Senior Infrastructure Operations Engineer - National Crime Agency - SEO

Location

Birmingham, Bristol, Leicester, London, Warrington

About the job

Job summary

Information about the Command

Digital, Data & Technology (DDaT), supports NCA operational commands with how we exploit data and to ensure the NCA uses the best technology platforms with the right tools and applications to further enable the NCA to protecting the public from serious and organised crime. We are responsible for defining and delivering our data and technology strategy, policy and architecture, and building and sustaining resilient services which are critical to our mission success.
The pace of change within the digital and tech world means we need to be agile and innovative in how we respond to threats while exploiting the opportunities this presents.

Information about the Business Area

Enterprise Services provides and manages the enterprise IT capabilities that support the NCA and its partners in delivering operational outcomes across the Serious and Organised Crime (SOC) system. Operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all year round, the team ensures services are reliable, resilient, and available when they are needed most.

Working in partnership with suppliers, Enterprise Services maintains a strong focus on delivering cost-effective, high-quality services that meet current organisational needs while supporting ongoing transformation. The team leads the introduction of new services into live operation, ensuring they are implemented smoothly and deliver tangible value across the estate.

Enterprise Services plays a critical role in managing and driving the supply chain, enabling the NCA to remain agile and responsive, while building and sustaining a future-ready technology environment.

Job description

The Specialist Operational Services (SOS) team works within the wider DDaT Enterprise Services function and runs and maintains the NCAs most sensitive operationally focused front-line IT services. The team is comprised of IT professionals, law enforcement and staff with a technology focused mind-set, willing to go that extra mile to achieve real world benefits for the UK, together we ensure that specialist services are fit for purpose, agile, delivered 24/7 and have a direct impact on the NCAs mission of protecting the public from serious and organised crime (SOC).

Through developing and provisioning of cutting-edge technology services, the SOS function will enhance intelligence collection, surveillance and digital forensics capabilities to support the Agency’s fight against serious and organised crime. 

The SOS function brings together Digital Forensics and Targeted Interception services which include international deployments.  Additional teams and specialist services are also being identified to move into this Engineering function, so the Agency is able to respond proactively to the changing nature of the SOC threats. 

The Digital Forensics (DF) engineering function is responsible for deployment, configuration and support of hi-end digital forensics too including infrastructure, networking and software used within the Investigations department and overseas partners.  

The Targeted Interception Engineering function is responsible for deployment, configuration and support of hi-end technical capabilities including infrastructure, networking and software used within Integrated Communications Intelligence (ICI) department, wider policing partners including National police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and overseas partners. Targeted Interception International Engineering leads on specifying, designing, developing, delivering and supporting new technical capabilities and for the requirements capture to make use of raw intelligence material for ICI and partners.

We are currently looking to recruit Senior Infrastructure Operations Engineers at one of our locations in Warrington, London, Birmingham, Leicester, or Bristol (team dependent - see below) with the ability to travel between sites (A full, clean, British driving license is essential) within the Specialist Operational Services function.

Please note that Targeted Interception (TI Domestic) Engineering posts are located only at our London and Warrington bases.

The Targeted Interception (International) Engineering posts can be located at any of the advertised locations, however our International roles will also require regular international travel. 

Our Digital Forensics (DF) engineering roles can be located at any of the advertised locations. 

Please note, staff in our TI (Domestic) and DF Engineering functions will form part of an on-call rota. Our TI (International) team currently does not have an on-call rota, however this may be subject to change. 

Role Description  

The purpose of the Senior Infrastructure Operations Engineer role is to ensure critical Intelligence Collection and Digital Forensics capabilities are delivered and maintained effectively to ensure they meet the NCAs evolving operational demands. Working in a small team of highly enthusiastic IT professional staff, transferring skills within the team will ensure we are better placed to look after specialist NCA capabilities and networks to provide full critical support, upgrades, development and maintenance.

The role is responsible for: Delivering 1st, 2nd and mainly 3rd line support of technical systems to a professional standard, adapting to and meeting user requirements; Installing new hardware, installation and configuration of a mixture of Operating Systems including MS Server 2016-24, various flavours of LINIX on physical and virtual hardware (mainly Hyper-V or VMWare) and the use of containerized technologies; Maintaining and upgrading systems in line with business technical requirements. An understanding of network protocols would be beneficial. 

Security is extremely important for all of the services SOS maintain, therefore systems must be maintained to ensure these systems are accreditable.  This includes updating system high and low level designs and associated documentation.  

Due to the nature of this role, travel between sites is regularly required. As such, a Full, clean, UK Driving License is essential. 

This role aligns to Senior Infrastructure Operations Engineer within the Government Digital and Data career framework.

