At a Glance
- Tasks: Ensure our applications are reliable and secure while mentoring other engineers.
- Company: Join DWP Digital, the UK's largest government department focused on digital transformation.
- Benefits: Competitive pay, generous holidays, flexible working, and a strong pension scheme.
- Other info: Award-winning culture with excellent career progression and a commitment to diversity.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on services used by millions every day with cutting-edge technology.
- Qualifications: Experience in reliability engineering, cloud applications, and CI/CD pipelines.
The predicted salary is between 80664 - 80664 £ per year.
Pay up to £80,664 plus 28.97% employer pension contributions, hybrid working, flexible hours, and a truly great work-life balance.
DWP Digital with Purpose. We have a fantastic opportunity to join our community of experts at DWP Digital as a Senior Site Reliability Engineer, within one of our SRE teams at the heart of Digital Transformation. We're using fresh ideas and leading-edge tech to build and maintain digital solutions that will be used by nearly every person in the UK, every day and at key moments in their lives. DWP is the UK's largest government department. We help people into work and make payments worth over £195bn a year to support and empower millions of people. The scale of what we do is extraordinary, and our purpose is unique. We'd love you to join us.
What skills, knowledge and experience will you need?
- Demonstrable experience of reliability engineering including capacity and performance management through monitoring, logging, and alerting.
- Demonstrable experience of supporting a Live Service, including live operations, incident management, and continuous improvement.
- Demonstrable experience of developing and supporting cloud-based applications in AWS.
- Demonstrable experience of building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines.
- Demonstrable experience communicating effectively with stakeholders at multiple levels to provide feedback and support.
- Demonstrable experience using automation to remove toil with scripting, infrastructure, and configuration as code.
You and your role
Your day will be all about making sure our applications and infrastructure are reliable, secure and ready for scale. You'll work closely with development teams from the design stage, helping them build systems that follow best practices and meet department standards. You'll lead by example, mentoring other SREs, guiding teams and driving improvements. A big part of your role will be creating and maintaining detailed runbooks so incidents can be resolved quickly and efficiently. You'll also automate repetitive tasks, reduce toil and make sure monitoring is in place so issues are spotted before they become problems. When major incidents happen, you'll take the lead in coordinating the right people and restoring services fast. You'll manage error budgets, review high-priority incidents and push a culture of engineering ownership across the organisation.
Details
- Location: You'll join us in one of our brilliant digital hubs in Birmingham, Blackpool, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle or Sheffield, whichever is most convenient for you.
- Hybrid Working: We work a hybrid model - you'll spend some time working at home and some time collaborating face to face in a hub.
- Pay: We offer competitive pay of up to £80,664.
- Pension: You'll get a brilliant civil service pension with employer contributions worth 28.97%, worth over £16,000 per year.
- Holidays: A generous leave package starting at 26 days rising to 31 days over time. You can also take up to 3 extra days off a month on flexi-time. You'll also get all the usual public holidays.
We have a broad benefits package built around your work-life balance which includes:
- Flexible working including flexible hours and flex-friendly policies.
- Time off volunteering and charitable giving.
- Bring your authentic self to work with 'I Can Be Me in DWP'.
- Discounts and savings on shopping, fun days out and more.
- Interest-free loans to buy a bike or a season ticket, so it's even easier for you to get to work and start making a difference.
- Professional development, coaching, mentoring and career progression opportunities.
And we have an award-winning environment and culture:
- DWP have been recognised as 2024 Diversity Employer of the Year at the Computing Women in Tech Excellence awards.
- Diverse and Inclusive Leadership at Digital Leaders Awards 2024.
- Commended as Best Place to Work in Digital category in the Computing Digital Technology Leaders awards 2025.
- Recognised as one of the Best Public Sector Employers at 2025 Women In Tech Employer Awards.
Process: We know your time is valuable, so our application and selection process are just two stages:
- Apply: complete your application on Civil Service Jobs. There'll be full instructions when you click through.
- Interview: a single stage interview online.
CLICK APPLY for more information and to start your application.
Senior Site Reliability Engineer in Manchester employer: DWP Digital
DWP Digital is an exceptional employer, offering a unique opportunity to contribute to meaningful digital transformation that impacts millions of lives across the UK. With a strong focus on work-life balance, flexible working arrangements, and a generous benefits package including a robust pension scheme and professional development opportunities, DWP fosters a supportive and inclusive work culture. Join us in one of our vibrant digital hubs, where you can thrive in a collaborative environment while making a real difference in public service.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Senior Site Reliability Engineer in Manchester
✨Tip Number 1
Get your networking game on! Reach out to current or former employees at DWP Digital on LinkedIn. A friendly chat can give you insider info and maybe even a referral, which can really boost your chances.
✨Tip Number 2
Prepare for the interview like it’s a live incident! Brush up on your SRE skills, especially around AWS and CI/CD pipelines. Be ready to share specific examples of how you've tackled reliability issues in the past.
✨Tip Number 3
Show off your soft skills! DWP values communication, so practice explaining complex tech concepts in simple terms. This will help you connect with stakeholders during the interview.
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen. Plus, you’ll find all the details you need about the role and the perks that come with it.
We think you need these skills to ace Senior Site Reliability Engineer in Manchester
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your CV:Make sure your CV is tailored to the Senior Site Reliability Engineer role. Highlight your experience with reliability engineering, cloud-based applications in AWS, and CI/CD pipelines. We want to see how your skills match what we're looking for!
Craft a Compelling Cover Letter:Your cover letter is your chance to shine! Use it to explain why you're passionate about the role and how your experience aligns with our mission at DWP Digital. Keep it engaging and personal – we love to see your personality come through!
Showcase Your Problem-Solving Skills:In your application, don’t forget to mention specific examples of how you've tackled challenges in live service support or incident management. We’re all about continuous improvement, so let us know how you’ve contributed to that in your previous roles.
Apply Through Our Website:We encourage you to apply directly through our website. It’s straightforward and ensures your application gets to the right place. Plus, you’ll find all the details you need to complete your application smoothly!
How to prepare for a job interview at DWP Digital
✨Know Your Tech Inside Out
Make sure you brush up on your knowledge of reliability engineering, especially around capacity and performance management. Be ready to discuss your experience with monitoring, logging, and alerting tools, as well as any cloud-based applications you've developed in AWS.
✨Showcase Your Incident Management Skills
Prepare examples of how you've supported live services and handled incident management in the past. Highlight your ability to coordinate teams during major incidents and how you've contributed to continuous improvement in your previous roles.
✨Demonstrate Your Automation Expertise
Be ready to talk about how you've used automation to reduce toil in your work. Discuss specific scripting languages or tools you've used for infrastructure and configuration as code, and how this has improved efficiency in your previous projects.
✨Communicate Effectively
Since you'll be working with various stakeholders, practice articulating your thoughts clearly. Prepare to share how you've communicated technical concepts to non-technical audiences and how you've provided feedback to teams to drive improvements.
