Network Change And Release Manager

On behalf of The Home Office, we are looking for a Network Change And Release Manager for a 6 Month contract based in Croydon, Liverpool or Southport - Occasional travel to the office.

The first duty of Government is to protect the public. Since 1782, the Home Office has led work to keep the country safe from those who seek to do it harm; in doing so, we make a vital contribution to HM Government's plan for a stronger, fairer, outward-looking and united Britain.

As a lead member of the Service Operations Change Enablement team (moving shortly after into Network and Infrastructure (N&I)), you will join a small team in building and implementing robust Change and Release management within N&I, bringing ITIL based control to the critical changes designed and deployed by this team. This will require creating effective relationships and collaborations with N&I team members, the Change Enablement team, external and internal suppliers, and key stakeholders across DDaT portfolios.

Main Responsibilities:

1. Managing Releases and Deployments for the N&I Release Management team through the Change process, allocating workload and acting as first escalation if there are any issues.
2. Providing specialist advice and being responsible for the approval, prioritisation and escalation of major Release and Deployment Requests to the responsible authority, ensuring all authorised releases maintain the integrity of the IT architecture and are within budget and resource constraints.
3. Overseeing teams to ensure that services are delivered by the team and suppliers within defined timescales and are well documented.
4. Developing policies, processes and procedures in line with best practice to deliver quality services, seeking ways to automate and draw on efficiencies from other Service Management areas where possible.
5. Providing reporting to senior IT Operations and wider DDaT management, representing the function on various boards and forms of governance.
6. Driving continual service improvements through the measurement and challenge of services and processes, using tools and capability to automate where appropriate, and reflecting on outputs from Post Implementation reviews.
7. Managing the N&I Release and Deployment process, ensuring that standards and timescales are met, whilst demonstrating value for money.
8. Liaising with the Service Architect & Design function to forecast and plan service introduction and releases to minimise disruption to operational services.
9. Managing patterns or trends of non-compliance of the Release assurance policies and processes, by engaging at a senior level with Business Portfolios, Suppliers, Transition or Project Managers where necessary.

Essential Qualifications:

1. Experience of developing, implementing and adhering to ITIL v3 / v4 management processes and procedures.
2. Performing a similar role within the Civil Service or at other organisations.
3. Technical experience, ideally within a Networks and Infrastructure role.
4. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with a proven ability to communicate effectively and professionally.
5. Able to present in front of leadership teams, with a proactive mindset to drive action resolution in critical areas.
6. Proven ability to build and manage relationships with suppliers and senior stakeholders.
7. Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.
8. Strong focus on customer outcomes and protecting organisational integrity and reputation.

SC Clearance is an essential requirement for this role; as a minimum, you must be eligible and willing to undergo these checks.

Please be aware that this role can only be worked within the UK and not Overseas.

Disability Confident

As a member of the Disability Confident Scheme, the Home Office guarantees to interview all candidates who have a disability and who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of candidates who have a disability who meet all the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group. This scheme encourages candidates with a disability and/or neurodivergence to apply.

Armed Forces Covenant

The Home Office guarantees to interview veterans or spouses/partners of military personnel who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of ex-military candidates/military spouses or partners, who meet all of the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group.

In applying for this role, you acknowledge the following: "this role falls in scope of the Off Payroll Working in the Public Sector legislation. Any rates of payment quoted will reflect the gross rate per day for the assignment and will be subject to appropriate taxes and statutory costs. As such, the payment to the intermediary and your income resulting from this contract will be different."