This appointment is permanent, pensionable and based in Edinburgh. It is a full time post but we would welcome applications for job share.
Duties
Reporting to the Head of Infrastructure, and working closely with the rest of the BIT Management Team, key suppliers and colleagues across the wider Business IT team, you will drive the agenda for IT infrastructure architecture, strategy and design. You will define, create and maintain the artefacts required to describe the desired architecture. You will provide guidance to others in BIT on IT architecture and strategy and work with others to create IT infrastructure roadmaps which help migrate the parliament to the approved architectures and strategies. You will lead on developing the approach to strategic refresh; ensuring security and resilience is core to the approach and assist in budget planning. You will line manage at least one design technician and ensure that the resources in your team manage their workload to achieve key strategy and architecture objectives. You will engage with dependent projects at initiation and design stages to help shape the project deliverables to align with agreed architectures and strategies.
Main Duties
- Primarily based within the Holyrood campus, define and maintain core infrastructure architecture and strategy, ensuring IT security and IT resilience are core to any proposed solutions.
- Maintain an ongoing awareness of the plans of key suppliers and partners and of technology in general, ensuring these are factored into the maintenance of architectural models and strategy.
- Ensure that you and your team keep abreast of corporate standards and that core activities related to accurate maintenance of asset and other key management information (such as knowledge base data) are completed to time and quality standards.
- Assist with budget forecasting ensuring that the full costs of service/system provision (including maintenance and support) are estimated.
- Contribute to dependent projects where appropriate and assist in developing delivery plans to ensure the smooth roll out of new solutions.
- Be innovative in identifying the means to improve IT service quality within established boundaries.
- Manage customer expectations in relation to the services we currently offer or those that we may offer in the future.
- Positively market Business IT services and help to ensure the Service Catalogue reflects current offerings with regards core infrastructure capabilities.
- Liaise internally with Business IT staff, ensuring gaps in customer solutions are understood and partake in planning to address those gaps.
- Ensure the customer has the best experience of BIT services, by consulting other Business IT teams where required.
- Deputise for the Head of Infrastructure when availability constraints require it.
Some of the other tasks you can expect to be involved in include:
- Identifying the organisation's needs.
- Breaking down large scale projects into manageable chunks.
- Working out which IT products to use based on cost benefit analysis and research.
- Agreeing plans with our customers.
- Explaining to designers and developers what's required and overseeing the progress.
- Producing documents that monitor progress and ensure the quality of a project.
- Advising our customers on managing future IT needs
- Reviewing and critiquing proposals and designs produced by colleagues and suppliers.
Qualifications and Experience
Experience is more important than formal qualifications, though a qualification in recognised IT architecture framework would be an advantage, as would qualifications in Microsoft technologies.
Skills and Knowledge
You must also be able to demonstrate:
Technical Skills
- In depth knowledge of a range of infrastructure technologies, including server virtualisation, backup and restore, networks, Windows operating system and management tools, Office 365, IT security, telephony systems, remote management tools and system management technologies.
- Ability to gather, assimilate, analyse and summarise complex information.
- Experience of project planning, management and delivery.
- Experience of risk and dependency planning and management.
- In depth knowledge of cost/benefit analysis and total cost of ownership profiling.
- Experience of quality standards, legislation and best practice.
Communication Skills
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
- Ability to influence senior stakeholders and convey complex technical information in a meaningful way which relates to the customers’ needs and wants.
- Ability to give and receive feedback in a professional and constructive manner
- Able to champion parliamentary initiatives
- Strong technical report writing skills
Team working and Collaborative Skills
- Ability to generate enthusiasm and collaborative working
- Effective collaboration with colleagues across Business IT
- Conceptual thinking
- Is a positive and professional role model and mentor to colleagues
- Ability to work collaboratively with Business IT and Parliamentary colleagues, understanding and appreciating their priorities and pressures
- Ability to operate effectively in a demanding customer environment and to develop excellent and open relationships with customers
Organisational Skills
- Excellent communication and relationship skills with the ability to manage expectations and focus on deliverables that add value
- Ability to multi-task on several high priority activities effectively.
- Staff management and development skills and experience.
- Ability to adapt and prioritise.
- Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines.
- Ability to think ahead and anticipate problems, issues and solutions.
- Ability to maintain awareness of the key developments in IT which may affect or improve the delivery of IT for the Scottish Parliament.
Motivating and Influencing
- Engender a culture of proactive stakeholder management, creative problem solving, and effective delivery.
- Good negotiation and influencing skills.
- Excellent relationship management skills / experience.
- Motivated and a self-learner. Able to research solutions and use a variety of resources to self-support.
- Team-building and motivational skills.
- Ability to build and maintain personal networks to enable learning and development of ideas.
- Strong coaching and mentoring skills.
Salary
If you are successful, you will normally be offered a starting salary at the minimum of the applicable grade range shown below.
| Minimum |
Year 1 |
Year 2 |
Year 3 (max) |
| £42,066 |
£44,927 |
£47,788 |
£52,679 |
You will progress at the rate of one scale point per year provided you are performing your duties to the required standard. Your progression date will be the anniversary of taking up the Salary
If you are successful, you will normally be offered a starting salary at the minimum of the applicable grade range shown below.
appointment in the grade. You will be paid monthly in arrears by Bank Credit Transfer directly into your bank or building society account on the last banking day of the month.
Interviews
Interviews will take place on 10 July 2018.
You will be interviewed by a panel of 3. Your interview will last about 60 minutes.