DevOps Engineering Apprenticeships

Department for Work and Pensions

Apply before 11:55 pm on Sunday 22nd September 2024

 

Details

Reference number

368968

Salary

£29,500

Job grade

Executive Officer

Contract type

Permanent
Apprenticeship

Business area

DWP - Digital

Type of role

Digital
Engineering
Information Technology

Working pattern

Flexible working, Full-time, Part-time

Number of jobs available

18

Contents

These roles may be located in one of the following locations; Birmingham, Blackpool, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Sheffield. Please find further information on the Corporate hub locations here.

Job summary

Do you have an appetite for learning? 

Do you like finding out stuff that you know nothing about? 

Do you like to ask questions where others don’t? 

If the answer to these questions is ‘Yes’, why not apply for our apprenticeship programme that is focusing on one area: 

  • Associate Level 1 DevOps Engineers

This apprenticeship programme is an exciting opportunity to ‘earn as you learn’ and get hands on practice while you study towards a Level 4 qualification. You’ll receive formal learning to develop crucial skills, knowledge and behaviours for your career and be part of a great team. 

About DWP Digital:

We are leading the digital transformation of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) – the UK’s biggest government department. 

At DWP Digital, you’ll be part of a diverse, vibrant community, where you’ll be empowered to develop your skills and try new things at the cutting-edge of your industry. You can build a stimulating and fulfilling career here, full of interesting challenges and plenty of opportunities to grow. 

Putting the user at the centre of everything we do, our DevOps engineers use their logic, mathematical and problem-solving skills to develop apps and digital services that make a positive impact on millions of people’s lives.

Working with tools like Java, Node.js, Databases and concepts like containerisation and Test-Driven Development, as a DevOps engineering apprentice, you’ll gain the technical expertise to take your career in an exciting new direction. 

You’ll also combine this hands-on experience with virtual learning, delivered by our partner providers, including one-to-ones with tutors and mentors, lab tutorials, and proper research projects.  APPLY NOW!

Please note this role requires you to pass Security Check clearance. For further information, please see 'Selection process details'.

Job description

About the apprenticeship roles

We have 18 places for DevOps Apprentices across 6 areas in DWP Digital, including our Hybrid Cloud Services team who provide Engineering Tooling and hosting platform to all of our Engineering teams as well as several of our teams who build and support services for millions of citizens.

You’ll develop crucial skills, knowledge and behaviours for your career and be part of a great team delivering digital applications and services.

This is a great opportunity to earn as you learn and get hands on experience of DevOps engineering. You’ll develop skills, knowledge and behaviours for your career with DWP Digital and be part of a great team.

Alongside gaining the skills you need for your new job role, you’ll be studying towards gaining a Level 4 DevOps engineer apprenticeship qualification. You’ll develop crucial skills, knowledge and behaviours to advance your career and be part of a great team delivering digital apps and services. If you wish to find out more about the apprenticeship, please click here.

You will be supported by your line manager, skills coach and the engineering community, as well as fellow apprentices on the programme, so you will have plenty sources of encouragement to help you succeed. It is also critical that you can be proactive and make the most out of your time on the apprenticeship.

There is a lot to do and learn, so you need to be ready to work hard and participate in the many opportunities you will be given.

This is a fantastic chance to build an engineering career at DWP and become a highly skilled tech professional.  To apply please follow this link: Makers Landing Page Link

To be eligible for the apprenticeship you are required to hold the following minimum eligibility criteria:

  • Hold a valid passport/birth certificate or residence permit
  • Have the right to live and work in the UK
  • Must have lived in the UK and/or EEA for 3 years prior to apprenticeship start date or hold refugee status
  • Not be in full-time education or be undertaking another apprenticeship by the apprenticeship start date
  • You must not hold an existing qualification at the same or higher level in a similar subject
  • You must hold GCSEs in Maths and English at Grade C/4 or above or complete and pass a functional skills tests.

Please note- If you are applying on a part-time basis, you are required to do a minimum of 30 hours per week as this role combines work and studies. 

Person specification

The Success Profile Behaviours are outlined in the selection process details.

If you would like to learn more about the role, please contact sam.hackett@dwp.gov.uk.

Alongside your salary, the Department for Work and Pensions contributes 28.97% towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

We also have a broad benefits package built around your work-life balance which includes:

  • Working patterns to support work/life balance such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.
  • Generous annual leave – at least 23 days on entry, increasing up to 30 days over time (pro–rata for part time employees), plus 9 days public and privilege leave.
  • Support for financial wellbeing, including interest-free season ticket loans for travel, a cycle to work scheme and an employee discount scheme.
  • Health and wellbeing support including our Employee Assistance Programme for specialist advice and counselling and the opportunity to join HASSRA a first-class programme of competitions, activities and benefits for its members (subscription payable monthly).
  • Family friendly policies including enhanced maternity and shared parental leave pay after 1 year’s continuous service.
  • Funded learning and development to support progress in your role and career. This includes industry recognised qualifications and accreditations, coaching, mentoring and talent development programmes.
  • An inclusive and diverse environment with opportunities to join professional and interpersonal networks including Women’s Network, National Race Network, National Disability Network (THRIVE) and many more.

