Senior DevOps Engineer

Job summary

The Digital, Data and Technology (DDAT) directorate has recently been established in UKEF, drawing together the expertise in digital currently within the organisation to provide representation of digital services, user centred design, analytics and technology at the highest levels. The areas with the directorate work closely with all areas of the business such as the Business Group, Operations and Strategy and Policy.

About the Role

UKEF is committed to be a more customer-centric organisation, making it easier for customers to deal with us, offering improved response times, quicker decision-making and improved case-processing. To enable this, UKEF is committed to using digital as a primary means for managing relationships with a wider range of stakeholders. Focusing on developing end-to-end services that meet user need and enable business outcomes, this is an exciting new role showing the growth and drive of UKEFs digital ambition.

As a Senior DevOps Engineer, you will be instrumental in designing and implementing modern DevOps practices across Azure cloud environments. You will develop CI/CD pipelines and DevOps toolchains, placing automation at the heart of everything you do. Your work will ensure solutions are highly available, resilient, scalable, extensible, and maintainable.

You will collaborate across product-focused teams to gather requirements, evaluate tools, and implement solutions. You will also provision environments using both imperative and declarative approaches and assist with operational issues. A key part of your role will be to foster engineering ownership and promote the integrity and maintenance of the services we deliver.

Job description

Main Activities

• Be a visible leader and role model in your area, championing diversity and inclusion in how we work.
• Build and maintain a diverse, inclusive culture across the engineering department, growing awareness, inclusivity, and balance.
• Act as a hands-on expert across multiple technical areas, or as a specialist with deep knowledge in a particular domain.
• Work effectively with multiple teams, developing, testing, and championing the adoption of industry best practices.
• Design and implement CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions and Azure Pipelines to support continuous integration and delivery across multiple environments.
• Develop and maintain Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using BICEP, ARM templates, and Terraform to provision and manage Azure resources in a repeatable and scalable manner.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to gather requirements, evaluate tooling options, and implement DevOps solutions that align with business and technical objectives.
• Champion automation-first practices, embedding automation into build, test, deployment, and monitoring processes to improve reliability and reduce manual effort.
• Support and enhance cloud-based applications using Azure services such as Azure Container Apps, Azure Functions, Azure Logic Apps, Azure Key Vault, and Azure App Services.
• Troubleshoot and resolve operational issues across Unix/Linux/Windows environments, leveraging scripting languages such as Bash, Python, and PowerShell.
• Promote a DevOps culture by fostering engineering ownership, encouraging best practices in service reliability, and advocating for continuous improvement.
• Mentor and guide engineers across multidisciplinary teams, supporting agile delivery using Scrum or Kanban methodologies.
• Contribute to the development of internal standards and practices for DevOps, infrastructure, and cloud operations, ensuring alignment with organisational goals and compliance requirements.

Participate in incident response and post-mortem analysis, helping to improve system resilience and reduce future risk.

Person specification

UK Export Finance is looking for motivated individuals with a desire to learn about the business. Successful candidates will be provided not only with functional training to enable them to do well in their role, but also with personal development to help them to achieve their career ambitions. Please note that the person specification below outlines at which stage(s) you will be assessed on how you meet the criteria for the role(s) including:-

A = assessed at application stage I = assessed at interview stage = assessed at presentation stage

Essential

Qualifications

• 5 GCSE passes (including Maths and English) at Grade 4 (C) or above; or relevant demonstrable professional experience. (A)
• Evidence of continuing professional development. (A)

Knowledge

• Extensive understanding of Microsoft Azure cloud services, including Azure Container Apps, Azure Functions, Azure Logic Apps, Azure Key Vault, and Azure App Services. (A, I, P)
• In-depth knowledge of Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and Configuration as Code (CaC) principles using tools such as BICEP, ARM templates, OpenTofu, and Terraform. (A, I)
• Solid grasp of CI/CD concepts and tooling, particularly GitHub Actions and Azure Pipelines. (A, I, P)
• Familiarity with Unix/Linux/Windows operating systems and scripting languages such as Bash, Python, and PowerShell. (A, I)
• Understanding of DevOps methodologies, including continuous integration, continuous deployment, and agile delivery practices (Scrum/Kanban). (A, I)
• Awareness of automation-first approaches in provisioning, deployment, and monitoring. (A, I)
• Knowledge of designing cloud-native solutions that are scalable, resilient, and maintainable. (A, I)
• Working knowledge of Azure Landing Zones, including governance, security, and network configuration best practices. (A, I)
• Understanding of Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory), including identity and access management, role-based access control (RBAC), and integration with cloud services. (A, I)
• Familiarity with containerisation concepts and Azure Container Apps. (A, I)
• Understanding of monitoring, logging, and alerting practices within Azure environments. (A, I)
• Awareness of security and compliance considerations in cloud-based systems. (A, I)

Skills / Ability

All skill levels are in relation to Senior DevOps Engineer - Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework (ddat-capability-framework.service.gov.uk)

Information security:

• You can design solutions and services with security controls included, specifically engineered to mitigate security threats.

(Skill level: practitioner) (A, I)

Modern development standards:

• You can apply modern development standards and support others in applying them.

(Skill level: practitioner) (A, I)

Programming and build (software engineering):

• You can collaborate with others when necessary to review specifications.
• You can use the agreed specifications to design, code, test and document programs or scripts of medium-to-high complexity, using the right standards and tools.

