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UK Health Security Agency

About

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) will be responsible for planning, preventing and responding to external health threats, and providing intellectual, scientific and operational leadership at national and local level, as well as on the global stage. UKHSA will ensure the nation can respond quickly and at greater scale to deal with pandemics and future threats.

Contact

Address: 10 South Colonnade; London; E14 4PU

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Closed

Ref: 919-BC-304249-EXT Vacancy ID: 6336347

Lead Specialist Engineer HPC

Closed for applications on: 17-Jun-2024 00:02

Vacancy status: Closed

Closed for applications on: 17-Jun-2024 00:02

Location

Site: 10SC
Town: Canary Wharf
Postcode: E14 4PU
Major / Minor Region: London

Contract type & working pattern

Contract

Permanent

Hours

Full time
Part time
Job share
Flexible working

37.5 hours per week

Salary

Salary: £51,824 - £65,089 Per Annum
Salary period: Yearly
Grade: (Grade 7)

Specialty

Main area: Technology Infrastructure

The United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is a system leader for health security; taking action internationally to strengthen global health security, providing trusted advice to government and the public and reducing inequalities in the way different communities experience and are impacted by infectious disease, environmental hazards, and other threats to health.

UKHSA’s remit, as an agency with a global-to-local reach, is to protect the health of the nation from infectious diseases and other external threats to health. As the nation’s expert national health security agency UKHSA will:

Prevent: anticipate threats to health and help build the nation’s readiness, defences and health security
Detect: use cutting edge environmental and biological surveillance to proactively detect and monitor infectious diseases and threats to health
Analyse: use world-class science and data analytics to assess and continually monitor threats to health, identifying how best to control and mitigate the risks
Respond: take rapid, collaborative and effective actions nationally and locally to mitigate threats to health when they materialise
Lead: lead strong and sustainable global, national, regional and local partnerships designed to save lives, protect the nation from public health threats and reduce inequalities.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Plan, configure, manage and maintain all hardware and software components of all HPC, UNIX, Virtualization and Cloud platforms in UKHSA to deliver optimum system availability to users, and ensuring all supplier provided patches and upgrades to the operating system, database, tools and utilities are applied in a timely manner. Support High Performance and High Throughput computing operations.
• Maintaining the security and integrity of all HPC, UNIX, Virtualization and Cloud platforms in UKHSA, including managing all user access rights and implementation of backup regimes and other disaster recovery procedures.
• Providing technical and administrative support for all HPC, UNIX, Virtualization and Cloud platforms within UKHSA to all levels of staff. Ensuring systems are documented and formulate relevant procedures and protocols.
• Liaise with the relevant ICT specialist suppliers to ensure that the organisation is equipped with correct and appropriate technology to support the achievement of UKHSA’s objectives.
• Creating and maintaining comprehensive documentation, including procedures and protocols for technical staff and users, on the licensing, components, connectivity, configurations and operation of specialist systems and services and supporting relevant hardware and software. Maintaining such documentation up to date and in an auditable condition. Providing training, where appropriate, to technical staff and users to enable them to utilize particular systems and services optimally.
• Monitoring and managing HPC, UNIX, Virtualization and Cloud platforms performance and capacity growth, providing advice on necessary upgrades and replacement of hardware and software so as to maintain the ability of UKHSA HPC, UNIX, Virtualization and Cloud platforms to support UKHSA business. Implementing hardware changes and upgrades and database upgrades and migrations to maintain system performance and growth capacity.
• Ensuring compliance with UKHSA IT and other relevant policies in HPC, UNIX, Virtualization and Cloud platforms usage in UKHSA.
• To maintain awareness of technical developments and research new technologies in HPC, UNIX, Virtualization and Cloud platforms with a view to providing advice on suitable deployment strategies for UKHSA. Advise on the choice of software solutions and hardware platforms for the management of Big Data and analytics platforms and solutions.
• Provide a level of work that adheres to the high standards and best practices in line with the SLAs as agreed with UKHSA Users.

Communication and key working relationships

Internal

All Technology staff
UKHSA business staff across all locations, disciplines, and levels of seniority, who constitute management, audit and control customers of IT services;
Technology Senior Management
Facilities Management Departments throughout UKHSA ;
Local IT leads in Business Centres and Divisions; particularly Bioinformatics & Microbiology
Project teams;
IT staff in associated organisations and regulatory bodies, such as Connecting for Health (NHS ICT);
Auditors

External

ICT industry technical specialists;
Suppliers of ICT goods and services;
Third party support providers at all levels (technicians to CEO);
Scientists of all levels
Auditors.

Other

The above is only an outline of the tasks, responsibilities and outcomes required of the role. You will carry out any other duties as may reasonably be required by the directorate. The job description and person specification may be reviewed on an ongoing basis in accordance with the changing needs of the organisation.

Professional development

You should pursue a programme of continuous professional development in accordance with any relevant professional registration or statutory requirements, while maintaining appropriate awareness of service provider requirements.

