Vacancy -- SACM Service Manager

Working for the Civil Service

The Welsh Government's recruitment processes are underpinned by the principle of selection for appointment on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles.

The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

Vacancy Details

Permanent Secretary's Group
DDaT - ICT Services
HEO - £32,460 - £39,690
£30,600 - A starting salary of up to £34,490 can be offered for exceptional candidates based on their skills and experience.
Full time (applications are welcome from people who work part time, as part of a job share or who work full time)
Permanent
Pan Wales
'Pan Wales' means that the location in which the vacancy can be based is flexible, subject to the needs of the business. Please note it may not always be possible to accommodate a preference for a specific office location, but requests will be taken into consideration.
TBC

Purpose of Post:

The Welsh Government has made significant improvements to its ICT technology over the last few years and is considered to be one of the leading UK public sector organisations in terms of Digital and ICT capability.  WG has recently completed a number of ICT projects such as the move to Exchange 365, the transition away from the Government Secure Intranet (GSI) email, the rollout of new laptops to all WG staff (enabling flexible working) and the completion of a major application migration to Microsoft Azure.  This has been captured in a GDS case study on best practice examples of Cloud migration (see https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/how-the-welsh-government-migrated-their-technology-to-the-cloud)

The Service Asset and Configuration Management (SACM) Service Manager (Software) is responsible for optimising Welsh Government’s utilisation of software assets and day-to-day management of the Software Catalogue within the wider Service Portfolio. 

The SACM Service Manager (Software) plays a key role supporting vendor management and audits including analysis, briefing executive stakeholders and developing a plan of action to ensure licence compliance.

Key tasks:

As SACM Service Manager (Software), your roles and responsibilities will include:

  • Understanding licensing contracts, entitlements, product use rights, grants and limits and ensuring they are correctly reflected and maintained in the Welsh Government SACM solution.
  • Analysing software usage, using available data from Software Asset Management tools to inform decisions regarding licence re-harvesting where required. 
  • Seeking and driving automation opportunities within the Software Management process. 
  • Clearly communicating license positions and risks to stakeholders across all levels of the organisation.
  • Ensuring licensing governance and compliance within the Software Lifecycle Management Process.
  • Licensing governance as part of a wider process.
  • Assisting in resolving non-compliance issues, managing license true ups while ensuring existing and planned future usage complies with the use rights.
  • Supporting third party vendor audits as required, challenging vendor claims where appropriate and assisting with audit resolution.
  • Staying informed of new and updated software licence models and options for key products, making recommendations to stakeholders regarding changes to software licensing models and terms.
  • Actively assessing risk, cost reduction opportunities, and making recommendations to optimise the software asset portfolio.
  • Acting as the contact point for all enquiries regarding software assets e.g. entitlements, usage, renewals etc.
  • Providing advice and guidance on licensing impacts of specific projects or architectural changes.
  • Ensuring and maintaining the currency, accuracy and integrity of software licensing data within the CMDB.
  • Ensuring good working knowledge of ITSM and ITIL processes.
  • Keeping up-to-date with the latest technologies used by Welsh Government e.g. Azure / Cloud services.
  • Keeping up-to-date with industry compliance standards.

Development opportunities:

You will form part of Welsh Government’s Digital, Data and Technology profession. This is a growing profession within Welsh Government and you will have to opportunity to be part of the community and to develop the role of that community within Welsh Government.

Closing Date:

22/06/2021, 16:00

Eligibility

Posts recruited to as part of this recruitment campaign are broadly open to UK nationals, those with right to remain and work in the UK and those that meet the Civil Service Nationality Rules only. Check your eligibility here:

Prior to appointment, all successful applicants will be required to produce original, acceptable documents as part of the pre-employment checks. If it becomes apparent at a later stage in the process that you aren’t eligible to apply, your application will be withdrawn, or offer retracted.

Equality and Diversity

The Welsh Government is committed to providing services which embrace diversity and which promote equality of opportunity. This is underpinned by the Equality Act 2010 and will be adhered to at each stage of the recruitment process. Our goal is to ensure that these commitments are also embedded in our day-to-day working practices with all our customers, colleagues and partners.

We are committed to being an anti-racist organisation and increasing diversity in the Welsh Government by removing barriers and supporting all our staff to reach their potential. We are committed to recruiting Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people and disabled people who are currently under-represented in Welsh Government.

