Service Architect

Home Office Digital designs, builds and develops services for the rest of the department and for government. Every year our systems support up to 3 million visa applications, checks on 100 million border crossings, up to 8 million passport applications and deliver 140 million police checks on people, vehicles and property. As a Service Architect, you will design and deliver services that; support business needs; reuse existing service components; are proportionate and affordable; effectively span multiple suppliers, components and support levels. You will produce comprehensive service designs, incorporating business requirements, wider standards, Enterprise Services capabilities and external suppliers. You will lead on programmes and projects of work, acting as a Subject Matter Expert and ensuring the design meets user and wider Home Office needs. You will work within the Service Architecture, Design and Introduction (SADI) team but maintain close links to the wider Architecture cluster to keep abreast of industry best practice and standards and to ensure a coherent and consistent strategy across cyber, cloud, data centre, storage, network, mobile and the user experience of infrastructure. Where business needs allow some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and home-based working. Where this is the case, employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in the office. The successful candidate will be based in either the Cardiff, Croydon, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester or Sheffield regional office, however there may be a requirement for occasional travel to other locations. Watch this video to hear from members of the team talking about the projects they work on and their experience of working here., As a Service Architect, your day-to-day responsibilities will be to:

• Ensure that service designs to support new services are comprehensive, efficient and reuses existing capability, determining the required resourcing for the transition pipeline and allocating resources accordingly, while ensuring suitable recharge agreements.

• Develop and document service designs for the integration and implementation of solutions, working across areas of the business to ensure requirements are included in business cases, project plans, supplier procurements and Service Design Packages

• Exercise strong stakeholder management skills to drive completion of a service design, including brokering decisions and bridging technical and business disputes by weighing up risk, complexity impact and deliverability and presenting at senior stakeholder boards

• Lead the evaluation of a new service once it has been integrated, identifying best practices and lessons learned to incorporate into future integration plans

• Create detailed plans for the integration of new services into existing architecture, considering the broader context, strategies and operating model of the organisation, maintaining a transition pipeline within a given Portfolio or Product area with a forward view of two years.

• Define and help shape best practices and standards within Architecture and SADI teams, in line with continual service improvement

• Review, negotiate, update and create Service Level and Operating Level Agreements (SLAs / OLAs) Additionally, you will be expected to mentor more junior members of the Service Management community, taking online management responsibilities if required. You will also participate and support collaboration initiatives and career development within the IT Operations community, building in-house capability via a professional community of practice., We use set SFIA technical skills to form our interview questions and we will assess you against these technical skills during the selection process. SFIA levels of responsibility - Use the SFIA Levels of responsibility to understand what would be expected for each Technical Skill listed below. SFIA Technical skills The essential technical skills required for this role are listed below and are reflective of the Home Office Government Digital and Data Profession Career Framework. Strategy and Architecture

• Advice and Guidance o Methods and Tools (METL) - level 4 Change and Transformation:

• Change Implementation o Project Management (PRMG) - level 4

• Change Analysis o Business Situation Analysis (BUSA) - level 5 Delivery and Operation

• Service Management o Service Acceptance (SEAC) - level 4

• Technology Management o Technology Service Management (ITMG) - level 5 Relationships and Engagement

• Stakeholder Management o Stakeholder Relationship Management (RLMT) - level 4, This role has access to a Digital Capability-Based Allowance - Recruitment and Retention Allowance. Applicants who are successful at interview will be invited to complete a Capability and Skills Assessment post-interview. Any allowance awarded will be based on the assessment of your capability against the six skills advertised for this role. Please see the attached candidate pack for further information. The allowance values are set by the Home Office, subject to remaining in a qualifying role. This allowance is non-contractual, subject to an annual review and could be withdrawn at any time. For both new entrants and existing civil servants, the total compensation offer is a combination of base salary and, if applicable, a capability-based allowance. Working at the Home Office Every day, Home Office civil servants do brilliant work to develop and deliver policies and services that affect the lives of people across the country and beyond. To do this effectively and fairly, the Home Office is committed to representing modern Britain in all its diversity, and creating a welcoming, inclusive workplace where all our people can bring their whole selves to work and perform at their best. We are flexible, skilled, professional and diverse. We work to recruit and retain disabled staff and area Disability Confident Leader. We are proud to be one of the most ethnically diverse departments in the civil service. We are a Social Mobility Foundation top 75 employer. New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band. Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant's details held on the IFD will be refused employment. For further information please see the attached notes for candidates which must be read before making an application. Existing civil servants should note that some of the Home Office terms and conditions of employment have changed. It is the candidate's responsibility to ensure they are aware of the terms and conditions they will adopt should they be successful in application and should refer to the notes for candidates for further details. Transfer Terms: Voluntary. You will need to meet the nationality requirements for this role and obtain the necessary security clearance to take it up. Any move to the Home Office from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including tax free childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk., + 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).

