Cloud Configuration Specialist

The role involves working as part of the Service Strategy and Design Team that provides broad technical coverage of Cloud Engineering and systems, products, and toolsets. The post holder will specialise in high-level Cloud focused technical expertise around Microsoft Azure and provide support and direction to NRW's systems in a Cloud First environment. This post is a lead role in directing strategic design which will deliver complex greenfield implementations, building upon existing deployments, and providing technical expertise to support tactical work with NRW Operational resolver teams.

This role will lead in translating NRW's digital strategy, recovery strategy, Knowledge and Information strategy, our future ways of working with partners such as PSBs and the customer strategy into a complete technical vision, with the appropriate standards and principles. The post holder will engage with strategic technical partners (e.g. BJSS/CGI, Microsoft, ESRI), analysing their technical roadmaps for compatibility with NRW's requirements and in turn, influence our internal roadmap appropriately. This role is influential in the architectural design space and has a strong long-term focus. It requires the holder to remain technically competent and the ability to lead others through new and emerging technologies. It will operate across all of the ITIL lifecycle phases: Strategy, Design, Transition, Operations and Continuous Service Improvement.

As an organisation, we support flexible working. You will be contracted to either the Bangor, Cardiff or Aberystwyth office and a suitable hybrid working pattern will be agreed on appointment. You must be available to travel to other offices in Wales. You will need to work as part of a flexible shift pattern to cover service hours of 8am to 6pm. There are also requirements for weekend working when required to meet the business needs. Additionally, you will need to work on a time-specific rota providing an 'Out of Hours' ICT Service to an agreed level. Interviews will take place through Microsoft Teams. Successful applicants will be subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service Check (DBS) check. Appointments are normally made within 4 to 8 weeks of the closing date.

This role meets the criteria for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker visa route. Natural Resources Wales welcomes applications from non-UK citizens who are eligible to apply under this route, subject to confirmation by the Home Office. Please note that while we may be able to support the Certificate of Sponsorship required for a visa application, the organisation does not cover the cost of the visa itself, including any associated fees for dependants. The applicant must still meet the UK Skilled Worker Visa Eligibility and Requirement.

What you will do:

• Lead and be accountable for the implementation of solution designs, architecture, and strategic technical building blocks of NRW's Microsoft services across Azure PaaS, IaaS and SaaS.
• Direct, oversee, co-ordinate and action Azure implementation and configuration work packages that are your own or others.
• Act as a technical advisor authority and as one of several escalation points for other lines of service, taking part in major incident management and mentoring where appropriate.
• Work closely with the Principal Architect, jointly owning, creating, and maintaining NRW ICT principles, blueprints, reference designs and artefacts.
• Engage with the Principal Architect and Senior members of ICT on strategic discussions which include technology and assist in the development of portfolio services in line with the principles set out in the TOM and the associated roadmap.
• Remain technically competent in rapidly emerging Cloud technologies, following closely the industries declared plans, product updates and advancements.
• Be responsible and accountable for ensuring all implementations meet security best practices and policies, identifying areas of improvement or concern and working proactively with the Security Team to resolve.
• Work closely with NRW developers, PMs, BAs, support teams, stakeholders, and the business to ensure the quality of the solution in all stages of the system life cycle, supporting the foundation of an agile and efficient enterprise.
• Develop and maintain low-level designs, supporting documentation knowledge bases and wikis.
• Undertake health and safety duties and responsibilities appropriate to the post.
• Be committed to Natural Resources Wales Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy, together with an understanding of how it operates within the responsibilities of the post.
• Be committed to your own development through the effective use of your personal development plan (known as Sgwrs).
• Any other reasonable duties requested commensurate with the grade of this role.

Your qualifications, experience, knowledge and skills:

• Degree or equivalent experience in a technical ICT based discipline and extensive relevant experience such as background in cloud, development; application, integration and/or data development.
• Extensive Azure IaaS and PaaS solution management, tooling, automation, scripting, and implementation experience.
• Extensive Intune and Autopilot solution management and implementation experience.
• Extensive knowledge of the use and configuration of tools and languages associated with cloud platform development, such as Infrastructure as Code (e.g. Terraform, Bicep), source control (e.g. Git, Azure Devops), scripting (e.g. Powershell, Bash) and handling common file formats (e.g. YAML, JSON).
• Exposure to containerisation (e.g. Docker, Kubernetes) would be advantageous.
• Experience of leading and working with technical and expert staff, directly and indirectly, through professional and matrix structures.
• Strong analytic, visualisation and communication skills with the ability to translate business requirements using analysis methods and requirements gathering.
• Understanding and experience of the AGILE software development and ITIL support & service frameworks.
• Knowledge and skills that are both broad and deep and ability to work across complex heterogeneous systems and environments.
• Responsibility for remaining technically competent of emerging technologies.

Welsh Language Level requirements:

Essential: A1 - Entry level. Please note if you do not meet the level A1 requirement i.e., ability to understand basic phrases and ability to pronounce Welsh names correctly, then NRW offers a variety of learning options and staff support to help you meet these minimal requirements during the course of your employment with us.

Benefits:

• Civil Service Pension Scheme offering employer contributions of 28.97% (successful internal staff will remain in their current pension scheme).
• 28 days annual leave, rising to 33 days.
• Generous leave entitlements for all your life needs.
• Commitment to professional development.
• Health and wellbeing benefits and support.
• Weekly wellbeing hour to use as you choose.

We are passionate about creating a diverse workforce and positively encourage applications from under-represented communities. We embrace equality of opportunity irrespective of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. We are committed to equal opportunities and we guarantee interviews for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. We want to attract and retain talented and highly skilled staff, so we make sure that our pay scales remain competitive. We advertise the full pay scale on our job descriptions. Appointed candidates start at the first point of the pay scale and annual increments are paid each year.

Unless otherwise stated in the 'Role' section of this advert, Natural Resources Wales is unable to offer visa sponsorship for this position. Although we hold a Skilled Worker visa sponsorship licence, it applies only to specific roles that meet both the eligibility criteria and salary requirements set out by the UK Government under the Skilled Worker visa route.

We want our staff to grow professionally and personally. From leadership development to access to further and higher education courses, our staff have opportunities to expand their knowledge on a variety of topics, stay current in their field and continue to learn as their career progresses. We are a bilingual organisation which complies with the Welsh Language Standards. Welsh language skills are considered an asset to NRW and we encourage and support staff to learn, develop and use their Welsh language skills. You are welcome to apply for any vacancy in Welsh or English and any application submitted will be treated equally. Applications are welcome from individuals who work part-time, as part of a job share or who work full-time.