We welcome applications from everyone regardless of age, marriage and civil partnership (both same sex and opposite sex), impairment or health condition, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, gender identity or gender expression.

We are a Stonewall Diversity Champion and a Disability Confident Level 3 (Leader) organisation. Key to supporting this work and providing peer support are five Board sponsored Staff Networks (Disability Awareness and Support (DAAS); Minority Ethnic Support Network (MESN); Mind Matters (Mental health and well-being); PRISM (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex +) and Women Together.

Disability Confident

A Great Place to Work for Veterans

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.

Welsh Language Requirements

The Welsh Government is a bilingual organisation and Welsh language skills are considered an asset to the organisation. We encourage and support staff to learn, develop and use their Welsh language skills in the workplace. 

The following list of language requirements represents an objective assessment by the line manager on behalf of the Welsh Government of the Welsh language skills required to undertake the duties of this particular post.

Not necessary to undertake the duties of this post

Social Partnership

In Welsh Government, the relationship between the employer and trade unions is based on social partnership. We believe our goals can best be achieved by management and trade unions working together.

Our 3 recognised trade unions are:
•         PCS
•         Prospect
•         FDA

This relationship is underpinned by a partnership agreement. This sets out how our unions work with Welsh Government on issues such as:
•         pay
•         terms and conditions
•         policies and procedures
•         organisational change.

Our Welsh Government trade union colleagues work together to give their members a real say in the workplace. They make sure that the interests of their members are promoted and protected. They also help reduce inequalities and improve terms and conditions.

The Welsh Government has an excellent track record of working in partnership with its trade unions. We encourage staff to get involved. We support you to join a recognised trade union, to ensure your voice is heard in the workplace. and to learn more about trade unions and partnership working.

Competencies / Job Specific Criteria

Keeping in mind the Grade Description above, you should present your Personal Statement in the context of the following 5 Competencies:


Asset and Configuration Management

  • You can maintain secure configuration and accurate information, controlling IT assets in one or more significant areas, and verifying location and state of assets.

Continual Service Improvement

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

Leadership

  • You consider the impacts of your own and team’s activities on stakeholders and end users.

Managing a Quality Service

  • You identify risks and resolve issues efficiently

Changing and Improving

  • You clearly explain the reasons for change to colleagues and how to implement them, supporting individuals with different needs to adapt to change.

Assessment Process

Throughout the entire assessment process, candidates will be assessed against Competencies from the Civil Service Success Profile and the Digital Data and Technology (DDaT) framework.

Leadership, Managing a Quality Service, Changing & Improving, Communicating & Influencing, Developing Self and Others, Asset & Configuration Management and Continual Service Improvement.

Sift Stage:

Your Personal Statement will be assessed in two stages:

  • An initial sift will be carried out against the two DDAT Skills included in the ‘Areas to Evidence’ section.  This includes Asset & Configuration Management and Continual Service Improvement.
  • The Personal Statement of candidates who have passed the initial sift will then be further assessed against the three Success Profile Competencies included in the ‘Areas to Evidence’ section.  This includes Leadership, Managing a Quality Service and Changing & Improving. 

Your Personal Statement should not exceed 1500 words - any content that exceeds the 1500 word limit will be discounted.

Your CV will be used to help inform the panel of your career history, however it will not contribute to your overall sift score. CV's should be no longer than 2 sides of A4

Sift outcomes are expected to be issued by the middle of June 2021.  If you are successful at sift, you will not be able to request your sift scores until the full assessment process has completed.

Assessment Stage:

All candidates that are successful at sift will be invited to participate in an assessment event.  This will consist of three parts:

Part 1 – Scenario-based Exercise Preparation (to be completed by the candidate independently)

Part 2 – Scenario-based Exercise Presentation (remote video session with Technical Panel)

Part 3 – Interview (remote video session with Interview Panel)

The competencies that will be tested at the Assessment Stage are provided below.  

Where a competency is tested more than once, the average score will be used as the final score for that competency and contribute to the overall score.


Part 1: Scenario-based Exercise

1 hour before the start time of the first video session, candidates will be sent an email containing a scenario-based exercise that is relevant to the role being applied for.  Further guidance and a contact point for any queries will be provided within the email sent to candidates.


Part 2: Scenario-based Exercise Discussion

Duration – 15 to 20 minutes

Format – Remote video session with Technical Panel consisting of:

  • Candidate feedback on technical exercise (5 to 10 minutes)
  • Follow-up questions (5 to 10 minutes)

The scenario-based exercise will allow candidates to demonstrate their knowledge of the software management processes and their ability to articulate the methodology in a way that’s easy to understand. 