Salary Information

Pay for this role is £29,500.

Our offer to successful candidates will be based on an assessment of your skills and experience as demonstrated at interview.

Existing Civil Servants who secure a new role on lateral transfer should maintain their current salary.

Existing Civil Servants who gain promotion may move to the bottom of the next grade pay scale or 10% increase in salary whichever would be the greater.

Selection process details

Stage 1: Makers Academy selection process

On submitting your interest to become an apprentice via Makers, you will be invited by email to complete a series of tasks: see hyperlink: (Makers Landing Page Link

You will work through an intensive, but largely self-selecting application process run by Makers Academy. This process is designed to enable you to try coding and to help you understand if you are suitable for the apprenticeship. It is largely self-selecting as you commit to undertaking the learning and practical exercises required, within the timeline stipulated.

For the first stage, you will be invited to undertake a coding course which will take around 15 hours to complete and you can complete in one or more sessions within a limited period. You will be sent instructions on how to do this and do not need to have any previous experience of coding.

The second part of selection challenges with the training provider will be a coding challenge, which will take around two hours to complete. On completion and if successful you will then be contacted by a member of the Makers to team for an interview.

The training provider will shortlist applicants to move through to the final stage which will be an interview with DWP Digital to assess the essential criteria. Here you will also be required to complete a 10-minute presentation. Further details will be provided when selected for interview.

A timeline of the application process is below. Apply by:

  • Registering your details with Makers Academy and completing your application about your interest in the apprenticeship role by  Wednesday 18th September 2024.
  • Upon submission you will work through the selection stages, which includes the following:
  • Complete a coding course and challenge within 10 days (by Tuesday 1st October, on successful completion progressing to an interview).
  • Interviews with Makers Academy will be held from Monday 16th September up to Friday 18th October.
  • Final interviews with DWP Digital are expected to be held from Monday 23rd October until Friday 1st November. Dates will be confirmed should you be successful.

Following a successful interview, we are hoping to make offers by early November and will then begin necessary onboarding and checks with a target start in January 2025.

Stage 2: Interview

If you’re successful with the Makers Academy selection process you will be invited to a DWP video interview via Microsoft Teams. There, you will be assessed against the following Behaviours:

  • Communicating and Influencing
  • Developing Self and Others
  • Making Effective Decisions
  • Working Together.

You will also be asked to do a short (10-minute) presentation on a specific topic. Further details will be provided to candidates invited to interview. 

Further Information:

Find out more about Working for DWP

For Hints and Tips on completing your application visit Applying for jobs at DWP Digital.

A reserve list may be held for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made.

Reserve list candidates will be posted in merit order by location.

The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. Please ensure that all examples provided in your application are taken directly from your own experience and that you describe the examples in your own words. Applications will be screened and if evidence of plagiarism or copying examples/answers from other sources is found, your application will be withdrawn. Internal DWP candidates may also face disciplinary action.

Who can start an apprenticeship?

To start an apprenticeship, you’ll need to be:

  • 16 or over
  • living in England
  • not in full-time education

You can apply for an apprenticeship while you’re still at school but you’ll need to be 16 or over by the end of the summer holidays to start the apprenticeship. Please note if successful you must be 16 or over to undergo the relevant security checks.

Reasonable Adjustment

At DWP we value diversity and inclusion and actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including those that are underrepresented in our workforce.

We consider visible and non-visible disabilities, neurodiversity or learning differences, chronic medical conditions, or mental ill health. Examples include dyslexia, epilepsy, autism, chronic fatigue, or schizophrenia.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should: Contact Government Recruitment Service via DigitalRecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the “Reasonable Adjustments” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

For further information on reasonable adjustments, terms and conditions and how we recruit visit the How We Recruit, page

Security Clearance Requirement

You must meet the security requirements before you can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check.

For meaningful checks to be carried out, you will need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time, to enable appropriate checks to be carried out and produce a result which provides the required level of assurance. Whilst a lack of UK residency in itself is not necessarily a bar to a security clearance, and expectation of UK residency may range from 3 to 5 years. Failure to meet the residency requirements needed for the role may result in the withdrawal of provisional jobs offers. 

For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the following page https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/demystifying-vetting



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 the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).
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 : Sam Hackett
  • Email : sam.hackett@dwp.gov.uk

Recruitment team

  • Email : digital.recruitmentupdates@dwp.gov.uk

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission Recruitment Principles. If you wish to make a complaint, please find further details here https://careers.dwp.gov.uk/how-we-recruit/.

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