Essential Criteria

You will be assessed on the below (four) essential criteria, which have been selected from the Job Description:

• A degree in a relevant subject, recognised industry standard qualification, such as RHCE, CIIT, Citrix CCA, MCSE or equivalent
• Knowledge/substantive experience of: Kubernetes; Terraform; Enterprise class Linux distribution such as RHEL, CentOS, Suse, Debian, Ubuntu; Basic storage configuration: LVM, iSCSI; Unix/Linux scripting; TCP/IP, DHCP, VLANs, spanning tree protocol, link aggregation for performance (MTU settings) and reliability requirements; Design/implementing Unix/Linux system and services open source solutions and performance tuning; Open-source storage technologies such as: Lustre, CEPH, GlusterFS; Samba, NFS; Apache, Ngnix, HAproxy; MySQL
• Working with Public cloud e.g. Azure/AWS
• Substantial experience in designing and implementing Unix / Linux systems and services

Desirable Criteria

• Experience with: Linux virtualization ; OpenStack cloud computing platform; KVM/LibVirt Linux Virtualization technologies; LDAP, Kerberos; Iptables; PostgreSQL
• Knowledge/substantive experience of: Kickstart, Satellite and/or Katello; Centralized configuration systems such as Ansible, Puppet and/or Chef; Python, PERL and/or Ruby; WAN/LAN Architectures; Firewall administration
• Knowledge of maintaining and operating “Big Data” storage systems

Selection Process

This vacancy is using Success Profiles and will assess your Behaviours/Ability/ Experience/Technical skills.

STAGE 1 - APPLICATION & SIFT:

You will be required to complete an application form. You will be assessed on the above listed four essential criteria, and this will be in the form of:

An Application Form, where you will be asked to provide information within the ‘Employer/ Activity history’ section of the application form. This is equivalent to the information you would provide on a CV, setting out your career history.
A Statement of Suitability, in no more than 750 words outlining how you meet the four essential criteria and why you would be suitable for the role.

Your Statement of Suitability should outline your skills, experience, and achievements, providing evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the essential criteria. Please do not exceed 750 words. We will not consider any words over and above this number.

The application form and Statement of Suitability will be marked separately.

In the event of high application volumes, we will make an initial sift based on essential criteria.

Feedback will not be provided at this stage. If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to an interview.

STAGE 2 – INTERVIEW

You will be invited to a (single) remote interview. During the interview we will assess your Behaviours/Ability/Experience/Technical skills

The following behaviours will be used at the interview:
Seeing the Big Picture
Changing and Improving
Communicating and Influencing
Delivering at Pace

Interviews are planned to be held week commencing 17th June 2024. Please note, these dates are subject to change.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Location Information 

UKHSA operates a hybrid working model where business needs allow.  This provides us with greater flexibility about how and where we work, to get the best from our workforce. As a hybrid worker, you will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of your contractual working hours (approximately 3 days a week pro rata, (averaged over a month) working at your contractual work base.  Specialist or regional roles will be based at the appropriate UKHSA site. Please note for this role there is some expectation of travel that will be required to our Colindale, Porton Down and 10SC offices.

Eligibility Criteria

Open to all external applicants (anyone) from outside the Civil Service (including by definition internal applicants).  

Security Clearance Level Requirement  

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.  

The level of security needed is Basic Personnel Security Standard

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 welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment.  

It’s important to note that there are currently exceptions to applications being considered if your conviction relates to any of the following:  

life sentences

arson  
sexual offences  
hate and terror offences

Some departments will also consider the specific offence against the nature of the business, i.e., a conviction for fraud may rule you out for a finance role.  

If you are interviewed for the post and do not meet the required threshold for the specified grade, your application may be assessed against a similar, lower grade role and you may be offered the post should one be available 

Starting Salary 

Entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band.   

The internal roles rules apply to existing Civil Servants, i.e. level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive 10% increase.   

Either case is determined by whichever is the highest.  

For further details please refer to the Information Sheet - Starting Salaries & Benefits attachment 

IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

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.

Link below:

Artificial intelligence and recruitment | Civil Service Careers

This is a Non-Reserved post under the Civil Service Nationality Rules. To be eligible for employment in the UK Civil Service applicants must meet the Civil Service Nationality Rules (CSNRs) which operate independently of and additionally to the Immigration Rules. Applicants must also meet necessary security and vetting requirements, along with any other relevant pre-employment checks.

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

For more information on job nationality requirements and the right to work in the UK, see the Civil Service Nationality rules (opens in a new window) and the UK Visas and Immigration rules (opens in a new window)

For posts on UKHSA Civil Service terms and conditions, new entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band. For existing Civil Servants and roles advertised across government, the rules of transfer apply, i.e., level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive a 10% increase. Either case is determined by whichever is the highest.

The Civil Service pay structure and progression is different from NHS Agenda for Change (AfC), most local authority pay grades and other systems that have annual pay increments. For further details, please refer to the Information Sheet- Starting Salaries & Benefits attachment.

