Senior Infrastructure Operations Engineer

Contract Type: Permanent

Location: London or Newcastle

Salary: London c£70,000 or Newcastle c£61,000 plus civil service employer pension contribution of 28%. A higher base salary may be available for exceptional applicants.

A minimum of 2 days a week based in the office is expected.

About the NAO

The National Audit Office (NAO) is the UK’s main public sector audit body. Independent of government, we have responsibility for auditing the accounts of various public sector bodies, examining the propriety of government spending, assessing risks to financial control and accountability, and reviewing the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of programmes, projects and activities. We report directly to Parliament, through the Committee of Public Accounts of the House of Commons which uses our reports as the basis of its own investigations. We employ around 1,000 staff, most of whom are qualified accountants, trainees or technicians. They work in either of our two service lines, financial audit or value for money (VFM) audit or within the corporate enabling group.

Main purpose of the role

NAO Digital Services (DS) Operations have an opportunity for a Senior Infrastructure Operations Engineer (SIOE) to join the in-house technical team. The SIOE plays a pivotal role in ensuring the stability, performance, and continuous improvement of the organisation’s IT operations. This position is responsible for the management and optimisation of the hybrid cloud infrastructure which supports business-critical services.

Who are the team?

The Infrastructure Operations team is part of the National Audit Offices Digital Services. The primary mission of the team is maintaining the NAO’s digital estate. Ensuring the operational availability, accessibility, capacity, security, and continuous improvement of the technologies, infrastructure, systems and services across the digital estate

Relationships:

Reporting to: Head of Digital Operations

Relationships: Lead Infrastructure Operations Engineer

Internal: Digital Services

External: Multiple third-party support vendors.

HOW TO APPLY

Please apply with an up-to-date cv and a covering letter outlining your suitability for the role against essential criteria below:

• Deliver High Performance: Be bold in delivering and driving through improvements and innovative solutions.
• Develop and Apply Knowledge: Using your technical knowledge and troubleshooting skills to resolve technical problems, create update and maintain processes and documentation that can be shared with others.
• Ownership and Initiative: Take responsibility for issues until resolved or reassigned appropriately.
• Coaching and Mentoring: Supporting colleagues through guidance and knowledge share.
• User Focus: Engage with stakeholders to understand user needs and translate them into operational outcomes.

Selection Process

1. Application:

Candidates are required to submit their CV and covering letter on the essential criteria above by 23:59pm Sunday 24 August 2025.

2. Screening:

An initial screening will be conducted to check the eligibility of candidates & based on the role. Only candidates who meet these criteria will proceed to the next stage.

3. Assessment:

Were looking to hold two assessments- Phone interviews and Final interviews.

Phone Interviews are to be held around the 1st September 2025 with final interview to held week commencing 8th September 2025.

4. Interview:

Candidates who pass the screening and Phone assessment stages will be invited for an interview. The interview will assess various competencies and skills relevant to the role.

5. Decision:

The final decision-making process will involve a moderation and review panel. The final expect around the 12th September 2025.

Equal opportunities and diversity

Disability and Reasonable Adjustments

Applicants with a disability who wish their application to be considered under the Disability Confident scheme should confirm this when submitting their application. Under this scheme we guarantee an interview to an applicant with a disability who meets the minimum requirements for the role. You should also let our HR team know if you wish us to consider any Reasonable Adjustments at any stage of the process (HR Service Desk (HRServiceDesk@nao.org.uk).

Applicants will not be discriminated against on the grounds of any protected characteristic or any other extraneous factor.

Nationality Requirement:

• UK Nationals
• Nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• Nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with (or eligible for) status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)

Please note, we are not able to sponsor work visas or accept temporary visas as we are looking to hire on a permanent basis. Please contact the HR Service desk (hrservicedesk@nao.org.uk) should you have any questions on your nationality eligibility.

Responsibilities:

Main responsibilities of this role:

• Design, implementation and administration of hybrid cloud services, including but not limited to, IaaS resources, data connectivity, data backup and restore, print, telecoms, and building management services.
• Monitor system performance and availability, proactively identifying and resolving issues to maintain high service levels.
• Collaborate with security and compliance teams to implement and maintain governance policies across the hybrid cloud estate. Implement and maintain endpoint security features.
• Provide technical leadership in incident and problem management, including root cause analysis and resolution planning.
• Support project delivery by contributing to solution design, implementation, and documentation.
• Manage a network of external technical vendors, set requirements, agree schedules and provide assurance that works issued to vendors is completed to expectation.