Competencies being assessed – Asset & Configuration Management, Continual Service Improvement and Communicating & Influencing.


Part 3: Interview

Duration – 1 hour

Format – Remote video session with Interview Panel

The interview will involve a blend of competency and strength-based questions. The competency questions will be used to explore in detail what you are capable of and strengths questions to also explore what you enjoy and your motivations relevant to the grade requirements.  

Competencies being assessed – Leadership, Developing Self & Others, Communicating & Influencing, Asset & Configuration Management and Continual Service Improvement.

There is no expectation or requirement for you to prepare for the strengths-based questions in advance of the interview, though you may find it helpful to spend some time reflecting on what you enjoy doing and what you do well.

Strengths that will be tested during the interview; Change Agent, Inclusive, and Explainer.


Other Information

  • Unless stated otherwise in ‘actual starting salary’, all candidates will start at the minimum of the pay scale being appointed to (this includes existing civil servants).This is not negotiable.
  • Unless stated otherwise in ‘type of opportunity’, this recruitment advert is not open on a Loan or Secondment basis.
  • For more information on the eligibility criteria and terms and conditions for Loan and Secondment positions in Welsh Government, please see external recruitment candidate guidance.
  • Unless stated otherwise in ‘Location of Post’ the role/s recruited to via this campaign can only be worked in the UK, not overseas.

Following the assessment events, outcomes are expected to be issued by early to mid July 2021.

Reserve List:

Unsuccessful candidates who have achieved the minimum score across all required competencies will have the opportunity to be held on a WG ‘reserve’ list for 12 months from the date of the outcomes being issued.  If additional roles become available or existing roles become vacant during this time, WG may offer the role to the highest scoring candidate on the reserve list.  If they decline, WG may offer the role to the next highest scoring candidate and so on. 

Benefits:

  • Starting salary of £30,600. A starting salary of up to £34,490 can be offered for exceptional candidates based on their skills and experience.
  • 31 days holiday (plus 10 public and privilege holidays)
  • Permanent position
  • Personal development budget
  • Home working
  • The latest ICT kit
  • Death in service cover 
  • Flexible working hours
  • Cycle to Work Scheme - a brand new bike up to £1000, saving at least 32%
  • Childcare Vouchers Scheme, saving up to £933/year
  • Contributory pension scheme 

Our Commitment to Equality:

Due to current under-representation in the organisation, candidates who declare that they are disabled or from a black or minority ethnic (BAME) background will automatically be put forward to the Assessment Gateway if their application meets the minimum criteria. We can only do this if candidates provide this information in their application. Information on BAME candidates will be taken from the equality monitoring form and it is important that you complete this as part of your application.


officeofthechiefdigitalofficer@gov.wales

How to apply

All applications for this vacancy should be made online via the Welsh Government's online application system.  If you have an impairment which would prevent you from applying on-line, please e-mail SharedServiceHelpdesk@gov.wales to request an application pack in an alternative format, or to request a reasonable adjustment related to an impairment in order to submit your application.

To apply, you'll need to have an account on our online application system.  Click the 'Apply' button below, and you'll be asked to 'Log in' if you already have an account, or 'Register' if you don't yet have an account.  Registration takes just a few minutes to complete.  You'll need an e-mail address to be able to register.  Once you've registered for an account and logged in, you'll be taken to the online application form, which you'll need to fully complete and submit before the deadline on the closing date.  

If you’d like to apply for this vacancy in Welsh, please use the ‘Newid Iaith / Change Language’ link at the top of this page, to take you to the Welsh version of this advert, from which you can apply in Welsh.

For further information regarding the Welsh Government recruitment process, please see the Recruitment Guidance for External Candidates (link).

When evidencing your suitability for the post, it is recommended that you refer to the Civil Service Competency Framework (link)

Grievance and Complaints

Anyone who believes they have been treated unfairly, or has a grievance or complaint, about how the process was conducted should either write to the Head of Resourcing, Welsh Government, Cathays Park 2, Cardiff CF10 3NQ or email SharedServiceHelpdesk@gov.wales.  If you are unhappy with the outcome of the complaint raised with the Welsh Government and feel that the principles of appointment on merit through fair and open competition have not been met you have the right to pursue your grievance with the Civil Service Commission.

This vacancy is closed to applications.