public sector

£120k ... but you must take ultimate responsibility for functionality of e-gates, passports and more

The Home Office is looking for a software engineering boss ready to support systems that when they go down can ruin the day of many thousands of people and make headlines internationally.

The Director of Engineering for Home Office Digital will be responsible for managing and deploying nearly 1,000 engineers working on more than 600 systems. Among many other things, these systems enable 76 million e-gate border crossings, 140 million police checks on people, vehicles, and property and seven million passport applications every year.

Since February, the UK has required many foreign nationals to apply for electronic travel authorisations, which as well as blocking some dual citizens from getting back into Britain adds another item to the list of what the job application pack calls “some of the UK’s most critical and well-used public services.”

The pack adds that the department is looking for “an experienced engineering lead with a deep understanding of how to operate in a fast paced, security critical and highly visible environment” adding that “this is a leadership role of exceptional criticality and complexity”. It involves managing a £60M annual budget and a software engineering function currently known as SAS, which may or may not be a naming coincidence.

The successful applicant will be paid £120,000-£150,000 a year plus a 29 percent employer pension contribution, and can be based in London, Croydon, Manchester or Sheffield. He or she will be expected to serve for at least three years, although this is not a contractual requirement, and must be British or from a European or Commonwealth country with the right to work in the UK. Applicants should email a CV and 1,250-word statement of suitability to the Home Office’s recruitment firm Global Resourcing by 23.55 BST on Tuesday 21 July. You can take a look here. ®