For AfC or Medical/Dental posts, you must have the correct professional registration to be appointed. The pay will follow the AfC or Medical & Dental terms & conditions. You may be asked to provide evidence of previous service whilst we are conducting pre-employment checks to determine your starting salary.

For Temporary Appointments, if you are not currently a civil servant, you will take up the post on a Fixed Term appointment.  You may be able to take this role up as a Secondment. If you are an existing Civil Servant, based outside of the UKHSA, you will take up the post as a loan which you will need your department to agree. You cannot take the post up as a fixed term. If you are an existing UKHSA member of staff, you will take up the post as either a level transfer or a temporary promotion as per the UKHSA’s Pay policy. 

Given the nature of the work of the UKHSA, as a Category 1 responder under the Civil Contingencies Act, you may be required in an emergency, if deemed a necessity, to redeploy to another role at short notice. You may also be required to work at any other location, within reasonable travelling distance of your permanent home address, in line with the provisions set out in your contract of employment.

Late Applications will unfortunately not be considered.

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 equality of opportunity. The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles.

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact UKHSA Public Accountability Unit via  email:  [email protected] If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Visit the Civil Service Commission website here.

Reserve List - If more than the required number of suitable candidates pass the interview criteria, you may be kept on a reserve list for 12 months subject to your agreement. You may be contacted, in merit-order, if similar roles with closely matching essential criteria become available and the department choose to appoint from a reserve list.

The panel will assess if candidates meet the requirement of the role first, using a specific benchmark system. If you are interviewed for the post and do not meet the required threshold for the specified grade, your application may be assessed against a similar, lower grade role and you may be offered the post should one be available.

Interview expenses will not be reimbursed.

UKHSA is required to check employment and/or education history covering three consecutive years. Please ensure you give details of at least two different referees, even if you were employed in one company for three years or more.

If you are offered a job, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system. Please note, all communication regarding your application will be made via email, please ensure you check your junk/spam folders as emails are sometimes filtered there.

Any move to UKHSA 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/.

 Benefits of working at UKHSA include:

Generous annual leave:
-26 days for the first 5 years of continuous service
-28 days after 5 years of continuous service
-32 days after 10 years of continuous service
-Plus public holidays and one privilege day for the King’s birthday
Access to a generous Defined Benefit pension scheme with employer contributions.
Access to a cycle-to-work salary sacrifice scheme, season ticket advances and payroll giving.
Access to a retail discounts and cashback site.
We also promote flexible working patterns (part-time, job-share, condensed hours). UKHSA views flexible working as essential in enabling us to recruit and retain talented people, ensuring that they are able to enjoy a long-lasting career with us. All employees have the right to apply for flexible working and there are a range of options available including working from home, compressed hours and job sharing.
We also offer a generous maternity/ paternity and adoption leave package.

Hybrid Working

UKHSA operates a hybrid working model where business needs allow. This provides us with greater flexibility about how and where we work, to get the best from our workforce.

As a hybrid worker, you will usually spend a minimum of 60% of your contracted hours (averaged over a month) working at one of UKHSA's locations (approximately 3 days a week pro rata) and the rest of your time working from home.

Disability Confident Scheme

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria at sift to ensure these candidates are invited to interview.   If you wish to be included in this scheme please tick the box on your application form.

Reasonable Adjustments

The Civil Service is committed to making sure that our selection methods are fair to everyone.

To help you during the recruitment process, we will take into account any reasonable adjustments that could help you.

An adjustment is a change to the recruitment process or an adjustment at work.

This is separate to the Disability Confident Scheme.

If you need an adjustment to be made at any point during the recruitment process you should:

Contact the recruitment team in confidence as soon as possible to discuss your needs.

You can find out more information about reasonable adjustments across the Civil Service here: https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/reasonable-adjustments/

International Police Check

If you have spent more than 6 months abroad over the last 3 years you may need an International Police Check. This would not necessarily have to be in a single block, and could be time accrued over that period.

Internal Fraud check

If successful for this role as one aspect of pre-employment screening, applicant’s personal details – name, national insurance number and date of birth - will be checked against the Cabinet Office Internal Fraud Hub and anyone included on the database will be refused employment unless they can show exceptional circumstances. Currently this is only for External candidates to the Civil Service.

Security Vetting

Please check the Security Clearance needed for the role and follow the link for more information:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/united-kingdom-security-vetting-clearance-levels/national-security-vetting-clearance-levels

Future location

UKHSA is investing in a new state-of-the-art National Biosecurity Centre in Harlow, Essex, which will eventually bring together teams currently based at Canary Wharf, Colindale and Porton Down. For more details, please see: Huge biosecurity centre investment to boost pandemic protection - GOV.UK.

The new facilities will start becoming operational in the mid-2030s, with full completion by 2038. Staff will move in phases as facilities become available. If you're appointed to a role currently based at Canary Wharf, Colindale or Porton Down, please note that we'll continue investing in these sites for the next decade. As we get closer to the transition, we'll provide full information about relocation support available to staff.