Senior DevOps Engineer

Job summary

The Insolvency Service is a leading government agency which plays a crucial role in providing essential services to the public and to business. The work we do is important to the proper functioning of markets, the economy in general and support for thousands of people each year who are in financial difficulty.

We have an exciting opportunity for a talented and enthusiastic Senior DevOps Engineer within our Digital Services team. We are responsible for developing, maintaining and supporting the agency’s line of business applications.

Inclusive and diverse teams are important to us. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including groups underrepresented in our workforce. The Insolvency Service strives to ensure that the agency is a safe, inclusive, and welcoming place for everybody to bring their true self to work and to help the agency to achieve its diversity objectives. We have 9 active employee network groups available to join or become an ally, these include, Carers Network, Disability network group, Employee Assistance, Representatives, FACES Network Group, LGBT+, Mind Matters, Part Time Workers, The Shed - Men’s Network Group and Women’s Network Group.

We offer full-time, part-time, job share and flexible ways of working. We value capability, technical skills and experience and we place great emphasis on lifetime development to support our people. We encourage our employees to become more involved in areas they feel strongly about, whether it be for the benefit of the agency, though our Engagement network or in their own local communities via volunteering opportunities.

The Insolvency Service is a great place to work, learn and grow your career!

Job description

Digital Services has recently transitioned from a third-party DevOps model to a fully in-house capability. We are standardising and consolidating our technology stack as we move away from legacy services, creating a fantastic opportunity for you to help shape our future digital landscape.

Digital Services is part of Change and Technology Services (CTS) who support and improve applications and systems across the agency’s IT landscape. CTS provide key services including digital services, cyber security, information governance, service architecture and technical governance.

Our DevOps team looks after the deployment and maintenance of our Digital Services in line with the Government’s Digital Service Standard and Technology Code of Practice. They work closely with delivery teams to ensure the products are secure and meet the demands of its users.

As a Senior DevOps engineer you will:

• provide subject matter expertise in Microsoft Azure
• build and maintain infrastructure as code and CI/CD tooling
• improve deployment and observability for key digital products
• provide coaching and mentoring to more junior colleagues

Responsibilities

• provide subject matter expertise and guidance on Microsoft Azure
• build and maintain Infrastructure as Code and CI/CD tooling
• improve deployment pipelines, monitoring and observability across our digital products
• ensure the stability, security and performance of production and non‑production environments
• lead on incident investigation, root cause analysis, and service improvement
• define and maintain DevOps standards, including IaC, observability, deployment patterns, and runbooks
• support delivery teams with DevOps best practice and provide mentoring to junior engineers
• produce clear, accurate documentation aligned to Digital Services standards
• contribute to technical estimates and roadmap planning.

Person specification

The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate the ability to:

• be an enthusiastic team player, comfortable collaborating with colleagues at all levels
• stay calm under pressure and manage multiple priorities effectively.
• have a keen eye for detail and a tenacious approach to solving problems
• possess strong analytical skills with the ability to identify patterns, diagnose issues and improve repeatable processes
• ideally have experience in software development
• communicate clearly and confidently, both verbally and in writing
• build strong relationships across Digital Services to support secure, stable delivery.

Essential Criteria

To be considered for this role you must:

• possess at least 5 years’ experience in a similar role using Microsoft Azure
• possess at least 3 years of CI/CD experience using Azure DevOps(ADO)/Team Foundation Server (TFS)
• have extensive experience creating, maintaining and monitoring both Azure PaaS and IaaS resources
• have demonstrable experience of running multiple applications in multiple environments in a large enterprise
• have experience is writing and maintaining bicep IaC at an expert level
• have an active Security Clearence or be committed to gaining clearance within the first 6 months of joining.

This vacancy is advertised across 11 locations; however, Stratford and Croydon are only available to current Insolvency Service Staff. The advertised salary includes London weighting, which is only applicable to internal candidates.

