Operations Analyst

Job summary

The Home Office works to build a safe, fair and prosperous UK. We achieve this through our work on counter-terrorism, policing, crime, drugs policy, immigration and passports.

Home Office Digital designs, builds and develops services for the rest of the department and for government. Every year our systems support up to 3 million visa applications, checks on 100 million border crossings, up to 8 million passport applications and deliver 140 million police checks on people, vehicles and property.

You will be part of a cutting-edge IT Operations Centre (ITOC) function conducting real-time monitoring of core technology, infrastructure, applications and services within the Home Office, providing a consolidated operational view of the technical estate and facilitating 24/7/365 support and recovery.

Job description

You will be part of a team focused on providing industry-leading approaches to technical estate management, exploiting the latest technologies, techniques and service management practices to provide innovative solutions for real-time monitoring, automation and industrialisation of services. Working closely with teams such as the Service Desk, Incident Managers, Project Managers, Service Transition, suppliers and the Cyber-Security Operations Centre (CSOC), to ensure services are effectively monitored, incidents are addressed, and services are restored within agreed service level agreements.

You will be expected to mentor more junior members of the Service Management community as well as participating and supporting collaboration initiatives and career development within the IT Operations community, building in-house capability via a professional community of practice.

Key responsibilities

• Using enterprise monitoring tools to monitor infrastructure, network and applications for alerts and events that could impact the services provided to users of Home Office technology.
• Raising incidents in a Service Management toolset, logging and initiating necessary resolution activities.
• Supporting incident and problem resolution activities, regularly engaging with other Home Office Digital teams and / or suppliers to ensure service. performance, availability and security is maintained in line with agreed SLAs.
• Tracking incidents using service management tools, and producing supporting reports / data as required.
• Understanding and adhering to ITOC and ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) event, incident and problem management policies, procedures, OLAs and SLAs.
• Providing a comprehensive update and handover of ongoing issues to resolver teams and to the incoming ITOC team during shift handovers.
• Identify operational issues, report observations from daily monitoring, and assist senior staff with process improvements.
• Provide Monitoring Team support to wider live service reviews, verify monitoring and alert setups, and help maintain accurate operational documentation.

Working Pattern

Due to the business requirements of this role, it is only available on a full-time basis with shift working.

This is a shift-based role which involves working 2 days and 2 nights on a 4 on/4 off rolling basis.

Successful candidates will be expected to work from the Manchester Soapworks office for at least 60% of standard working hours currently, including bank holidays and weekends.

Successful candidates will need to be able to attend for all shifts including early starts, overnight shifts, bank holidays and weekends. These shifts may be outside of public transport operating hours.

Please note that all shift patterns are indicative of the current working arrangement and may be subject to change in line with business requirements.

Travel

Occasional travel may also be required to other Home Office locations. Any associated costs will be reimbursed in line with Home Office policy.

Person specification

Essential criteria

You’ll have a demonstrable passion for IT support, with the following skills or strong experience in:

• good interpersonal skills, with an ability to communicate effectively and professionally
• ability to work as part of a team and to engage effectively with suppliers and customers
• knowledge of networks, operating systems, middleware, and applications, with a willingness to learn new technologies and maintain industry knowledge
• good analytical and problem-solving skills
• demonstrating a strong sense of ownership and drive to follow tasks through to completion
• maintaining a customer focus

The essential skills listed above are reflective of the Home Office Government Digital and Data Profession Career Framework (based on the industry standard SFIA framework- Use the levels of responsibility to understand what would be expected for each technical skill listed). Please see below for the relevant skills for your role:

Content Management

• Knowledge Management (KNOW) – level 1

Service Management

• Incident Management (USUP) – level 3
• Change Control (CHMG) – level 2
• Service Level Management (SLMO) – level 3

Technology Management

• IT Infrastructure (ITOP) – level 3

Stakeholder Management

• Customer Service Support (CSMG) – level 2

Desirable criteria

• Ideally you will also have the following skills or some experience in using an enterprise monitoring tools to monitor infrastructure, network and applications
• understanding of ITIL, Lean, SIAM, Agile and DevOps principles within a Product-centric delivery model

Behaviours

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

• Working Together

Technical skills

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

• Incident Management (USUP) – level 3
• Change Control (CHMG) – level 2
• Service Level Management (SLMO) – level 3
• IT Infrastructure (ITOP) – level 3
• Customer Service Support (CSMG) – level 2

Benefits

In addition to your salary, a career with the Home Office offers a range of benefits, including:

• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%.
• In-year reward scheme for one-off or sustained exceptional personal or team achievements.
• 25 days annual leave on appointment, rising with service to 30 days.
• Eight days of public holidays, plus one additional privilege day.
• Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and home-based working. This is a non-contractual arrangement where all employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in an office.
• This role currently attracts Annualised Hours Allowance (AHA) of 38.68% of salary [depending on location], which equates to an additional £16,149 - £17,116per annum based on salary minimum. Further information can be found on our website.
• New entrants to the Civil Service will start their role on the salary band minimum £41,750 for National Roles. Recruitment and Retention Allowance (RRA): Up to £5,000 is available for candidates who demonstrate exceptional skills and experience evidenced at interview stage. The advertised role is eligible for a Digital Capability Allowance. Successful candidates with exceptional skills and experience may apply for a Recruitment and Retention Allowance. The allowance values are set by the Home Office, subject to remaining in a qualifying role. This allowance is non-contractual, non-pensionable, subject to an annual review and could be withdrawn at any time. Please see the Home Office Digital Recruitment and Retention Allowance Careers page for more information. For both new entrants and existing civil servants, the total compensation offer is a combination of base salary and, if applicable, a capability-based allowance.
• See more of our benefits on our careers website.

