Her Majesty’s Passport Office

Lead DevOps Engineer -A

6 Incomplete applications

5 SME, 1 large

19 SME, 2 large

Specialist role: Web operations engineer
Summary of the work: DevOps engineer with good knowledge of Linux, cloud computing, WEB applications, Puppet config management, AWS, UNIX open source tools, networking, Internet security, containerisation.

Scripting languages Bash+Ruby/Python.

Coordinating and directing effective deployment of engineers into critical delivery projects
Latest start date: Tuesday 1 May 2018
Expected contract length: 12 months with optional further period of up to 12 months depending on busness need and performance.
Location: London
Organisation the work is for: Her Majesty’s Passport Office
Maximum day rate: £900

Early market engagement
Who the specialist will work with: Technical Architects, Network Architects and Developers
Head of Core Platform team
What the specialist will work on: 1. Improve and expand AWS platform
2. Apply changes using configuration management tools (Puppet, Ansible).
3. Coordinate and direct deployment of engineers on agile Development projects
4. Support and troubleshoot complex micro-service based environment(Haproxy/Nginx loadbalancing)
5. Improve monitoring and performance measurement tools (Sensu/Grafana/Logstash/ELK) 6. Participate in the oncall rota
7. Work on containerisation of the services(Docker, Kubernetes)
8. Perform DBA tasks on variety of Databases (Postgres, Mongo, Mysql)
9. Implement and improve security stack/tools
10. Configure continues integration pipelines for deployment
11. Containerisation
12. Automating various tasks using puppet, ansible and scripting (Shell + Ruby/Python)

Address where the work will take place: Petty France, London
Working arrangements: The individual will work full time from the primary office in Petty France, London five days a week. Option to work from home one day a week.

Candidate should be prepared to use their own company laptop which may be needed to undertake some duties.

There may be an occasional need to attend our other office in Central London (Victoria). No travel expenses will be paid for this purpose. Expenses for any exceptional travel authorised outside of Central London will fall under the Standard Government Terms and Conditions for Expenses as covered in the DOS Contract.
Security clearance: SC Clearance is required. HM Passport Office will support the clearance process

Additional terms and conditions: Standard Government Terms and Conditions for Expenses as covered in the DOS Contract.

Buyers will use the essential and nice-to-have skills and experience to help them evaluate suppliers’ technical competence.

Essential skills and experience: Production experience in Linux environment:Linux Dev Ops/Sysadmin expert level (8yrs+),AWS,AWS SDK, AWS CLI, Puppet/Hierra (5yrs+),Development Bash/Shell +one higher-level scripting language(Ruby/Python/Perl or other 5 yrs), ELK stack(3yrs +1 project implementation

Production experience in Networking: TCP/IP advanced (5yrs+), Firewalls advanced (5yrs+)SSL/TLS for encryption in transit advanced/expert (5yrs). Load Balancing: Haproxy, Nginx advanced/expert (5yrs+), DNS management advance/expert (5yrs)

Production experience of managing Databases: Postgres up to DBA expert level (4yrs+) and any 2 out of Postgres/Mysql/MongoDB/RabbitMQ/ActiveMQ System Admin level (2yrs+)

Live Project CI/CD Administration: Jenkins (5 yrs+),GIT (3yrs+), Artifactory or similar system advanced/ expert level (3yrs+), Docker/Vagant advance/expert level (3yrs+), Working in agile teams facilitating CI/CD pipeline (5yrs+).

Track record of designing platforms for mission critical services in line with GDS standards

Leadership experience: 3+ years leading a team of Dev Ops. A minimum of 2 examples of leading design and delivery of migration projects or platform build projects.
Nice-to-have skills and experience: Experience of Her Majesty’s Passport Office systems

Deploying Kubernetes

How many specialists to evaluate

Cultural fit criteria

Assessment methods

Evaluation weighting

Technical competence

70%

Cultural fit

10%

Price

20%

1. What is the IR35 status?: We expect this engagement to be outside IR35, however status is assessed on a case-by-case basis.
2. Are the roles (A, B and C) for three separate roles?: Yes
3. Will the client accept candidates who are undergoing clearance: Yes
4. Are we allowed to submit the same specialist for all 3 roles (A, B and C) ?: Yes
5. Can you confirm how integral (or not) Puppet will be to this role?: Puppet is one of the core skills, probably even the most important one. The entire current platform relies on Puppet.
6. Is the preference for current SC Clearance? Will HMPO sponsor renewal of recently elapses SC?: Existing SC clearance is not mandatory. Where SC clearance is not held HM Passport Office will support the clearance process.
7. How quickly do you need the DevOps Engineer to start?: The successful specialist will be required to start work as soon as possible after being identified, dependent upon obtaining the required security clearance.
8. Can the authority please confirm if there is a current incumbent for this role: We have 3 separate roles A, B & C. Two roles are new and the third role is currently vacant.
9. In the past we have been advised that all the roles are for PAYE candidates employed by the supplier. Can self-employed digital specialists be supplied by the supplier or is this under a different framework?: Under the DOS Framework there is no requirement regarding the use of PAYE candidates only.