GCHQ Hiring for Cloud Engineer Job at Cheltenham, England Full Time

About Us

We are GCHQ, we unlock the complex world of communications to make a real difference to the safety of the nation. We work closely with our partners in the intelligence community to safeguard Britain’s people, interests, and businesses from threats such as serious organised crime, people and drugs trafficking, terrorism, and cyber-attacks.

The Role

The successful candidates will have a technical background, will be good communicators and have a proven ability to deliver creative cloud native solutions from technical requirements that deliver the required business outcomes. You will be expected to be part of and lead small delivery focused teams, working closely with other teams to ensure we meet customer need. You will need to remain focused on delivering cost effective and coherent design/solutions alongside other products.

Rather than being explicitly focused on a component of our infrastructure baseline or technical specialism you will be aligned with and deployed against a series of high profile / fast paced deliveries against specific mission outcomes.

This is a hands-on technical role, delivering solutions with mainstream cloud and software technologies, covering the full stack of the application infrastructure. You will also be responsible for product development, security, operations, system designs and product lifecycle management.

You will need to be adaptable and show you can learn at pace as these technologies are constantly evolving. You will be required to lead by example, sharing technical knowledge and developing others within your team.

About You

You will be able to demonstrate the following:

• Experience as a technical specialist
• Be able to identify and troubleshoot technical issues and resolve or escalate as appropriate to Subject Matter Experts or Team Leaders
• Hands-on experience of programming in languages such as Python, Ruby, Go, Swift, Java, .Net, C++ or similar object-oriented language
• Experience of automating cloud native technologies, deploying applications and provisioning infrastructure
• Contribute to and have good knowledge of Infrastructure as Code, e.g., using CloudFormation or Terraform
• Experience of developing cloud native CI/CD workflows and tools, such as Jenkins, Concourse, Bamboo, TeamCity, Code Deploy (AWS) and/or GitLab
• Good working knowledge of cloud services, there usage and deployment scenarios
• Sound problem solving and troubleshooting skills

Whilst it’s not essential for you to have the following, it is beneficial if you have:

• Knowledge of cloud networking fundamentals
• Knowledge of cloud and application identity management
• Knowledge of the full software development lifecycle and delivery using Agile practices
• Ability to adapt to new technologies, learn quickly and pass knowledge onto other team members
• AWS Certification in Cloud Practitioner
• Good presentation, verbal communication, and written communications skills
• Competent communicator and decision maker

Training and Development

We have a culture of supporting continuous personal development especially with technical knowledge and skills. There are plenty of opportunities in this role to develop or extend your skill set on-the-job or via online learning or in person courses. You will be encouraged to gain certifications in relevant topics. There are also opportunities to develop leadership/management/interpersonal and other business skills alongside your technical skill set. We encourage the use of mentoring and/or coaching to aid your development.

Rewards and Benefits

You’ll receive a starting salary of £38,747 plus £2,189 NSP dependent on location, plus other benefits including:

• 25 Days Annual Leave automatically rising to 30 days after 5 years’ service, and an additional 10.5 days public and privilege holidays.
• Opportunities to be recognised through our employee performance scheme
• Opportunities to work flexibly, subject to business needs
• Interest-free season ticket loan
• Excellent pension scheme
• Cycle to work scheme
• Facilities such as a gym and restaurant, and on-site coffee bars at some locations.
• Paid parental and adoption leave

Culture and Working Environment

You’ll also find a variety of sports, activity, interest, and social groups to help you settle in and connect with people with similar interests.

Before You Apply

To work at GCHQ, you need to be a British citizen. We do have a strict drugs policy, so once you start your application, you can’t take any recreational drugs and you’ll need to declare your previous drug usage at the relevant stage.

Honesty and integrity are really important if you want to work at GCHQ. Take some time to read about the vetting process and make sure you meet the criteria in the vetting pages of the ‘How to Apply’ section. The process can take some time, but this is just because it’s thorough. Giving misleading information and omitting or concealing information during the recruitment and vetting process is viewed very seriously.

The role is based in Cheltenham / London, so you’ll need to live within a commutable distance. Please consider any financial implications and practicalities before submitting an application.

Please note, you should only launch your application from within the UK. If you are based overseas, you should wait until you visit the UK to launch an application. Applying from outside the UK will impact on our ability to progress your application.

Equal Opportunities

At GCHQ 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 diversity in every sense of the word: those with different backgrounds, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, ages, ways of thinking and those with disabilities or neurodivergent conditions. We therefore welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including those from groups that are under-represented in our workforce.

We’re Disability Confident

GCHQ are proud to have achieved Leader status within the DWP’s Disability Confident scheme. This is aimed at encouraging employers to think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain, and develop disabled people. Being Disability Confident, we aim to ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the minimum criteria for this position will be offered an interview where practicable; this is known as ‘Offer of an Interview’. To secure an interview for this vacancy, the minimum criteria (in order of application process) are:

• Demonstrate experience as a technical specialist
• Provide evidence to show delivery of solutions via Hands-on experience of programming
• Show Experience of automating cloud native technologies, deploying applications and provisioning infrastructure
• Show knowledge and application of Infrastructure as Code,
• Demonstrate Experience of developing cloud native CI/CD workflows and tools,
• Show Examples of Sound problem solving and troubleshooting skills

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply, you must be a British Citizen. One of your parents must be a British Citizen or must have the nationality or citizenship from our approved list of countries (for more info link to website / JD). If you hold dual nationality, of which one component is British, you will nonetheless be considered. (For more info link to website / JD). Candidates must normally have been resident in the UK for seven out of the last ten years. This is particularly important if you were born outside the UK. You can apply at the age of 17 years, if successful you will not be offered a start date prior to your 18th birthday. Discretion is vital. You should not discuss your application, other than with your partner or a close family member. Please note, you should only launch your application from within the UK. If you are based overseas, you should wait until you visit the UK to launch an application. Applying from outside of the UK will impact on our ability to progress your application. Further information on our eligibility criteria can be found on the Applying section.

What to Expect

Our recruitment process is fair, transparent, and based on merit. Here is a brief overview of each stage, in order:

• Application
• Interview
• Drug Testing
• Vetting

Please note, you must successfully pass each stage of the process in order to progress to the next. Your application may take around 6 – 9 months to process including vetting, so we advise you continue any current employment until you have received your final job offer.

Our Vetting

To work in this role, you will need the highest security clearance, known as Developed Vetting (DV). It’s something everyone in the UK Intelligence Community has to go through and it can take some time. As part of the DV process you will be asked to fill in a detailed questionnaire and attend an interview with a vetting officer. In your interview the vetting officer will have a thorough, compassionate, and honest discussion with you about you as a person and your life experiences, to ensure holding a DV clearance is right for you. You don’t need to do any preparation for your vetting interview, just be honest and be yourself. All applicants for DV are treated impartially and consistently, irrespective of gender, race, disability, religion, age, sexual orientation, and other protected characteristics.

Right to Withdraw Statement:

Please be aware that we withhold the right to bring forward the closing date for this role from the original closing date once a certain number of applications have been received. Please be mindful of this and submit your application at your earliest convenience to avoid disappointment.