Microsoft DevOps Engineer

As a DevOps Engineer you will be responsible for the design and implementation of applications' build, release, deployment, and configuration activities, primarily in Azure DevOps.

You will advise developers on how to use the DevOps platform effectively: leading and advising on their CI/CD pipelines. You will be responsible for integrating our DevOps with Azure and Power Platform solutions. This will include CI/CD pipelines, as well as monitoring and alerting.

Automated testing, code analysis as well as monitoring and alerting are a big part of our work. You will be setting up pipelines for monitoring and alerting solutions and ensuring that our code is tested and of high quality (using static code analysis).

You can also take a look at our recent blog post on DevOps within the Home Office - Home Office Digital - what are we doing in DevOps 

Here is a link to our digital careers guide - https://careers.homeoffice.gov.uk/role/digital-data-and-technology 

And for those that prefer, here is a link to our guide on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_q_RYC3y4c

Person specification

You will be expected to continuously look for automation opportunities as well as improvements to our static code analysis, automated testing, monitoring, builds and deployments.  

Whilst this is not a leadership role, you will have the opportunity to support the build of the team around you, mentoring others or being mentored yourself and getting hands on in recruitment activities.

To sweeten the offer, we are one of the largest consumers of cloud services in the UK, and we make use of many vendors and technologies. We understand that continuous learning is extremely important to you as an engineer. To support you we will give you the materials and time to grow yourself. Additionally, you will have the support of a rapidly growing engineering community!

Your main day to day will involve:

• Writing configuration or scripts to deliver/work with our platforms, such as modifying YAML or parametrising JSON files.
• Providing technical support, solving more challenging configuration issues. 
• Configuring automated monitoring and alerting solutions. 
• Providing feedback to project teams on application use; supporting routine monitoring activities. 
• Configuring CI/CD pipelines for Azure and Power Platform solutions. 
• Working on ways to automate and improve development and release processes. 
• Working with developers to ensure that development follows established processes and works as intended. 
• Like most businesses we need to maintain our services 24/7, therefore, on occasion there may be a requirement to work out of hours, for which you will be paid. 

Essential Skills  

We are more interested in people who understand the methodology and fundamentals rather than specific tools. You will be ideal for this role if you have a demonstrable passion for automation and collaboration, with skills or experience in some of the below: 

• Cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP) Architecture and Services Provided.
• Working knowledge Git / source control.
• Management and deployment of Serverless functions.
• CI/CD pipelines. 
• Working in an agile way following DevOps principles. 
• Monitoring, Alerting, Logging tools/methods. 
• Use of configuration languages e.g. YAML, Bicep.

The skills listed below are reflective of the Home Office DDaT Profession Skills and Competency Model (based on the industry standard SFIA framework), please review the attached ‘Role Description’ which highlights the expected technical skills and required levels for this role. 

Technical skills

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

• Application Support (ASUP) - Level 4
• Data Management (DATM) - Level 4
• Programming Software Development (PROG) - Level 4
• Software Design (SWDN) - Level 4
• Systems Integration and Build (SINT) - Level 4
• Testing (TEST) - Level 4

Benefits

• 
  
  • A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
  • A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
  • 25 days annual leave on appointment, plus 8 days public holidays and 1 day for the King’s Birthday, rising further with service.
  • Flexible working options to enable you to achieve the work life balance that right for you including part-time, flexi time and job sharing.
  • Training and development opportunities tailored to your role.
  • An in-year bonus scheme.