Person specification

Duties and Responsibilities  

• BAU Support - Help deliver 3rd line support of the supported SOS systems to a professional standard, meeting user requirements, reacting to system problems to ensure continued availability of SOS systems within defined service levels.  Support 1st and 2nd line functions if required to ensure operational teams can function as efficiently as possible.
• Specification of hardware - Matching business requirements to hardware specifications that meet and often exceed those requirements.
• Installation of hardware - Installation of physical servers and storage systems to meet business requirements. Racking and cabling of hardware to an industry best practice level, including asset management registering of support, licensing.
• Identification of obsolescence - Notification of obsolescence issues early in the hardware lifecycle to ensure funding and approvals are in place as early as possible, avoiding unnecessary system outages due to obsolescence.
• Creation and maintenance of system documentation - Create technical designs and ensure High- and Low-Level Designs (HLD/LLD) are maintained to an accurate level.
• Continual Improvement - Researching advances in technology to better meet business requirements with innovative solutions to meet business or technical problems.
• Client Image Build - Creation of client images including deployment and testing, using Windows Deployment Server or similar technologies.
• Patching and upgrades - Using standard IT tooling to deploy and test software patches.
• Configuration - Implementation of Group Policies for servers and clients to ensure the secure running and use of the systems.
• DHCP and DNS - Be able to deploy DHCP and DNS services, fault find these services in the event of a system problem being identified.
• Certificates - Be able to generate system certificates at renewal or based on certificate requests.
• Server Maintenance - Provide full support, upgrades, develop and maintain the servers within the current network.
• Supporting the wider SOS team - Providing support to the wider team, assisting where needed and mentoring to share knowledge and upskill less experienced staff, provide briefing sessions and training material to aid in that process.
• Assist in project work - Be the lead for new projects in developing new technologies to best meet the requirements.
• Interception or Digital Forensics principles - Have an understanding of Interception of Telecommunications or Digital Forensics would be useful, even at a basic level.
• Networking - Have a basic understanding of networking to be able to fault find servers and / or network issues.
• Storage Management and Configuration - Provision of storage for use within IT systems.
• Active Directory Management - Upgrade of Domain Functional Levels and AD architecture in line with industry best practice.
• MS Exchange - Be able to support and maintain new and existing installations.
• Knowledge and the working of various firewalls including Fortigate, CISCO, Palo Alto and Dell firewalls - Have an in-depth understanding of the Firewall models,  configuration, patching, support, fault finding and upgrading.
• Virtualization technologies Hyper-V and VMWare (vSphere, vSAN, Horizon/Omnissa) - Understanding of virtual technologies
• Targeted Interception principles – To gain an understanding of Targeted Interception (also known as Lawful Intercept) to a working level. 
• Cyber Security – Ability to provide resolutions to identified cyber security issues, keeping NCA IT systems as secure as possible. 

Person Specification  

• Understanding of Servers, storage systems and configuration - In-depth knowledge of IT hardware; installation and configuration of operating systems including virtualized environments.
• Problem Solving - Using logic and imagination to make sense of a situation and find an intelligent solution.
• Communication - Conveys information clearly and effectively through written and verbal communication. 
• Team Work - Works effectively with others to focus on and achieve joint outcomes, rather than individual goals.
• Adaptability - Be able to learn quickly in a fast-moving agile environment and adapt to new technologies.
• Fault finding - Troubleshooting and provide resolution for system incidents.  Recording and sharing the knowledge where appropriate

On-call working  

Working Hours Monday-Friday between 08.00 and 18.00.On call : Monday - Friday after 18.00. Saturday & Sunday all day

Essential Criteria

You must meet the essential criteria and evidence this within your application to be considered for the role.

Entry Requirements  

Applicants should possess strong levels of expertise in working at 3rd line level, for the following essential entry requirements:

• An in-depth knowledge of Servers including the configuration & installation
• Experience of maintaining infrastructure hardware
• Experience in the configuration of Active Directory, Group Policies and certificate management
• Experience in maintaining and fault finding within an infrastructure which includes multiple physical and virtual servers
• Experience in the Management, configuration and support of Storage systems

Qualifications, Membership and Licences  

• A full, clean, UK Driving License is required 

Any applications from candidates not meeting this eligibility criteria will not progress.

Desirable Criteria

Desirable criteria are only used for assessment in the event of a tie break.

ITIL Foundation or higher (at least V3)
Degree in Computer Science or Information systems design
Microsoft Certified Professional
VMWare Certified Professional (VCP)CCNA: Understanding of network principles
Understanding of Digital Forensic or Targeted Interception principles.
Understanding of Interception of Telecommunications principles: Understanding of data formats, delivery mechanisms and terminology
Linux Administration: Understanding of LINUX operating system administration
SQL DB knowledge: Understanding of SQL databases
Containerization: Knowledge of Docker and Kubernetes