Pay, Veterans, Finance and Procurement.

•  Our Vision - To support UK defence customers with outstanding service every time.
•  Our Mission – Together we will proudly support Defence, continuously improving and delivering flexible, timely, sustainable and value for money services that underpin the whole force and enhance operational capability. 
  
  

DBS is committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues. We are building an inclusive culture and respectful environment that reflects the diversity of the society. 

We want to maximise the potential of everyone who chooses to work for us through opportunities to develop your skills and experience. We also offer a range of flexible working patterns and support to make a fulfilling career accessible to you and offer a Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%. Where your role permits, we support a blended working approach alternatively known as hybrid working.

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 office-based employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in office, subject to capacity and any required workplace adjustments. Requirements to attend other locations for official business, or work in another MOD office, will also count towards this level of attendance. Applicants can request further information regarding how this may work in their team from the Vacancy Holder (see advert for contact details). Defence Business Services cannot respond to any questions about working arrangements.

DBS has recently undertaken a review of its operational locations in the North West, and have consolidated all activities in Norcross, Blackpool. A further move, to the new Government Hub at Talbot Gateway in Blackpool, is scheduled to take place in 2027.

Come and join the DBS community today!

https://youtu.be/gUw0ToaRGgk

Job Description

DBS DIT provides digital capability that supports corporate services across the Ministry of Defence, including Finance, Commercial, Payroll and Human Resources for Military Personnel, Civilian Personnel and Veterans. Our digital solutions comprise enterprise resource planning systems, performance management, analytics, automation, low code applications and public facing services through Gov.uk.

As a Senior DevOps Engineer, you will be at the heart of managing and optimising our development processes. Your responsibilities will include overseeing tools and testing environments, managing central code control, maintaining development standards, and writing software that automates systems. You will design secure solutions and deliver complex projects using modern development standards.

Your role will also involve troubleshooting and resolving complex service faults and designing efficient systems with medium levels of risk and complexity. You will actively collaborate with user researchers to champion user-focused design, as well as with technical and solutions architects and software developers.

In addition, you will underpin the development of both internal user services and public-facing services. You will deploy and manage applications on OpenShift and third-party PaaS solutions and manage CI/CD pipelines.

The ideal candidate will demonstrate strong leadership, effective communication, decision-making skills, and a commitment to continuous improvement and development.

Responsibilities

A Senior DevOps Engineer delivers and integrates software to form a complete DevOps toolchain. They are responsible for planning and designing large groups of stories. At this role level, you will:

• Transform technical requirements into an effective DevOps toolchain to enable product delivery
• Ensure that deployment strategies for products are repeatable, scalable and highly available
• Have deep technical knowledge, providing support to delivery teams and solving complex problems
• Manage service components and optimise development processes to ensure they meet business needs and performance indicators.
• Design secure solutions and services with controls specifically engineered to mitigate security threats.
• Use modern development standards to design, code, test, and document programs or scripts of medium-to-high complexity.
• Identify, locate, and fix complex service faults while advising others on different methodologies and types of service support.
• Design systems with medium levels of risk and complexity, ensuring the selection of appropriate technology and efficient resource use.
• Collaborate with user researchers to champion user research, prioritise and define approaches to understand the user story, and offer recommendations on the best tools and methods to use.
• Deploy, manage, and scale applications on OpenShift and third-party Platform as a Service (PaaS) solutions, while setting up and managing continuous integration and continuous deployment pipelines.
• Provide coaching and mentoring to more junior colleagues
  
  

DBS DIT provides digital capability that supports corporate services across the Ministry of Defence, including Finance, Commercial, Payroll and Human Resources for Military Personnel, Civilian Personnel and Veterans. Our digital solutions comprise enterprise resource planning systems, performance management, analytics, automation, low code applications and public facing services through Gov.uk.

As a Senior DevOps Engineer, you will be at the heart of managing and optimising our development processes. Your responsibilities will include overseeing tools and testing environments, managing central code control, maintaining development standards, and writing software that automates systems. You will design secure solutions and deliver complex projects using modern development standards.

Your role will also involve troubleshooting and resolving complex service faults and designing efficient systems with medium levels of risk and complexity. You will actively collaborate with user researchers to champion user-focused design, as well as with technical and solutions architects and software developers.

In addition, you will underpin the development of both internal user services and public-facing services. You will deploy and manage applications on OpenShift and third-party PaaS solutions and manage CI/CD pipelines.

The ideal candidate will demonstrate strong leadership, effective communication, decision-making skills, and a commitment to continuous improvement and development.

