Devops Specialist

At the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust we put our patients at the heart of every element of health and care that we provide. The Trust works together as a community to deliver its vision which is "Working together to provide outstanding care for our community."

Royal Berkshire Hospital are pleased to announce that following our CQC inspection we have been rated 'Good' with inspectors reporting that we have made significant improvements. The Trust's overall rating has also improved to 'good'.

We are Compassionate in our thoughts, words and actions

We are Aspirational and have a true desire to be dynamic and to innovate

We are Resourceful and responsible in the way we work and live

We are Excellent in our development, fairness and sharing best practice

At the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, we value candidates who bring their unique personalities, skills, and experiences to the Trust. When completing your application, we encourage you to highlight your individual achievements and strengths, showing us how they align with the requirements outlined in the job description and person specification. While we recognise that some applicants may use AI tools during the process, please be mindful that AI-generated responses can often lack the personal detail and relevance needed to demonstrate your suitability for the role. AI generated content is discouraged by the Trust and may diminish the candidates chances of success.

Amazing things happen at the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust; delivered by amazing people so why don't you come and join us. We offer a range of learning and development for all employees may you be clinical or non-clinical., The DevOps Specialist is responsible for programming, integration, and development support for a range of systems to ensure operational performance is maintained and fed into the DevOps processes.

The post holder will be responsible for providing support and development to all users of Digital Systems throughout the Trust and will be the DevOps lead for some elements.

The post holder will work in an agile way to provide specialist advice to Service Users and assist with the implementation of new software, hardware and infrastructure projects, including leading on the enhancement and optimisation of functionality within our established EPR system.

Reporting into the Infrastructure Manager you will collaborate with Server Engineers to devise and implement technical solutions whilst managing a Packaging and Device Engineer., Standards and Procedures: Ensure the effective implementation of technical standards and procedures for system availability and resilience.

Regularly review and update these standards to meet the evolving needs of the Trust.

Capacity Planning: Identify potential capacity issues, monitor system performance, and take proactive steps to ensure systems can handle current and future workloads. Implement scaling strategies to avoid disruptions in service availability.

Remedial Action: Initiate timely corrective actions to address capacity issues or system failures, ensuring minimal downtime and a seamless user experience.

2. Development Process Optimisation

Process Efficiency: Identify and lead opportunities for process optimisation within the DevOps lifecycle, focusing on automation and reducing manual interventions.

Utilise industry best practices to improve development workflows and systems integration.

Solution Implementation: Guide the team in implementing process changes and optimisations, ensuring alignment with Trust goals and enhancing system efficiency and user satisfaction.

3. Information Security

Security by Design: Design and implement solutions with security controls embedded from the outset.

Ensure all systems and services are engineered to mitigate security threats and comply with data protection and security policies.

Access Control: Oversee the security and integrity of systems by managing user access rights, monitoring potential threats, and implementing disaster recovery procedures.

Ensure compliance with Trust policies on data protection. Devops Specialist

4. Systems Design and Integration

Systems Design: Lead the design and development of systems that handle medium to high levels of risk and complexity, ensuring they meet the Trust's operational and business needs.

Select and apply the appropriate design standards, tools, and methods for each system.

Integration: Coordinate integration activities across systems, ensuring seamless operation between various platforms.

Collaborate with developers, system administrators, and other stakeholders to ensure successful integration testing and deployment.

5. Programming and Build

Software Development: Lead on the design, coding, testing, and documentation of programs or scripts with medium to high complexity.

Ensure the use of the right development standards and tools for each project.

Prototyping: Actively engage in team-based prototyping activities, iterating design patterns and working closely with end-users to validate prototypes.

Choose appropriate prototyping methods for the task at hand.

Root Cause Analysis: Perform root cause analysis for production errors, developing software solutions to address issues and prevent recurrence.

6. Service Support and Reporting

Service Delivery: Provide expert support for the Trust's digital services, ensuring that service levels are maintained.

Manage the release management platform, keeping it up to date and producing operational and service performance reports.

Reporting: Work with key stakeholders to discuss and improve service reporting processes, ensuring that operational delivery reports are accurate, timely, and provide valuable insights.

