Domesday Book. Shakespeare's will. Tweets from Downing Street. War time records. These are just some of the 13 million items held by The National Archives. We are the official archive and publisher for the UK government and guardians of over 1,000 years of iconic national documents, one of the largest and most important archival collections in the world. IT Operations is a welcoming department of 36 staff made up of several multidisciplinary teams, focused on delivering services that make it possible for everyone to use up to-date, secure and efficient technology services. The IT Infrastructure Services Lead manages a team in the IT Operations department with overall responsibility for the design, implementation, administration and support of infrastructure solutions and services and the effective deployment of resources.

About the Role

We are looking for an accomplished IT Infrastructure Lead to join our team in IT Operations and lead a team of engineers tasked with designing, implementing, administrating and supporting our infrastructure technologies, solutions and services, including computing, storage, networking, physical infrastructure, corporate cloud, and software solutions. This is a great opportunity for you to apply your broad technical skills across a range of infrastructure systems and to provide technical leadership, working collaboratively with key stakeholders and external parties in supporting and working closely with IT Operations & Digital teams, security advisors and senior management to provide IT infrastructure solution design consultancy, expertise and assurance to projects, programmes and business as usual activities. You will develop and maintain IT infrastructure policies and procedures and work with senior management to develop the IT security strategy.

SC-level Security Clearance or willingness to obtain SC clearance is mandatory for this role and requires that you have lived in the UK for the last 3 years. The length of required residency may depend on individual circumstances.

About You

We are looking for a self-motivated and enthusiastic person who will play a major role in the delivery of IT services, from legacy system improvements through to digital and IT transformation. You will work closely with the IT Operations delivery and IT Security teams to design, create and improve new and existing products and services and you will work with business users, delivery teams and suppliers to identify and resolve issues and user need. You must have very good, broad experience and knowledge of working in a technology support environment using a variety of tools to support the management and delivery of production services. You should have experience across all IT service delivery activities including service management, incident management, change management, release management, configuration management, continual service improvement and customer satisfaction as well as playing a role in ensuring the highest levels of operational service delivery. In addition to the activities outlined above, you must have people management experience to lead a team of infrastructure engineers, delivering a range of IT services. This is a full-time post, however, requests for part-time working, flexible working and job share will be considered, taking into account at all times the operational needs of the department. A combination of onsite and home working is available and applicants should be able to regularly travel to our Kew site.

We would particularly like to encourage applicants from backgrounds currently underrepresented in archives, including those who identify as Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT+), from Black, Asian and minority ethnic cultural backgrounds, those who are neurodivergent, and those with hidden or visible disabilities.

Benefits

• You will be based in a beautiful setting by the River Thames in Kew with staff parking and good transport links.
• An opportunity to work a hybrid working pattern with a minimum of 3 days a week working on site at Kew.
• A comprehensive benefits scheme including a generous Civil Service pension, an on-site coffee shop and restaurant, season ticket loans, on-site gym and clubs.
• 25 days leave rising incrementally to 30 days after six years (plus 10.5 days public and privilege holidays each year)
• Excellent training and development opportunities tailored to your role and an agreed development plan.
• Influencing the strategic objectives and the opportunity to define, design and implement improvements.
• An opportunity to use or learn a wide range of skills.

How to apply

If you are an internal applicant: please do not use the link on this page. Please apply via your employee Workday account.

If you are an external applicant: to submit your application please click the 'Apply now' button on this page.

You will be asked to provide details of your work experience and write a personal statement. Important tip - please ensure that your personal statement includes how you meet the skills and experience listed in the three criteria given below. Please note selection for interview will largely be based on the information you provide in this section.

Essential criteria for personal statement:

1. Significant expert knowledge and hands-on experience in designing, implementing, administering, supporting and developing infrastructure solutions and services
2. Experience of line management and developing staff
3. Skilled communicator and negotiator to a range of audiences, including senior management, technical specialists, suppliers and professional bodies; fostering and maintaining relationships and specialist networks

Applicants will be assessed on the three criteria given above for the first round of short informal interviews. Candidates invited to the second round of interviews, will be assessed against the full criteria for the role:

• Significant expert knowledge and hands-on experience in designing, implementing, administering, supporting and developing infrastructure solutions and services
• Good knowledge and experience of information security processes
• Effective and confident persuasion, influencing and decision-making skills
• Experience of line management and developing staff
• Skilled communicator and negotiator to a range of audiences, including senior management, technical specialists, suppliers and professional bodies; fostering and maintaining relationships and specialist networks
• Critical thinking and problem-solving skills and the ability to troubleshoot and solve problems