Description Job Description Our Applications & Platforms branch, located in our Chief Digital Office, has responsibility for the division’s internal Digital Delivery Management function. This function provides end to end technical delivery management services that ensure technical elements of change projects and initiatives are delivered. A principal application operations engineer owns the application strategy and leads on resourcing, learning and development for their team. At this role level, you will: • Have expert technical understanding. • Be accountable for vendor and supplier management. • Potentially manage and maintain certain aspects of an application (depending on the complexity and size of a project, and the likely impact it will have on the business). Responsibilities • Manage configuration items, related information, service compliance and risks. • Ensure the correct implementation of standards and procedures. • Identify capacity issues, and stipulate and instigate the required changes. • Initiate remedial action - deal with high impact, complex change requests. • Ensure that release policies, procedures and processes are applied. • Analyse current processes, and identify and implement opportunities to optimise them. • Lead and develop a team of experts to deliver service improvements. • Help to evaluate and establish requirements for the implementation of changes by setting policy and standards. • Lead the investigation and resolution of incidents. • Take accountability for issues that occur and be proactive in searching for potential problems. • Achieve excellent user outcomes. • Demonstrate knowledge of the life cycle or capability elements of ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library), or comparable ITSM Framework. • Be responsible for overall governance of the management of live services both through suppliers and in-house. • Promote, implement and manage ITIL or relevant best practice for the management of all services to protect availability of service i.e. Change Enablement, Problem Management, Incident Management, Business Continuity. • Ensure that the right actions are taken to investigate, resolve and anticipate problems. • Co-ordinate the team to investigate problems, implement solutions and take preventive measures. • See the bigger picture by taking groups of services and investigating how to get the best of underlying services. • Understand the direction of future technologies. • Deliver a model to support and maintain those future technologies and any databases that coexist in the current environment. • Show a thorough understanding of the technical concepts required for the role, and can explain how these fit into the wider technical landscape. • Manage testing activities within development or integration activities. • Manage risks and take preventative action when risks become unacceptable. • Manage customer relations. • Collaborate with user researchers and can represent users internally. • Explain the difference between user needs and the desires of the user. • Champion user research to focus on all users. • Prioritise and define approaches to understand the user story, guiding others in doing so. • Offer recommendations on the best tools and methods to use. Qualifications Success Profiles We use an assessment framework called ‘Success Profiles’ which lists the elements we test and provides detailed descriptions of each. Find out more about how we assess the Success Profile elements. Essential Experience • Can communicate with stakeholders at all levels. A champion for innovation with the ability to convey the benefits, risks, options and strategic operational considerations of Digital solutions and their technical design, to technical and non-technical senior stakeholders. This includes explaining the impact of any technical decisions on the sustainability of the solution. • Demonstrable expert knowledge and practical use of Systems Development Lifecycle (SDLC), to identify and deliver innovative continuous service improvement initiatives and new technologies which deliver improvement, reduce costs and deliver additional value to business users. • Evidence of delivering continual service improvement; willing to challenge established practices, using evidence to deliver a better service to the business as a whole. This will include a vision for streamlining processes and reducing costs to ensure focus on delivering support for new business critical technologies. Demonstrable experience of the delivering large corporate scale Digital projects and programmes. Technical/Professional Skills This role is aligned to End User Computing Manager within the Digital, Data and Technology Profession. Please review the following to understand the skill expectations - Application operations engineer - Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework. We will assess you against the following technical skills during the selection process: • Availability and capacity management - (Level: Practitioner) • Continual service improvement - (Level: Practitioner) • Incident management - (Level: Practitioner) • Problem management - (Level: Practitioner • Service focus - - (Level: Practitioner • Service management framework knowledge - (Level: Practitioner) • Technical specialism - (Level: Expert) • Technical understanding - (Level: Practitioner) • User focus - (Level: Practitioner) Behaviours • Leadership (Level 4) • Delivering at pace (Level 4) You can find out more about Success Profiles Behaviours, here: Success Profiles - Civil Service Behaviours How to apply Apply online, providing a CV and Supporting Statement (of no more than 1000 words) which provides evidence of how you meet the skills, experience and behaviours listed in the Success Profile above. Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the CV and personal statement on Essential Experience. Candidates who pass the initial sift will have their applications fully assessed. We will test your behaviours, technical skills and experiences as part of the sift process, and if successful, you will be invited to an assessment and interview where we will test these again. Full details of the selection process will be made available to shortlisted candidates once the sift has been completed. Candidates selected for interview will be requested to provide a 10-minute presentation on the technical skills required, details of which, will be shared in advance of the interview. Expected Timeline (subject to change) Sift – w/c 20th January 2025 Interview – w/c 17th February 2025 Location – In Person in either Dundee or Glasgow Reserve List In the event that there are more successful candidates than posts available, a reserve list will be kept for up to 12 months. About Us Social Security Scotland is an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government. Our benefits help people from all walks of life in Scotland. We offer rewarding careers and employ people across Scotland in a wide range of professions and roles. We are committed to recruiting a diverse workforce that is representative of the clients we serve. Find out more about us here. We offer a supportive and inclusive working environment along with a wide range of employee benefits. Find out more about what we offer. As part of the UK Civil Service, we uphold the Civil Service Nationality Rules. DDaT Pay Supplement This post attracts a £5000 Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) pay supplement after a 3 months DDaT competency qualifying period. The payment will be backdated to your start date in the role. Pay supplements are temporary payments designed to address recruitment and retention issues caused by market pressures and are subject to regular review. This post is part of the Scottish Government DDaT profession. As a member of the profession you will join the professional development system, currently BCS Role Mode plus. Working Pattern Our standard hours are 35 hours per week and we offer a range of flexible working options, depending on the needs of the role. We embrace a hybrid working style where all colleagues will spend time in our Glasgow or Dundee offices. There is an expectation of a minimum 2 days per week in your assigned location. If you have specific questions about the role you are applying for, please contact us. Equality Statement Social Security Scotland are committed to equality and inclusion, and we aim to recruit a diverse workforce that reflects the population of our nation. Social Security Scotland are a Disability Confident Employer. We will consider and implement any reasonable adjustments you may require throughout the recruitment process and during the course of your employment, should you be successful in securing a post. If you feel you may require assistance with any part of our recruitment process, please contact us at recruitmentsocialsecurity.gov.scot Find out more about our commitment to diversity and how we offer and support recruitment adjustments for anyone who needs them. Further Information Find out more about our organisation, what we offer staff members and how to apply on our Careers Website. Read our Candidate Guide for further information on our recruitment and application processes. The successful candidate will be expected to remain in post for a minimum of 3 years unless successful in gaining promotion to a higher Band or Grade. Social Security Scotland’s recruitment processes are underpinned by the recruitment principles of the Civil Service Commissioner, which outline that selection for appointment be made on merit on the basis of fair and open competition - Recruitment - Civil Service Commission (independent.gov.uk) If you feel at any time your application has not been treated in accordance with the values in the Civil Service Code and/or if you feel the recruitment has been conducted in such a way that conflicts with the Civil Service Commissioner’s Recruitment Principles, you can make a complaint, by contacting Social Security Scotland at recruitmentsocialsecurity.gov.scot in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive you can contact the Civil Service Commissioner. If you experience any difficulties accessing our website or completing the online application form, please contact the Resourcing Team via recruitmentsocialsecurity.gov.scot Apply before - Thursday 16th January 2025 at 23:55 Contact name - Resourcing Team Contact email - recruitmentsocialsecurity.gov.scot