Job Description

Details

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Reference number

442115

Salary

60,010 - 74,820
GBP

Job grade

Grade 7

Contract type

Permanent

Business area

SSS - Chief Digital Office

Type of role

Other

Working pattern

Full-time

Number of jobs available

1

Contents

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Location About the job Benefits Things you need to know Apply and further information

Location

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Dundee, Glasgow

About the job

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Job summary

We are seeking experienced IT leaders with a broad technical background in supporting infrastructure, cloud, and enterprise systems. The ideal candidate will be adept at navigating complex digital environments and communicating effectively with stakeholders at all levels, both technical and non-technical. Please note, this position is not within a DevOps capacity. If you're ready to lead in a fast paced, evolving environment, we want to hear from you.


Social Security Scotland, an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government, delivers 17 major benefits, reaching around 2 million people across Scotland. With an annual benefit budget of 6.7 billion for 2025-26, Social Security Scotland plays a central role in supporting low-income and disabled individuals, carers, and families, while contributing to the Scottish Government's statutory child poverty targets. Our Charter affirms the agency's values and commitments, ensuring that clients are treated with dignity, fairness and respect, and that their feedback informs service enhancements.


Social Security Scotland embeds a positive and inclusive organisational culture. This focuses on employee wellbeing, diversity and inclusion, professional development, and performance improvement. The agency recognises that its workforce is key to delivering high-quality public services and is committed to creating an environment where staff are empowered to grow and contribute meaningfully.


A lead application operations engineer defines the application strategy and the strategy for security administration.


At this role level, you will:

o liaise with leads within IT operations on how applications are performing and changes that need to be put in place

o potentially manage and maintain certain aspects of an application (depending on the complexity and size of a project, and the likely impact it will have on the business)

DDa T Pay Supplement

This post is part of the Scottish Government Digital, Data and Technology (DDAT) profession and as a member of the profession you will join the professional development system. This post currently attracts a 5,000 annual DDAT pay supplement, applicable after a 3 months competency qualifying period. The payment will be backdated to your start date in the role. Pay supplements are reviewed regularly and there is one currently underway. Changes will be communicated when the review is concluded.

Job description

Responsibilities

Manage service components to ensure they meet business needs and performance targets Lead the investigation and resolution of complex incidents Take accountability for issues that occur and be proactive in searching for potential problems Initiate and monitor actions to investigate patterns and trends to resolve problems Effectively consult specialists where required Determine the appropriate remedy and assist with its implementation Determine preventative measures Take inputs and establish coherent frameworks that work Demonstrate knowledge of the life cycle or capability elements of ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) Draft and maintain procedures and documentation Understand the core technical concepts related to the role, and apply them with guidance Identify process improvements and contribute to the definition of best practice Offer recommendations on the best tools and methods to use

Person specification

Success Profiles

We use an assessment framework called 'Success Profiles' which lists the elements we test and provides detailed descriptions of each. Find out more about how we assess the Success Profile elements

Essential Experience

1. Demonstrable experience leading teams in managing and supporting a diverse portfolio of business-critical applications, with a proven track record of leading multi-disciplinary teams through complex incident investigations and resolution.

2. Proven ability to drive continuous service improvement by challenging established practices with evidence-based strategies, including delivering large-scale projects in line with methodologies such as ITIL, Prince 2, or Agile.

3. Demonstrable ability to provide advanced technical support and act as an escalation point for complex issues, with hands-on experience in diagnosis and resolving problems across multiple platforms (e.g. Windows, Linux, networking, AWS Public Cloud services)

Behaviours

Leadership (Level 4) Communicating and Influencing (Level 4)
You can find out more about Success Profiles Behaviours here: Behaviour levels - Success profiles: candidate guide - gov.scot

Technical / Professional Skills

This role is aligned to Lead application operations engineer within the Digital, Data and Technology Profession.


These skills will be tested during the Technical Assessment if you are successful at sift stage. They will be not be assessed at application stage. Please review the following to understand the skill expectations: Application operations engineer - Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework

How to Apply

Apply online, you must provide a CV and Supporting Statement (of no more than

1000 words

) which provides evidence of how you meet the experience and behaviours listed in the Success Profiles above. Be sure to provide specific examples of work that you've done that showcase your relevant experience.


Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools can be used to support your application, but all statements and examples 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, and presented as your own) applications will be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.



Please see our candidate guidance for more information on acceptable and unacceptable uses of AI in recruitment



Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the CV and Supporting Statement based on the first experience criteria.



Candidates who pass the initial sift will have their applications fully assessed.



Candidates who are successful at sift stage will be invited to attend an Interview and Technical Assessment. The interview will further assess the Experience and Behaviours listed in the job advert and the Technical Assessment will evaluate the Technical Skills relevant to the role.


Candidates who pass the sift and are invited to the Interview and Technical Assessment stage will receive a Technical Assessment Candidate Pack, which will outline the skills to be assessed and the assessment methods to be used.


Following the application sift, there may be a telephone interview as part of the assessment process before the main interview.


We aim to provide feedback on request. However, if we receive a large number of applications it may not be possible for us to provide specific feedback on your application. We will provide feedback on request to candidates who attend an interview/assessment.

Benefits

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Annual Leave - You will receive 25 days annual leave on joining us. This will increase to 30 days after four full years of service. You will also have 11.5 public and privilege days of leave every year. We also offer Flexi-time. Any extra hours you've worked can be taken as leave when suitable.




A Civil Service Pension - This job comes with a Civil Service pension. New joiners to the Civil Service will join a career average pension scheme as standard. Read more here - www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk.




Healthy work life balance - We can offer the possibility of full-time, part-time, term-time, and job shares. We also encourage flexible working.




Discounts - You can enjoy a vast range of retail, travel and lifestyle discounts through our benefit scheme.




Personal support for you - Our Employee Assistance Programme gives you confidential, independent information and guidance 24/7.




Volunteering special leave - Up to six days paid special leave a year for volunteering. We support our staff to help causes important to them.




Great locations - Our bright and modern offices in the heart of Dundee and Glasgow have been designed with staff in mind. Both locations are ideal for public transport.

Things you need to know

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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 for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

Expected Timeline (subject to change)

Sift -

w/c 12th January 2026

Interview -

w/c 26th January 2026

Location -

In Person

in either Dundee or Glasgow



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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
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) 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

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code 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 .
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 the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy .

Apply and further information

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

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Job contact :

Name : Resourcing Team Email : recruitment@socialsecurity.gov.scot Telephone : 08001577194
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Recruitment team

Email : Recruitment@socialsecurity.gov.scot

Further information

https://fa-evxn-saasfaukgovprod1.fa.ocs.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/CX_4001/job//?utm_source=CivilServiceJobs&utm_medium=third+party