A Senior DevOps Engineer Delivers And Integrates Software To Form a Complete DevOps Toolchain. They Are Responsible For Planning And Designing Large Groups Of Stories. At This Role Level, You Will:

• Transform technical requirements into an effective DevOps toolchain to enable product delivery
• Ensure that deployment strategies for products are repeatable, scalable and highly available
• Have deep technical knowledge, providing support to delivery teams and solving complex problems
• Manage service components and optimise development processes to ensure they meet business needs and performance indicators.
• Design secure solutions and services with controls specifically engineered to mitigate security threats.
• Use modern development standards to design, code, test, and document programs or scripts of medium-to-high complexity.
• Identify, locate, and fix complex service faults while advising others on different methodologies and types of service support.
• Design systems with medium levels of risk and complexity, ensuring the selection of appropriate technology and efficient resource use.
• Collaborate with user researchers to champion user research, prioritise and define approaches to understand the user story, and offer recommendations on the best tools and methods to use.
• Deploy, manage, and scale applications on OpenShift and third-party Platform as a Service (PaaS) solutions, while setting up and managing continuous integration and continuous deployment pipelines.
• Provide coaching and mentoring to more junior colleagues
  
  

Person specification

You Will Need The Following Skills For This Role:

• Availability and Capacity Management (Senior DevOps Engineer) You can manage service components to ensure they meet business needs and key performance indicators (KPIs) (Skill Level: Working)
• Development process optimisation (Senior DevOps Engineer). You can work under guidance to identify process optimisation opportunities and contribute to the implementation of proposed solutions. (Skill Level: Working)
• Information Security. You can design solutions and services with security controls included, specifically engineered to mitigate security threats. (Skill Level: Practitioner).
• Modern Development Standards. You can apply modern development standards and support others in applying them. (Skill Level: Practitioner)
• Programming and Build (Software Engineering). You can collaborate with others when necessary to review specifications. You can use the agreed specifications to design, code, test and document programs or scripts of medium-to-high complexity, using the right standards and tools (Skill Level: Practitioner)
• Prototyping. You can approach prototyping as a team activity, actively soliciting prototypes and testing with others. You can establish design patterns and iterate them use a variety of prototyping methods and choose the most appropriate (Skill Level: Practitioner)
• Service Support. You can identify, locate, and fix complex service faults, and advise others on different methodologies and types of service support.(Skill Level: Expert)
• Systems Design. You can design systems characterised by medium levels of risk, impact, and business or technical complexity. You can select appropriate design standards, methods, and tools, and ensure they are applied effectively. You can review the systems designs of others to ensure the selection of appropriate technology, efficient use of resources and integration of multiple systems and technology. (Skill Level: Practitioner)
• Systems Integration. You can define the integration build co-ordinate build activities across systems understand how to undertake and support integration testing activities (Skill Level: Practitioner)
• User focus. You can collaborate with user researchers and can represent users internally. You can explain the difference between user needs and the desires of the user. You can champion user research to focus on all users. You can prioritise and define approaches to understand the user story, and guiding others in doing so. You can offer recommendations on the best tools and methods to use. (Skill Level: Practitioner)
  
  

You will hold a recognized technical certification appropriate to the role or be prepared to obtain this while in post.

Desirable Experience:

• Experience with OpenShift: As our solutions are run on OpenShift, experience with deploying, managing, and scaling applications on this platform is highly desirable. This includes understanding of OpenShift's architecture, its project and application concepts, and its command-line client.
• Proficiency with Prometheus and Terraform: Experience with Prometheus for monitoring and alerting purposes is desirable. Familiarity with Terraform for infrastructure as code (IaC) to provision and manage any cloud, infrastructure, or service is also needed.
• Containerization and Kubernetes Experience: Hands-on experience with Docker or other containerization technologies is needed. Understanding of Kubernetes for container orchestration is also crucial, including the ability to design, deploy and manage applications within a Kubernetes environment.
• Web Development Skills: Proficiency in web development languages and frameworks such as Node.js, TypeScript, and React is desirable. Additionally, a strong understanding of HTML and CSS is needed for front-end development and user interface design.
• Experience with Platform as a Service (PaaS): Familiarity with third-party PaaS solutions is desirable, as our solutions sit on these platforms. This includes understanding of how to deploy, scale, and manage applications on platforms such as AWS, and Azure.
• Experience in CI/CD: Experience in setting up and managing continuous integration and continuous deployment pipelines is desirable. This includes familiarity with tools like Jenkins, Github Actions, Argo CD GitLab CI/CD, or similar.
• Security Practices: Understanding of security best practices in relation to DevOps, including securing the software supply chain, managing secrets, and implementing access controls.
  