Add commentary to reports to help interpret the data for non-technical audiences.

7. Development and Innovation of Information Systems

Systems Performance: Monitor and manage system performance, capacity, and growth.

Provide advice on necessary upgrades and hardware/software replacements to ensure system reliability and performance.

Innovation: Stay up to date with new technologies, researching and evaluating their potential impact on Trust systems.

Make recommendations on the adoption of emerging technologies that could benefit the Trust's infrastructure and services. Devops Specialist

8. Communication and Relationships

Complex Communication: Communicate complex and highly technical information to both technical and non-technical audiences, including senior management, clinicians, and administrative staff. Translate technical jargon into clear, accessible language to ensure understanding and collaboration.

Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with user researchers, developers, infrastructure teams, and other DDaT colleagues to ensure a collaborative approach to system design, development, and support.

Represent user needs internally, prioritising user-focused outcomes and facilitating productive discussions around system design and functionality.

9. Financial Responsibility

Budgeting and Cost Management: Work with the DevOps Manager to manage the financial aspects of the DevOps team, including budgeting for hardware, software, and infrastructure costs.

Ensure that projects and solutions are delivered in a cost-effective manner, without compromising on quality or performance.

Vendor and Contract Management: Negotiate and manage contracts with external vendors, ensuring value for money and alignment with the Trust's technical and operational requirements.

Work closely with suppliers to ensure SLAs are met and services are delivered on time and within budget.

10. Physical Resources

Infrastructure Management: Lead the commissioning, configuration, and maintenance of network and server infrastructure.

Ensure all systems are physically and logically secure, maintaining an accurate inventory of all digital assets, including hardware and software.

System Upgrades: Plan and implement hardware and software upgrades to maintain system performance and reliability.

Manage database migrations and upgrades as required to ensure system growth and performance needs are met.

11. Training and Mentoring

Knowledge Transfer: Provide training and mentoring to team members and other Trust staff, ensuring technical knowledge is shared across the team.

Actively contribute to the professional development of the DevOps team through formal and informal training sessions.

Technical Leadership: Lead by example in maintaining high technical standards, encouraging continuous improvement and innovation within the team.

Offer guidance and support to less experienced colleagues to ensure the successful delivery of technical solutions.

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, Information Technology, or related field, or equivalent experience.
• Professional certifications such as AWS Certified DevOps Engineer, Azure DevOps Expert, or equivalent.
• ITIL certification and familiarity with project management methodologies (e.g., PRINCE2) are advantageous.

Desirable criteria

• Experience of Prince 2 or Agile project management, * Significant experience in IT particularly in a DevOps setting Experience of Configuring and managing databases such as MySQL,
• Working knowledge of various tools, open-source technologies, cloud services and the development of APIs and integration standards On-going commitment to attend training courses to update and develop IT skills.
• Evidence of excellent customer service skills and a commitment to improving services and performance for end users.

Staff Benefits

• Flexible working opportunities and a strong emphasis on your work, life balance
• Annual leave - 27 days for new starters, plus bank holidays. Increasing to 29 days after 5 years and 33 days after 10 years NHS service. Pro rata for part time staff
• NHS pension scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Money Advice Service
• Generous maternity, paternity and adoption leave for eligible staff
• On-site nursery (based at RBH)
• Full educational library services
• Cycle to work scheme, lockable storage for cycles
• Bus to work scheme
• Excellent rail and bus links
• A huge range of Health Service Discounts at hundreds of big brands from holidays to gadgets and restaurants to retail.

By applying for this post you are agreeing to Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are appointed to a post information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system. Appointment to any position is conditional on the satisfactory completion of the core NHS Employment Checks Standards. Information disclosed in your application will be checked and any offer of appointment may be withdrawn if you knowingly withhold information or provide false or misleading information. All new appointments to the Trust, with the exception of executive positions, are subject to a 6 month probationary period. The Trust may close any vacancy prior to the advertised closing date due to the high level of responses we receive for some of our vacancies. Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust is committed to improving the health of its staff, patients and the wider community by providing a smoke free environment. A smoke free policy is in operation and smoking is not permitted on any of the Trust's sites.