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Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, drives up performance and improves diversity and inclusivity.

We will endeavour to conduct the selection process in line with the dates indicated below, but cannot guarantee that these will not, where necessary, be revised.

As part of the application process, you will first be asked to confirm your eligibility by providing some basic personal information.

After submission of this first stage, you will be invited to complete the followingCivil Service Judgement Test.

Online Test – by 14th October 2026.

If you successfully pass the Civil Service Judgement Test, you will be invited to complete the full application form. Please complete the online test(s) as soon as possible (within 24-48 hours is recommended). If you fail to complete the online test(s) or full application before the deadline, your application will be withdrawn.

Guidance for the Civil Service test(s) will be available when you are invited to take the test(s). The online tests are accessed via the Civil Service Jobs website.

You cannot complete the tests on a mobile phone or tablet.

Following successful completion of your test/s, you will then be asked to complete the full application form.

You will be directed to the Talogy - True Talent – Scheduled Maintenance Window Webpage for online tests during an outage.

Our online test supplier will be performing scheduled maintenance between 16:00 and 19:00pm on 11/10/2026. You will be unable to access tests during this period.

If you are in the middle of a test when the maintenance begins, your progress will be paused. You will be able to resume your test from where you left off via your application centre once the downtime has ended. Please note that you will not be able to launch any new tests while the system is offline.

Application – by 14th October 2026.

As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete:

• CV
• Personal Statement (maximum 1000 words)
• Evidence of the Behaviour Working Together (maximum of 250 words per Behaviour).

Your CV should consist of your career history and skills/experience, including any key achievements in each role. Your CV will be scored against the experience required for the role as noted within the essential criteria.

The Personal Statement should be aligned to and demonstrate how you meet the skills and experience set out in the essential criteria, detailed in the job description.

For guidance and information on how to construct your application (CV, Personal Statement and Behaviours), you are encouraged to visit Civil Service Careers website.

Sift – commencing 16th October 2026

The sift will be held on the Personal Statement, Behaviour Working Together and CV.

Should a high volume of applications be received, an initial sift will be conducted on the Personal Statement. Candidates who pass the initial sift will then be progressed to a full sift that will consist of all the remaining elements submitted (CV and Behaviour Working Together).Candidates who fail to meet the minimum pass score for the initial sift will not have their remaining submitted elements scored and will only receive a sift score for that assessed at the initial sift.

Interview – commencing 6th November 2026

If you are successful at sift stage, you will be invited to an interview that will be Behaviours (as listed in the job advert) and Technical Skills based questions. All Behaviours listed in the selection process will be scored at the interview.

The interview will take place on MS Teams.

For guidance on the Technical skills, please refer to the SFIA Framework Skills directory A–Z — English

For guidance and information on what to expect and how to prepare for an interview, you are encouraged to visit Civil Service Careers.

Problems during the application process

If you experience problems accessing this advert, or you think you’ve made a mistake on an initial application, please contact hocandidates.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk, including the vacancy reference, at least two working days before the vacancy closes. Further information can be found on our website.

Do not create or attempt to submit another application, online test or use a different Civil Service Jobs account to proceed as this would be in violation of the candidate declaration.

Reserve List

A reserve list may be held for a period of up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made. There is no guarantee that being held on a reserve list will lead to a job offer. Further information can be found on our website.

The behaviours and technical skills have been ranked in order of importance to enable us to differentiate between candidates with tied interview scores.

Candidates judged to be a near miss at interview may be offered a post at the grade below the one advertised without the need to go through a further selection process, providing the role has the same Success Profiles elements and essential skills. There is no guarantee that further such vacancies will arise.

Standards

All Civil Servants are expected to comply with the Civil Service Code, and its core values of integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality.

Additional Security Checks

As well as successfully obtaining UK Security Vetting clearance, candidates will be subject to a range of additional checks. The range of checks carried out will depend on whether you are a current Home Office employee, existing civil servant or an external new entrant as well as the role requirements. Further details are included in the Notes to Candidates.

Non-Police Personnel Vetting (NPPV)

You should currently hold, or be willing to obtain, Non-Police Personnel Vetting (NPPV) Level-3 vetting (including financial checks). This is essential for the role. For further information visit About the Police National Vetting Service , Warwickshire Police.

Formal offers of employment will not be made until successful candidates have obtained both NSV clearance and NPPV3 clearance.

For existing Civil Servants: Please note that failure to obtain NPPV3 Clearance may trigger a formal review of your National Security Vetting Clearance (NSV). Depending on the nature of the information identified, this could result in your NSV being revoked.

Further Information

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct.

If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

Reasonable Adjustments

If a person with disabilities is at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

• Contact Government Recruitment Service via HOrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs

• Complete the “Assistance Required” section in the “Additional Requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you're deaf, a language service professional

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the ‘Contact point for applicants’ section.

Feedback

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Home Office Resourcing Centre
• Email : HORCCampaignTeamHSGPSGandMBG@homeoffice.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : HOrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Further information

If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the Civil Service Recruitment Principles. and you wish to make a complaint, then contact the Government Recruitment Service via HOrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission.

Attachments

2025-11-17 Pre-employment Checking - Document Requirements (V17) Opens in new window (pdf, 231kB)candidate_information_v18_July_2026 Opens in new window (pdf, 8MB)