Lead DevOps Engineer - Department for Science, Innovation & Technology - G7
Government Digital & Data -
Location
Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Darlington, Edinburgh, London, Salford
About the job
Job summary
At DSIT we’re all about improving people’s lives by maximising the potential of science & technology.
We accelerate innovation, investment and productivity through world-class science, research and development.
We use technology for good by ensuring new and existing technologies are safely developed and deployed across the UK, with the benefits more widely shared.
We are driving forward a modern digital government which gives citizens a more satisfying experience and their time back.
We do all this to enable the Government’s 5 national missions: kickstarting economic growth, making Britain a clean energy superpower, taking back our streets, breaking down barriers to opportunity and building an NHS fit for the future.
Above all, we focus on improving people’s lives. Whether it’s researching new treatments for disease, developing better batteries, reducing burdens through better public services, keeping children safe online, and much more, outcomes for citizens are at the heart of what we do.
Our Inclusive Environment
We offer flexible working benefits, employee well-being support and a great pension. We are enormously proud to be a Disability Confident Leader employer. We support candidates with adjustments throughout our recruitment process. Information about disability confidence and just some examples of the adjustments that you can request can be found in the reasonable adjustment section below.
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 and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.
Find Out More
We regularly run events where you can find out more about the department and tips for the application and interview process. You can sign up for upcoming events here: https://forms.office.com/e/Jae3B4w7xm
You can also follow our LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/dsitcareers/
Job description
This role is central to DSIT’s ambition to unlock the full value of departmental data by replacing fragmented systems with a unified analytical tooling and data platform. By helping deliver this platform, you will directly enable analysts across the department to access tools and data quickly and securely. This will allow them to improve the evidence-base for key AI, science and emerging technologies policy decisions. This work will also provide the foundation for future AI tools, automation, and streamlined cross team collaboration in DSIT.
The new platform will ensure analysts have:
- Timely, reliable access to high-value datasets
- Tools to carry out reproducible, secure, and efficient analysis
- Clear processes for procuring, ingesting, and sharing data
- A shared environment that reduces duplication and enables joined-up insights across teams
Our design draws on the Ministry of Justice’s open source Analytical Platform, widely recognised as a leading model across government and has been adapted to meet DSIT’s needs as the digital centre of government.
A platform in two parts
The DSIT analytical platform is being delivered through two interconnected strands:
1. Analytical tooling – delivering the secure, scalable tools analysts need, such as JupyterLab, RStudio, VS Code, Git integration, and cloud-based workflow orchestration.
2. Data platform – delivering the pipelines, storage, and ingestion processes that ensure analysts can find and use trusted data efficiently.
Overall, the technical side of the platform team consists of two Lead DevOps Engineers, two Lead Data Engineers and three Software Developers. The team is led by a Product Owner, with support from a Technical Lead.
Initially, this role will focus on strengthening and extending the analytical tooling infrastructure to meet the needs of analysts in DSIT.
As the platform matures, you’ll also have opportunities to tackle broader DevOps challenges across the department, including data science and AI applications that improve operational efficiency and widen access to data for non-technical users.
Timelines:
Phase 1: establishing the core tooling, cloud services, controls and user interfaces. This will already be complete.
Phase 2: User onboarding and refinement. You will join for this phase. We will support a core group of analysts as early users on the platform and then expand the user base as we migrate from old solutions. Your role will be to ensure the environment performs as expected under real workloads, refine the infrastructure in response to feedback, and develop new features ready for broader adoption across the department.
Where this role sits
The role is part of DSIT’s central Data Science and Engineering team, part of the department’s Analysis function. This team plays a key role in shaping DSIT’s analytical capability and works closely with technical colleagues in the Integrated Corporate Services (ICS) Digital team. By sitting within Analysis, the team ensures the platform is developed with analysts’ needs front and centre—owned by the analytical community and built to serve it.
As a G7 DevOps Engineer in the analytical tooling strand of the project, you will own and extend the infrastructure and tools that enable analysts to work securely, reproducibly and efficiently. You’ll take forward the platform to ensure it is a secure, cloud-based environment for analysis at scale, drawing on best practice across government. Your work will directly improve evidence-based policymaking, unlock efficiency savings across the department, and create the foundations for future innovation and AI-enabled tools.
Person specification
- Manage secure, scalable deployments of key analytical tools, including JupyterLab, RStudio and VS Code
- Ensure authentication, access controls, monitoring, and audit capabilities are in line with DSIT and cross-government security standards
- Ensure robust CI/CD and environment management processes are in place
- Work closely with Data Engineers and wider digital colleagues to ensure seamless integration between tooling and data systems
- Extend the analytical platform, developing new features to meet user requirements such as dashboard hosting and AI applications
- Support onboarding of users and act on feedback to refine the platform for wider rollout
Essential Criteria
- Strong experience designing and delivering secure cloud-based infrastructure (AWS preferred)
- Proficiency in containerisation and orchestration (e.g. Docker, Kubernetes, AWS ECS/Fargate)
- Proficiency setting up infrastructure-as-code (Terraform preferred)
- Ability to set up and maintain CI/CD pipelines
- Knowledge of information security and access control in cloud services
- A collaborative approach to working with data engineers, software developers, service designers and users to shape fit-for-purpose tools
Desirable Criteria
- Familiarity with analytical user requirements and how to build user-friendly analytical platforms
- Familiarity with analytical tools (e.g. JupyterLab, RStudio, VS Code) and how they are deployed in cloud environments