Service Delivery:

• Manage and maintain Microsoft 365 [and wider Microsoft cloud] services including Exchange Online, Teams, Telephony, OneDrive, Intune, and Azure AD.
• Contribute to Tier 3 support provision for M365-related incidents and service requests.
• Manage and maintain resource groups within public cloud infrastructure.
• Manage and maintain local ‘On-prem’ infrastructure (server and network).
• Monitor system health, usage, and security compliance.
• Administer and support Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) devices, including deployment, configuration, and troubleshooting of hardware and software components.
• Co-ordinate maintenance and change activities with third party vendors and provide assurance that work is completed to expected levels.
• Administer and manage the organisations externally facing email system.
• Assume lead role with incident management, diagnose and prioritise incidents, investigate root cause and implement resolutions.
• Assume lead role with problem management, investigate patterns and trends and implement preventative measures.
• Collaborate with service delivery leads to ensure uptime of digital assets.

Modern Workplace Enablement:

• Drive adoption of M365 tools and features to enhance collaboration and productivity.
• Support digital transformation initiatives aligned with business goals.
• Develop and maintain documentation, user guides, and training materials.

Security & Compliance:

• Implement and enforce security policies.
• Ensure compliance with internal data governance standards.
• Manage identity and access controls, MFA, and device compliance.
• Collaborate with support partners on the remediation of security vulnerabilities, across datacentre, EUC, IaaS space and data network.
• Design, implementation and administration of security features, including but not limited to: End Points, PKI, SCEP, NDES, FIDO, MFA, SSO and Biometric authentication.

Optimization and Testing:

• Identify opportunities and implement solutions to streamline operations and reduce manual effort.
• Testing: Define test conditions, identify risks and report on test activities and outcomes.

Project and Continuous Improvement:

• Provide project support for continuous improvement of line-of-business services and supporting infrastructure. Implementation of new services.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including InfoSec, HR, and Digital Operations.
• Assume lead responsibilities with the design and implementation of digital services.

Working Environment & Requirements:

• You'll work on an agreed support rota to ensure coverage from 08:00 – 18:00, with core hours of 09:00 – 17:00, Monday to Friday, on-site in Victoria, London. Occasional attendance will be required at our Newcastle office with expenses paid for travel and accommodation.
• Due to the nature of the role, occasional (paid) weekend work as required, and Time-Off-In-Lieu offered for out-of-hours work during Mon-Fri.

Skills required:

Skills & Experience required:

The successful candidate will demonstrate expert-level proficiency in the design, implementation, and management of Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365 environments. The role requires a deep understanding of cloud infrastructure, identity and access management, automation, and security best practices.

Cloud & Infrastructure Expertise:

• Azure & On-Prem: Skilled in deploying/managing resources via ARM templates, CLI, and portal.
• Networking: Configures VNets, NSGs, VPNs, ExpressRoute, and Azure Firewall.
• Compute & Storage: Manages VMs, Azure Files, Blob Storage, and Backup.
• Monitoring & Governance: Implements Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, and Policy.
• Identity & Access: Deep knowledge of Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD), Conditional Access, RBAC, and PIM.
• Physical Infrastructure: Experienced with hyperconverged systems (VMware, Nutanix) and Cisco networks.
• Active Directory: Manages AD, DHCP, DNS, and PKI

Microsoft 365 Administration:

• Exchange Online & Teams: Advanced mail flow, retention, governance, and hybrid setups.
• Endpoint Management: Expert in Intune, Autopilot, and SCCM across Windows, iOS, Android.
• Security & Compliance: Implements DLP, sensitivity labels, SPF/DKIM/DMARC, and Secure Score.
• SharePoint & OneDrive: Administers collaboration platforms and migrations.

Automation & Integration:

• PowerShell: Advanced scripting across Azure and M365.
• Integration: Uses Graph API, Logic Apps, and runbooks for orchestration.

Operational Excellence:

• Incident & Problem Management: Resolves complex cloud issues.
• Documentation: Creates SOPs, runbooks, and technical guides.
• Project Leadership: Leads cloud migration, workplace modernisation, and security projects.
• Collaboration: Manages external vendors to deliver digital solutions.

Certifications (Desirable):

• Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104)
• Microsoft 365 Certified: Enterprise Administrator Expert (MS-102)
• Microsoft Certified: Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals (SC-900)
• ITIL Foundation or equivalent service management qualification