Senior DevOps Engineer

MI6 - Secret Intelligence Service Location London Job grade Higher Executive Officer Contract type Permanent Working pattern Flexible working, Full-time, Part-time, Compressed hours Salary £66,059 Closing date Tue 10 Nov 2026 Reference 485766 Profession Digital, Data & Technology Apply now As a senior member of our software engineering team, you'll be expected to provide technical direction and mentorship to less experienced colleagues. You will be a hands-on practitioner responsible for deploying, operating and maintaining software services across a variety of platforms, from standalone systems to large Kubernetes clusters on cloud platforms, and everything in between. You will deploy and operate software services on established platforms, where you will build, maintain, and continuously improve Kubernetes-based deployments. Your role involves developing and optimising CI/CD pipelines and release automation to ensure seamless delivery. You’ll apply Site Reliability Engineering principles to production services, and monitor service health, performance, availability, and reliability to maintain high standards of stability. When challenges arise, you will troubleshoot deployment and operational issues, while working to improve observability, incident response, and general operational processes. You will make appropriate use of AI-assisted tools to improve delivery efficiency. Throughout these tasks, you will collaborate closely with development, platform, and infrastructure teams, always seeking out opportunities to reduce manual effort and increase the speed of deployment. Person specification About You You'll be self-motivated, with high standards and a commitment to excellence. You'll have experience of using AI within engineering processes, reviewing the output of AI, guiding AI to produce software and deployments that meet corporate standards, and experience integrating AI capabilities into production systems, including familiarity with emerging standards such as the Model Context Protocol (MCP). You'll have a relevant degree or equivalent experience in industry, and a passion for writing code, improving processes, and communicating with technical and non-technical colleagues alike. You'll be constantly looking to improve yourself and learn new things, and you'll thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment. Training and development You’ll be joining a community that invests in helping people to grow their skills. You’ll have access to a broad mix of learning opportunities, including in-house and online training, technical deep dives and development pathways shaped around your interests and the needs of the organisation. This includes support to strengthen your capability across modern AI techniques, Cloud technologies and wider analytical or engineering practices. We’ll support you with the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework. You’ll also have opportunities to work with external professional bodies and training providers offering routes to specialist accreditation, advanced AI training and broader professional recognition. Whether you choose to deepen your expertise in a specific technical area or expand your capability across new domains, you’ll have the guidance and support you need to progress. You’ll also benefit from mentoring, peer support and a collaborative community that shares knowledge openly. You’ll have opportunities to rotate across different teams, explore emerging technologies and contribute to shaping how MI6 evolves its AI and data science capability. As you develop, you’ll have the space to experiment, increase your expertise and play an active role in strengthening our AI practice across the organisation. Benefits Rewards and benefits The Benefits Include - 25 days annual leave, automatically rising to 30 days after 5 years' service - an additional 10.5 days of public and privilege holidays - opportunities to be recognised through our employee performance scheme - interest-free season ticket loan (travel and parking) - pension scheme with employer contributions of at least 28.97% - cycle to work scheme - a subsidised gym and an on-site restaurant/coffee shop - paid parental and adoption leave Things you need to know Artificial intelligence 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 (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use. Selection process details Equal opportunities At MI6 diversity and inclusion are critical to our mission. To protect the UK, we need a truly diverse workforce that reflects the society we serve. This includes those with different backgrounds, ages, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, ways of thinking and those with disabilities or neurodivergence. We therefore welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including those from groups that are under-represented in our workforce such as women, those from an ethnic minority background, people with disabilities and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds. - Find out more on our website. Offer of Interview We are committed to providing equitable opportunities throughout the recruitment process to support candidates with disabilities. As part of this, we aim to ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants, who best meet the essential minimum criteria for this position, will be offered an interview if it is practical for us to do so. (This is known as the ‘Offer of Interview’.) To secure an interview for this role, the minimum criteria (in order of application process) are: - Reaching the minimum pass mark for the online Situational Judgement Test which assesses your ability to problem-solve. - Demonstrating platform / DevOps delivery expertise, including building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines and platform tools to deploy secure, reliable cloud applications. To be assessed at application sift. - Demonstrating your ability to collaborate with stakeholders to deliver new features, provide technical guidance, and embed secure coding. To be assessed at application sift. There is a wide range of extra support available throughout the