Vacancy -- Associate Technical Architect
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
Purpose of Post:
The Learning in Digital Wales programme provides education stakeholders in Wales with access to a range of award winning digital tools and resources that support the transformation of digital education practices.
The main purpose of this post is to support the technical design and build of a number of work streams including our national Azure Active Directory, Microsoft Office 365 tenancy and Google for Education domain. There are significant challenges directly related to the successful delivery of this project and the Associate Technical Architect will be part of a team responsible for their resolution and delivery to agreed timescales.
The applicant must have experience of working in a technical environment and possess a fundamental understanding of Microsoft technologies including Azure Active Directory services and Microsoft Office 365. An ideal candidate will have previous experience supporting an enterprise level deployment.
Key tasks:
- To support the structured analysis of technical issues, translating this analysis into technical designs that describe a solution
- To provide input into architectural designs and develop design patterns
- To support the proactive identification of issues
- To identify opportunities to collaborate and reuse components, communicating with both technical and non-technical stakeholders
- To be aware of technological developments to keep activity relevant and targeted
- To identify warning signs of things going wrong and provide a decisive response to delivery challenges
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 WG.
As part of the DDaT profession it will be important to keep your skills up to date and this will be supported by in-house training from within the community.
If you want to develop your skills in other areas e.g. those listed as desirable criteria, the DDaT profession within WG will support that. There are a range of opportunities available including formal training e.g. ITIL, informal shadowing and knowledge transfer from existing staff or attending specialist, role specific training offered by UK Government.
There will also be subject specific training from your teams giving you a background of the area of work you will be working in and training for any systems they support.
Opportunities may arise for you to move to other key projects depending on Ministerial priorities thereby growing your portfolio of work.
Closing Date:
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
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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.
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
As part of your application, please prepare a personal statement that outlines how you meet the following ESSENTIAL requirements for the role. Your personal statement should be no more than 2 sides of A4.
To be successful for this role you will be:
- Able to bridge the gap between the technical and non-technical, with experience of translating technical concepts so they are understood by all.
- Able to make and recommend decisions when they are needed, even if they prove difficult or unpopular
- Able to understand and resolve technical disputes across varying levels of complexity and risk.
- Able to develop an optimal design through an iterative process, aligning the user need with the system requirements and organisational objectives.
- Able to understand how their work supports the team and identify the wider influences and how they apply, understanding how current work fits in broader contexts and strategies, and looking for deeper underlying problems and opportunities.
The following technical skills are also ESSENTIAL for success in this role. Please ensure you attach a CV which demonstrates your ability in relation to these skills.
- Experience of delivering high performing digital services including:
- o Cloud services (e.g. Microsoft Azure)
- o Microsoft Azure Active Directory (domains over 5k users)
- o Microsoft Office 365 (tenancies over 5k users)
- Database technologies (e.g. MS SQL server)
- Familiar with network protocols - TCP/IP, HTTP, SSL, etc.
- To have an understanding of common web application architectures
Additional evidence MAY be provided against ANY of the following DESIRABLE job specific capabilities (and will be used to distinguish between candidates assessed at a similar level). Please include this evidence in your CV.
- Capable of taking responsibility for the assurance of parts of a service, knows what risks need to be managed.
- Capable of applying strategy, using patterns, standards, policies, roadmaps and vision statements. Able to challenge them and provide guidance.
Additional evidence MAY be provided which references demonstrated experience in ANY of the following skills, considered DESIRABLE for the role (and will be used to distinguish between candidates assessed at a similar level)
- Previous experience of working within a formal project management environment including Agile and PRINCE2.
Assessment Process
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.
To apply for this role you will be asked to attach the following:
- A Personal Statement of suitability explaining how your experience and skills provide evidence against the essential requirements of the role. Your Personal Statement should be no more than two sides of A4.
- An up to date CV including evidence of the essential technical skills and any desirable job specific capabilities where applicable.
If you are successful at the sifting stage, you will be invited to interview. The interview will focus on your skills and experience in relation to the essential requirements of the role. We may also include a test or assessment if appropriate.
Following the interview, if successful, we may keep your details for up to 12 months on a reserve list should other similar posts become available.
PLEASE NOTE: It is important that you do attach both of these documents (both the Personal Statement and CV) in your online application to be considered for this role.
Interviews are expected to take place by 26th March 2018.
How to apply
All applications for this vacancy should be made online via the Welsh Government's online application system. If you have a disability 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 a disability 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
This vacancy is closed to applications.