(Skill level: practitioner) (A, I)

Prototyping:

• You can approach prototyping as a team activity, actively soliciting prototypes and testing with others
• You can establish design patterns and iterate them
• You can use a variety of prototyping methods and choose the most appropriate

(Skill level: practitioner) (A, I)

Service support:

• You can identify, locate and fix complex service faults
• You can advise others on different methodologies and types of service support

(Skill level: expert) (A, I)

Systems design:

• You can design systems characterised by medium levels of risk, impact, and business or technical complexity
• You can select appropriate design standards, methods and tools, and ensure they are applied effectively
• You can review the systems designs of others to ensure the selection of appropriate technology, efficient use of resources and integration of multiple systems and technology

(Skill level: practitioner) (A, I)

Systems integration:

• You can define the integration build
• You can co-ordinate build activities across systems
• You can understand how to undertake and support integration testing activities

(Skill level: practitioner) (A, I)

User focus:

• You can collaborate with user researchers and can represent users internally
• You can explain the difference between user needs and the desires of the user
• You can champion user research to focus on all users
• You can prioritise and define approaches to understand the user story, guiding others in doing so
• You can offer recommendations on the best tools and methods to use

(Skill level: practitioner) (A, I)

Availability and capacity management:

• You can manage service components to ensure they meet business needs and key performance indicators (KPIs).

(Skill level: working) (A, I)

Development process optimisation:

• You can work under guidance to identify process optimisation opportunities.
• You can contribute to the implementation of proposed solutions

(Skill level: working) (A, I)

Experience

• Experience in the following disciplines (A, I):
• Demonstrable experience of developing and supporting Azure cloud-based applications.
• Extensive knowledge of Infrastructure as Code tools: BICEP, ARM templates, Terraform.
• Experience with scripting languages: Bash, Python, PowerShell.
• Proven track record in implementing and maintaining CI/CD pipelines.
• Experience working in DevOps environments with agile delivery methods.
• Experience with containerisation and Azure Container Apps.
• Familiarity with monitoring and logging tools within Azure.
• Understanding of security and compliance in cloud environments.
• Ability to support, guide, and develop engineers across teams.
• Experience in fostering engineering ownership and promoting DevOps culture across teams.

Qualifications

•5 GCSE passes (including Maths and English) at Grade 4 (C) or above; or relevant demonstrable professional experience. (A)
•Evidence of continuing professional development. (A)

Behaviours

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

• Changing and Improving
• Delivering at Pace
• Leadership

Technical skills

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

• Describe a time when you implemented Infrastructure as Code (IaC) in a cloud environment (please see candidate pack for more information on answering this question).
• How would you approach designing an Azure Landing Zone for a new service? (Please see candidate pack for more information on answering this question).
• Technical interview - you will be assessed across your technical expertise and acumen, in relation to the essential criteria.

We only ask for evidence of these technical skills on your application form:

• Describe a time when you implemented Infrastructure as Code (IaC) in a cloud environment (please see candidate pack for more information on answering this question).
• How would you approach designing an Azure Landing Zone for a new service? (Please see candidate pack for more information on answering this question).

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £56,475, UK Export Finance contributes £16,360 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

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.

We are assessing candidates using Success Profiles (see Appendix 1) and across the whole process we will assess your Experience, Technical and Behaviours and Line Management Standards as highlighted below.

The application must be completed by 23.55 on the day of the closing date for it to be accepted.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

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 for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Please ensure that you read through the Candidate Information Pack attached to this advert, before applying.

All applications will be sifted against our essential criteria outlined in the personal specification.

• Statement of suitability - you should fully articulate in 1000 words how you meet the essential criteria outlined in the person specification within the Information Pack.
• Technical questions (max of 250 words each):
  1. Describe a time when you implemented Infrastructure as Code (IaC) in a cloud environment.
• What tools did you use (e.g. BICEP, Terraform, ARM templates), and how did you ensure the solution was scalable, secure, and maintainable?
• What challenges did you face, and how did you overcome them?
  1. How would you approach designing an Azure Landing Zone for a new service?
• Please outline your considerations around governance, networking, identity and access management (e.g. Microsoft Entra ID), and monitoring.
• How would you ensure alignment with organisational policies and security standards?

An initial sift will be carried out against the 2 technical questions (above) with applicants successfully benchmarking against these been taken forward to the full sift.

If you are successful following the initial sift your application will be taken through for a full sift and evaluated against:

1. Experience - CV and Statement of Suitability.

If you are successful following the sift stage, you will be invited to an initial technical interview, to be held via MS Teams, which will include the following assessment:

1. Technical Questions - you will be assessed across your technical expertise and acumen, in relation to the essential criteria.

If you are successful following the sift stage, you will be invited to a panel interview to be held onsite at 1 Horse Guards Road, London; this will include the following assessment:

1. Behaviours / Experience - a formal panel interview where you will be interviewed across all three behaviours highlighted in Appendix 1.
2. Technical- you will be assessed across your technical expertise and acumen, in relation to the essential criteria:
   1. Presentation

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a 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 : Recruitment Team
• Email : Recruitment2@ukexportfinance.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : Recruitment2@ukexportfinance.gov.uk

Further information

Should you have a complaint or wish to raise any concerns regarding the recruitment process, please e-mail your complaint to the Head of Pay and Resourcing (UKEF) at Recruitment2@ukexportfinance.gov.uk and include “Complaint” in the subject heading. Should you remain dissatisfied following UKEF’s investigation then you can refer your complaint to the Commission - http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/making-complaint.

Attachments

UKEF - Snr DevOps Engineer Opens in new window (pdf, 4600kB)