From 1st October 2026, applicants will be required to meet nationality and residency requirements so that National Security Vetting (NSV) checks can be conducted. If you want to learn more, visit NSV national requirements (opens in a new window).

Behaviours

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

• Managing a Quality Service
• Changing and Improving

Technical skills

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

• During the interview the candidates will be given a hypothetical scenario that will assess their technical knowledge and approach. The candidates are not required to create a presentation.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £48,429, Insolvency Service contributes £14,029 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

We want you to have a good work-life balance and want to support you in all that you do, so we offer a great benefits package including:

• flexible working arrangements and flexi-time
• full time new entrants to the Civil Service and those Civil Servants on modernised terms and conditions will be entitled to 25 days leave increasing on a sliding scale to 30 days after 5 years’ service
• in addition to this you are entitled to 8 public/bank holidays plus an additional day of privilege leave
• competitive maternity, paternity and parental leave
• 5 days paid leave for learning and development
• 5 days paid for volunteering
• a Cycle to work scheme
• staff have access to an employee assistance programme, Workplace Wellness, for confidential, independent support and advice during difficult times in either their professional or personal life

Your pension is a valuable part of your total reward package where the employer makes a significant contribution to the cost of your pension. Your contributions come out of your salary before any tax is taken. This means, if you pay tax, your take-home pay will not be reduced by the full amount of your contribution; and your pension will continue to provide valuable benefits for you and your family if you are too ill to continue to work or die before you retire. For more information, visit www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk

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.

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

• CV
• Personal Statement

CV Guidance

Your CV should provide a clear overview of your employment history, key responsibilities, relevant qualifications, and the skills and experience you’ve gained throughout your career including any notable achievements.

Note: Your CV will be scored as part of the assessment process and will be assessed against the criteria outlined in the job advert.

Personal Statement Guidance

Your personal statement should be no more than 500 words and must demonstrate how your personal skills, qualities, and experience align with the requirements of the role. Please ensure your statement references the essential criteria outlined in the person specification.

If successful at the sift stage, at interview, you will be assessed on the following:

Behaviours - assessed through:

• Behaviour 1 - Managing a Quality Service
• Behaviour 2 - Changing and Improving

Technical Skills

During the interview the candidate will be given a hypothetical scenario that will assess their technical knowledge and approach. The candidates are not required to create a presentation.

Expected timeline

Sift – w/c 29.06.2026

Interview – w/c 13.07.2026

Location - MS Teams

Your interview will be conducted by video. You will be notified of this if you are selected for interview. Candidates are asked to note the above timetable, exercising flexibility through the recruitment and selection process.

Visa Applicants

To sponsor a candidate under the Skilled Worker visa, a sponsorship licence is required. The Insolvency Service does not currently hold this licence and therefore, cannot legally sponsor Skilled Worker visa applicants.

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.

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.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).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 : Michael Crowe
• Email : ctsbusinessmanagement@insolvency.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : hr.recruitment@insolvency.gov.uk

Further information

A candidate can raise a complaint to the Insolvency Service by emailing the contact point for applicants (as listed on the vacancy advert), if they think that: They have been discriminated against under the Equality Act 2010 there have been procedural irregularities at any stage of the recruitment process All complaints must be received by the contact point for applicants within 24 hours from the date the applicant is advised of their non-success at sift, assessment or interview. Complaints will be considered by an independent third-party outside of recruitment campaign. The decision will be conveyed to the applicant, in writing, within 5 working days of receipt of the complaint. The recruitment process will usually be put on hold until the complaint has been resolved. Complaints may also be made to the Civil Service Commission at any time if the individual believes their application has not been treated in accordance with the recruitment principles (appointment on merit through fair and open competition). However, complaints must first have been raised to the Insolvency Service

Attachments

Applying for a Job - A Candidate Guide Opens in new window (pdf, 3061kB)Insolvency Service Candidate Information Pack (Sept 2025) Opens in new window (pdf, 6459kB)