As a Service Architect, you'll have a demonstrable passion for Service Management, with the following skills or extensive experience in:

• Evidencing strong process, technical and team leadership skills, with a passion for delivering leading edge designs and inspiring a culture of technical excellence and innovative solution design.

• Navigating the complex landscapes of technologies, 3rd party suppliers (driving the procurement process), internal and cross-government teams.

• Managing and delivering complex service solutions within time, cost and quality targets, ensuring solutions are robust, resilient, and appropriately implemented, tested and documented.

• Defining standards, owning and contributing to the technical roadmap and strategy.

• Anticipating and advising on future technology changes that present opportunities for the product or service.

• Communicating clearly in a language which meets the needs of different users and stakeholders through selecting the appropriate channels and formats, and managing expectations whilst adapting to stakeholders' reactions with flexibility. SFIA capability framework Skills for the Information Age (SFIA) is the technical framework that sets the standard capability and development of all IT Operations levels in the Home Office. This is a link to the capability framework: All skills A - Z English (sfia-online.org), ITIL Foundation is essential ITIL v3/v4 Expert is desirable, + Leadership

• Seeing the Big Picture

• Communicating and Influencing

• Managing a Quality Service

Technical skills We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Methods and Tools (METL) - level 4
• Project Management (PRMG) - level 4
• Business Situation Analysis (BUSA) - level 5
• Service Acceptance (SEAC) - level 4
• Technology Service Management (ITMG) - level 5
• Stakeholder Relationship Management (RLMT) - level 4, This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills. As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV and 1000 word Personal Statement. Please note your CV and personal statement should include all relevant experience that relates to our essential skills criteria listed in the advert and role description. We recommend that you use the STAR format in your examples and ensure that both components are completed thoroughly. Remove information that identifies you (for example your name, age or place of education) so that you will be judged on merit alone and not your personal background, circumstances, race or gender. Do NOT include e-mail addresses or links to online profiles, resumés, or prior work, either personal or business. Active links or e-mail addresses will result in your application being rejected., Candidates reaching the required standard will then be invited to attend a final interview. The interview will assess your Technical Skills (SFIA Framework) and experience using both behaviour-based and technical-based questions. At the beginning of the interview, you will be required to deliver a presentation. The presentation topic will be provided to you at least 48 hours before your interview., We often have similar roles available at different grades. If a candidate is suitable for a similar role or a lower grade than they have applied for, we may offer the candidate that role without the need to go through a further selection process providing the role has the same competencies and essential skills. UK residency and security requirements For meaningful security checks to be carried out, individuals need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time. Learn more on our website. Security Checks - Home Office Careers. Please note that this role requires Security Check (SC) clearance, which would normally need 5 years' UK residency in the past 5 years. However, in exceptional circumstances security clearance applications for candidates who have been present in the UK for at least 3 of last 5 years may be considered. Failure to meet this residency requirement will result in your security clearance application being rejected., We are unable to sponsor any individuals via Skilled Worker Sponsorship / Tier 2 (General) work visas as we do not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker License.

£76,117 New entrants to the Civil Service will start their role on the salary band minimum: £76,117 for National Roles. £80,237 for London Roles. You may be eligible for an additional Recruitment and Retention allowance, pending a Capability and Skills Assessment, with a value of up to £13,700. A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97% GBP, Alongside your salary of £76,117, Home Office contributes £22,051 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides. Find out more information at: Benefits - Home Office Careers, but some of the primary benefits we offer are:

• A competitive starting salary.
• A Civil Service Pension with employer contribution rates of at least 28.97%.
• In-year reward scheme for one-off or sustained exceptional personal or team achievements.
• The ability to potentially adopt flexible working options that suit your work/life balance, plus the opportunity in future to take a career break.
• 25 days annual leave on appointment, rising with service.
• Eight days public holidays, plus one additional privilege day.
• 26 weeks maternity, adoption or shared parental leave at full pay, followed by 13 weeks statutory pay and a further 13 weeks unpaid, after qualifying service.
• Maternity and adoption support leave (also known as paternity leave) of two weeks full pay, after qualifying service.
• Paid leave for fostering approval processes, support when a child is substantively placed with you plus a foster to adopt policy.
• Support for Guardians and Kinship carers.
• Corporate membership of 'Employers for Carers' providing additional information and advice for carers, plus a 'Carer's Passport' to discuss workplace needs and underpin supportive conversations.
• Time off to deal with emergencies and certain other unplanned special circumstances.