  

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
  
  

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• DDAT Technical – Prototyping
• DDAT Technical - Service Support
• DDAT Technical - Programming and Build
• DDAT Technical - Systems Integration
  
  

Alongside your salary of £44,590, Ministry of Defence contributes £12,917 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• An environment with flexible working options Monday-Friday
• 25 days paid annual leave rising (1 day per year) to 30 days upon completion of 5 years’ service (pro rata). In additional to 8 public holidays per year, you will also receive leave for HM The Sovereign's birthday
• Hybrid working where role permits
• An opportunity to be considered for Reward and Recognition
• Family-friendly policies including - parental leave and adoption leave
• Learning and development tailored to your role
• Professional and personal development of skills
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• Minimum of 15 days special leave in a rolling 12 month period for volunteer reserve commitments
• Special paid leave to volunteer up to 6 days per year
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%
  
  

Allowances

The post does not offer relocation expenses.

Please be advised that the Department is conducting a review of all pay related allowances which could impact on those allowances that the post currently being advertised attracts.

External recruits who join the MOD who are new to the Civil Service will be subject to a six-month probation period.  

This post is eligible for a Digital Skills Allowance of up to £11,400 per annum. Eligibility for this allowance will be assessed at interview against the 4 core technical skills only and reviewed annually in line with departmental policy. 

Employment Hours

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

Selection process details

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

Please ensure that at the application and interview stages of the campaign you review the Success Profiles Framework to assist you in the demonstration of your skills and experience.

Your suitability for the role will be assessed using the Success Profile elements that have been chosen for this campaign. Each element will be scored accordingly, and the successful candidate will be appointed on merit.

Applications Will Be Sifted On All Success Profile Elements, But In The Event Of a High Number Of Applications, An Initial Sift Will Be Conducted On The Following Success Profile Elements:

Primary: Career - Personal Statement

At application stage, you will be assessed against the following:

Experience: 

• Candidates will be required to provide CV details to include job history; qualification details and previous skills and experience.
• Candidates will be required to provide a statement of suitability. (Word count: 1000)
  
  

Please provide information of how you meet the criteria set out in the job description. You may wish to further include examples of how you have tackled similar tasks or demonstrated the skills outlined in the job advert.

At interview stage, you will be assessed against the following:

Behaviours

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
  
  

Technical Skills

• DDAT Technical – Prototyping
• DDAT Technical - Service Support
• DDAT Technical - Programming and Build
• DDAT Technical - Systems Integration
  
  

Technical Skills Framework - https://ddat-capability-framework.service.gov.uk/role/development-operations-devops-engineer#senior-dev-ops-engineer

In The Rare Case Where Individuals Have Exact Matching Scores, The Order Of Merit Will Be Determined Based On The Behaviour Scores At Interview In The Following Order:

• Technical - DDAT Technical - Systems Integration
• Technical - DDAT Technical – Prototyping
• Technical - DDAT Technical - Programming and Build
• Technical - DDAT Technical - Service Support
• Behaviour - Leadership
• Behaviour - Communicating and Influencing
  
  

If Candidate Scores Are Still Exact, The Merit Order Will Then Be Determined On The Sift Score In The Following Order:

• Career - Personal Statement
• Career - Job History
• Career - Previous Skills
• Career - Qualification Details
  
  

We want to offer opportunities to all who are successful at interview for our roles, but this isn’t always possible, so we do hold candidates on an active reserve list for 12 months.

Application sifting to take place the week commencing the 7th of July with interviews to follow currently taking place via MS Teams and to be conducted the week commencing the 14th of July.

A minimum of 2 full working days’ notice will be provided for interviews. We endeavour to stick to these dates, but these are subject to change around business needs. The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. If you need to advise us that you need additional help or reasonable adjustments for the recruitment process, please contact: [email protected]

MOD Recruitment Satisfaction Survey – we may contact you regarding your experience to help us improve our customer satisfaction. The survey is voluntary and anonymous. You may however be given the opportunity to provide additional information to help us improve our service which includes the collection of some personal data as defined by the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The MOD Privacy Notice sets out how we will use your personal data and your rights.

As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came into effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points-based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical. 

The role currently being advertised has not been assessed as business critical and is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points-based system. Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected, and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn. 

To assist with your application please find attached -  

DBS Candidate Information Guide - Working for Defence Business Services - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) 

(26) UK Ministry of Defence: Life , LinkedIn

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

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

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.

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.

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.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

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

Contact point for applicants

Job Contact :

• Name : Joanne Leach
• Email : [email protected]
  
  

Recruitment team

• Email : [email protected]
  
  

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. If you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles and would like to raise this, please contact [email protected] in the first instance. If the role has been advertised externally (outside of the Civil Service) and you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/civil-service-recruitment/complaints/