IT Service Continuity Manager

Job summary

Defra is the UK government department responsible for safeguarding our natural environment, supporting our world-leading food and farming industry, and sustaining a thriving rural economy. Our broad remit means we play a major role in people's day-to-day life, from the food we eat, and the air we breathe, to the water we drink.

Digital, Data, Technology and Security (DDTS) is the trusted team for digital across the entire Defra Group.

We have around 1000 colleagues across DDTS and our ambition is to make it easier and faster than ever for people to interact with Defra. If you are ready to drive innovation and push boundaries, we want to hear from you. Join us and together we will create a great place for living, and a green and healthy future for all.

Find out more about DDTS:

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Job description

As a Service Continuity Manager you will play a critical role in ensuring the availability, resilience, and recoverability of Defra and it's associated Arms Length Bodies' IT services, enabling the department to meet its legal and statutory obligations to the public.

The role is responsible for managing and maintaining a rolling programme of service continuity testing for existing services, while also working closely with project teams to enable the delivery of Service Continuity requirements.

Reporting to the Senior IT Service Continuity Manager within DDTS Operations function, you will work collaboratively with a broad range of stakeholders, including Incident Managers, Technical Leads, Service Managers, Architects, and business representatives across the organisation.

This role offers excellent opportunities for professional development and career growth. You will have access to training, the opportunity to lead and contribute to improvement initiatives and projects, and the chance to work closely with specialist teams across the department, enabling you to broaden your skills and expertise.

Person specification

Responsibilities:

• Ensure IT Service Continuity policy, processes, and standards are applied and adhered to for all services across the organisation.

• Engage with the relevant governance structures to ensure new and updated services adhere to IT Service Continuity standards, including return time objectives (RTO) and return point objectives (RPO).

• Facilitate the planning and implementation of regular IT Service Continuity tests for critical services across the Defra estate.

• Work closely with a variety of stakeholders, including suppliers, technical teams, project teams, service management, and senior management, to ensure the IT Service Continuity team's objectives are met.

• Effectively manage IT Service Continuity related risks by maintaining comprehensive documentation, identifying appropriate ownership, and developing mitigation strategies.
• Engage in continuous improvement of Service Continuity, and broader DDTS, policies, processes, and practices.

Skills and experience:

• Experience in a similar IT Service Continuity role.

• Proven track record of planning and implementing successful IT Service Continuity tests.

• Experience of working in large IT organisations with complex, multi-supplier support frameworks.

• Strong understanding of infrastructure, cloud technologies, networking, and application service dependencies.

• Strong stakeholder relationship and communication skills, including the ability to parse technical information into business friendly language.

• Knowledge of relevant standards, such as ITIL and ISO22301.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Delivering at Pace
• Changing and Improving
• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £42,665, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs contributes £12,360 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

• 25 days leave (rising to 30 days over 5 years) plus bank holidays.
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%.
• A day off per year for the King's birthday.
• Access to a range of retail discounts (these include supermarket, tech, gym, holiday, phone and more).
• Flexible working options such as condensed hours, part-time and flexi time.
• 3 paid volunteering days per year.
• Funding for professional membership of a recognised professional body.
• Learning and development tailored to your role and budget for training or qualifications.
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Health cash plan to help you manage health costs for a reduced monthly fee.
• Access to the Employee Assistance Programme open 24 hours, 7 days a week, that provides support to you during any times of stress or difficulty.
• Free access to Headspace for wellbeing.
• Season ticket loan for public transport.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.

The Civil Service marks each element of the selection process on a merit basis. You can visit the gov.uk website for further information on the Civil Service rating scale.

Ensure you have tailored your CV and Personal Statement to the 'skills and experience' section of the job advert by providing examples on how you are suitable for the role using the