recruitment process to enable you to do your best. Visit our website for information on the reasonable adjustments we can offer. What To Expect Our recruitment process is fair, transparent, and based on merit. You must successfully pass each stage of the process to progress to the next. Here is a brief overview of each stage, in order: - An initial online application form including pre-screening questions to ensure you meet our eligibility criteria. - Online Situational Judgement Test (SJT) rating the appropriateness of your responses to a series of short scenarios. - Application sift looking at your skills and motivation for the role and organisation. - If you pass, you’ll be invited to an online interview where you’ll be asked questions relating to your motivations and our core competencies. - If you pass, you’ll be invited to an in-person technical skills-based interview, based on the Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework for the role. - If successful, you’ll receive an offer of employment, conditional on passing through our vetting process. Your application may take around 6 to 9 months to process, including vetting, so we advise you to continue with any employment unless you receive a confirmed job offer. This role requires the highest security clearance, known as Developed Vetting (DV). Find out more about the vetting process. Before you apply Please note we have a strict drugs policy, so once you start your application, you can’t take any recreational drugs and you’ll need to declare any previous drug usage at the relevant stage. Familiarise yourself with our guidance on the use of artificial intelligence in applications. We advise you to consider setting up a dedicated email address for your contact with us, to ensure your personal and application correspondence remain separate. Try to avoid having identifying features in your email address, such as your first name and/or surname and date of birth. The role is based in London so you’ll need to live within a commutable distance. Please consider any financial implications and practicalities before submitting an application, as we do not offer relocation costs. We offer reasonable reimbursement of travel costs for candidates attending in person interviews or assessments during the recruitment and vetting process. Full details will be provided with your interview or assessment invitation. Reimbursement is discretionary and will only be made in line with the Candidate Expenses Policy, as amended from time to time. Candidates must book their own travel, using the most economical option, and provide original hardcopy receipts for reimbursement. Please do not discuss your application with anyone, apart from your partner or close family member. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. Security Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is developed vetting (opens in a new window). See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks. Nationality Requirements Open to UK nationals only. Working for the Civil Service Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission. The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. Diversity and Inclusion The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window). Apply and further information Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records. Contact point for applicants Job Contact Name: careers@recruitmentoffice.org.uk Email: careers@recruitmentoffice.org.uk Recruitment team Email: careers@recruitmentoffice.org.uk Further information https://www.sis.gov.uk/careers/ Apply now Similar jobs More Lead DevOps Engineer London £77,242 Lead Developer (£59,816 - £82,430) Multiple £59,816 Head of Physical and Personnel Security Multiple £59,816 Site Reliability Engineer Bristol, London, Manchester £58,975 - £79,215 Related content 26 Oct Civil Service Reform National School of Government to have physical campus in Yorkshire 22 Oct HR Why you should treat your career stories like old friends 19 Oct HR Latest civil service & public affairs moves – 22 September to 19 October 16 Oct HR EY partner appointed as Government Internal Audit Agency’s new chief 15 Oct HR Feedback: The difference between good and great leaders Government Digital and Data About Government Digital And Data Government Digital and Data is a community of experts leading digital transformation in government, creating more efficient services that have a meaningful impact on people’s lives. The profession has technical specialists of all levels and backgrounds. They share a commitment to put users first and deliver world-leading government products and services. Job roles within the profession range from trainee to Senior Civil Servants who lead on the very future of government itself. Working in Government Digital and Data Building the government of tomorrow The UK government is recognised as a global leader in digital transformation. Government Digital and Data experts design, build and manage essential services that impact millions of peoples lives daily. With an unprecedented number of digital transformation projects underway, the potential to help solve complex problems and shape our society’s future is enormous. Examples Of Government Digital And Data Roles - User Researcher - Test Engineer - Content Designer - Software Developer - Delivery Manager - Business Analyst - DevOps Engineer - Product Manager - Infrastructure Engineer - Technical Architect As a Government Digital and Data specialist you will be working at the cutting edge of how people interact, and are empowered by government. You’ll work in collaborative multidisciplinary teams on a range of projects and services that focus on user needs and deliver real value to society. You’ll be part of a cross-government profession with clearly defined career paths, support and learning and development. View more jobs by this recruiter Featured jobsAll Head of Policy and Technical Expertise East of England Competitive Chief Executive and Accounting Officer Wales £185,000 - £195,000 About CSW Jobs Connecting Government Employers with Policy-Aware Professionals. 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