Senior DevOps Engineer
Home Office Digital, Data and Technology -
Job description
As a Senior DevOps Engineer you will be responsible for leading the design and implementation of applications' build, release, deployment and configuration activities.
Other responsibilities include working within multi-functional teams to gather requirements, evaluate tools, implementing/updating solutions, building and executing test plans, provision environments, application performance reviews, assist migration of legacy systems, and triaging and fixing operational issues.
You will be involved in building, managing and updating a shared Kubernetes platform, as well as creating reusable pipelines for automated testing and deployment.
As a senior technical member of staff 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!
You can also take a look at our recent blog post on DevOps within the Home Office - Home Office Digital blog - what are we doing
Here is a link to our digital careers guide - Home Office careers digital-data-and-technology
And for those that prefer, here is a link to our guide on YouTube - Home Office on YouTube
Person specification
Your main day to day will involve:
• Writing scripts to deliver/work with our platforms, such as developing docker/terraform/ansible files for a variety of systems/frameworks.
• Providing technical support functions, solving more challenging platform use and configuration issues.
• Providing feedback to project teams on platform use; supporting routine monitoring activities.
• Advising developers on how they should use existing systems and configure CI/CD pipelines.
• 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’re more interested in people who understand the methodology and fundamentals rather than specific tools. You’ll be ideal for this role if you have a demonstrable passion for automation and collaboration, with skills or experience in:
• Cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP) Architecture and Services Provided.
• Working knowledge Git / source control.
• Consuming Container Orchestration Solutions (Kubernetes / ECS / EKS / Openshift).
• CI/CD pipelines - ideally Jenkins, Bamboo, GitLab etc.
• Scripting (any of the following) Bash, Perl, Python or Go.
• Working in an agile way following DevOps principles.
Desirable
• Monitoring, Alerting, Logging. Exposure to methods and tools.
You will be required to participate in an on-call rota and you may occasionally be required to work out of usual office hours to implement certain technical changes.
The skills listed 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:
- Data Management (DATM) - Level 5
- Software Design (SWDN) - Level 5
- Programming/Software Development (PROG) - Level 4
- Testing (TEST) - Level 4
- Systems Integration and Build (SINT) - Level 5
- Application Support (ASUP) - Level 5
Benefits
- 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
- One of the higher starting salaries across the Civil Service
- Training and development opportunities tailored to your role
- In-year bonus scheme
- Culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
- You will also have access to benefits such as:
- Season ticket loans and rental deposit loans
- Cycle to work and payroll giving
- Employee discounts - including a huge number of retailers (via the Edenred platform), Microsoft Home Use programme and gym membership
- Variety of staff recognition schemes including thank you vouchers
- Health and wellbeing initiatives including monthly mindfulness sessions
- Staff support networks
- Maternity, adoption or shared parental leave of up to 26 weeks full pay followed by 13 weeks of statutory pay and a further 13 weeks unpaid
- Maternity and adoption support leave (paternity leave) of 2 weeks full pay
- Up to 5 days paid leave for volunteering
- Study leave and support for studying for a qualification or other accredited development relevant to your role
