85467 - Lead Infrastructure Engineer (M365, Email and Collaboration)

We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging. To find out more about how we do this visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity.

Location: National*

Closing Date: 2nd April 2024

Interviews: W/C 15th April 2024

Grade: G7

(MoJ candidates who are on a specialist grade, will be able to retain this grade on lateral transfer)

Salary: London: £58847 - £78225 (which may include an allowance of up to £19378). National: £54358 - £73450 (which may include an allowance of up to £19092).

Working pattern: Full-time, part-time, flexible working, job share.

Contract Type: Permanent

Vacancy number: 85467

*We offer a hybrid working model, allowing for a balance between remote work and time spent in your local office. Office locations can be found ON THIS MAP

The Role

We’re recruiting for a Lead Infrastructure Engineer – M365, Email and Collaboration here at Justice Digital, to be part of our warm and collaborative End User Compute Services (EUCS) team. The EUCS Team design, deliver and support the core infrastructure and systems that enable End User Compute Services and line of business applications for over 100,000 Ministry of Justice users across over 800 locations.

We are seeking an experienced and visionary Lead Infrastructure Engineer – M365, Email and Collaboration to oversee the design, implementation, and maintenance of our organization's M365, Email (exchange) and Collaboration infrastructure. This critical role will focus on ensuring the seamless operation and optimization of collaboration tools, including M365, email (exchange) services and associated platforms. The successful candidate will provide technical leadership, guidance, and innovation to enhance communication and productivity across the organization.

To help picture your life at MoJ Justice Digital please take a look at our blog and our Digital and Technology strategy 2025

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead and develop a team of Engineers, instilling best practice and ensuring KPIs are consistently achieved.
• Design, build and run user centric, modern EUC solutions and services that enable the Ministry of Justice to deliver services across the UK.
• Work with key suppliers to manage EUC infrastructure in multiple types of environments including cloud, data centres and MoJ sites.
• Demonstrate strong understanding of the most modern standards and practices, sharing with the wider team and Justice Digital community.
• Act as the technical subject matter expert providing advice, knowledge sharing, and technical assistance to other sections of EUCS and Justice Digital.
• Help to define and ensure best practice is carried out throughout the development life cycle within specific product areas.
• Leading engineering teams to implement scripting or tools, to automate current manual processes minimising human effort.
• Own problems, proactively initiate and monitor actions to investigate patterns, trends and to resolve any blockages.
• Work collaboratively with other areas of EUCS and Justice Digital
• Email and Calendar Deployment and Configuration: Oversee the deployment and configuration of email and calendar services, including hybrid Microsoft Exchange environments, Office 365, and related platforms. Define and implement best practices for mailbox management, email routing, calendar sharing, and other collaboration features.
• Performance Optimization and Scalability: Optimize email and calendar infrastructure for performance, scalability, and reliability. Conduct performance tuning activities, capacity planning, and resource optimization to ensure optimal service delivery and user experience.
• Security and Compliance: Establish and enforce security controls and measures to protect email and calendar systems from security threats and vulnerabilities. Ensure compliance with industry regulations and standards, such as GDPR, regarding data privacy and security.
• Integration and Connectivity: Collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate exchange other collaboration tools and business applications. Develop connectors, APIs, and integration solutions to enable seamless communication and data exchange.
• Monitoring and Maintenance: Develop and implement monitoring solutions to proactively detect and resolve issues within email and calendar infrastructure. Define maintenance procedures, including patch management, upgrades, and backup and recovery processes.
• Team Leadership and Mentorship: Provide technical leadership and guidance to the infrastructure team, mentoring junior engineers and fostering a collaborative and innovative environment. Set clear objectives and expectations and facilitate skill development and career growth within the team.
• Vendor Management: Collaborate with third-party vendors and service providers to evaluate, select, and implement solutions and technologies that complement the email and calendar ecosystem. Manage vendor relationships and contracts effectively.

The Lead Engineer will work collaboratively with:

• All Service Owners
• Technical Architecture and Service Operations teams
• 3rd party Service Managers, Project and Technical leads
• Senior Operations Managers within the EUC team
• Key MOJ stakeholders

Please note you will be required to take part in an on-call rota, sharing the responsibility of providing out of hours engineering cover for major incidents for which an allowance is payable.

If this feels like an exciting challenge, something you are enthusiastic about, and want to join our team please read on and apply!

Person Specification

Essential

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field, or equivalent workplace experience.
• Significant experience in designing, implementing, and managing email and calendar infrastructure solutions.
• Extensive experience with hybrid exchange environments, including on-premises and cloud-based deployments, and possess strong troubleshooting skills to address complex email-related issues.
• In-depth knowledge of email systems such as Microsoft Exchange Server, Office 365, and cloud-based collaboration platforms.
• Strong expertise in infrastructure technologies such as Active Directory, DNS, SMTP, IMAP, and POP3.
• Experience with email security solutions, including spam filtering, malware detection, and encryption.
• Certifications such as Microsoft Certified: Messaging Administrator Associate or equivalent.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to effectively collaborate with cross-functional teams and stakeholders.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities, with a demonstrated track record of successfully leading infrastructure projects and initiatives.

Willingness to be assessed against the requirements for SC clearance

We welcome the unique contribution diverse applicants bring and do not discriminate based on culture, ethnicity, race, nationality or national origin, age, sex, gender identity or expression, religion or belief, disability status, sexual orientation, educational or social background or any other factor.

Our values are Purpose, Humanity Openness and Together. Find out more here about how we celebrate diversity and an inclusive culture in our workplace.

How to Apply

Candidates must submit a CV and a personal statement (of no more than 750 words), which describes how you meet the requirements set out in the Person Specification above.

Within their application, candidates are advised to pay particular attention to the following criteria which are being assessed at the sift stage -

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field, or equivalent workplace experience.
• Significant experience in designing, implementing, and managing email and calendar infrastructure solutions.
• In-depth knowledge of email systems such as hybrid Microsoft Exchange environments, Office 365, and cloud-based collaboration platforms.
• Experience with email security solutions, including spam filtering, malware detection, and encryption.
• Certifications such as Microsoft Certified: Messaging Administrator Associate or equivalent.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities, with a demonstrated track record of successfully leading infrastructure projects and initiatives.

In Justice Digital, we recruit using a combination of the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability and Success Profiles Frameworks. We will assess your Experience, Technical Skills and the following Behaviours during the assessment process:

• Leadership
• Developing Self and Others
• Changing and Improving
• Managing a Quality Service

A diverse panel will review your application against the Person Specification above.

Successful candidates who meet the required standard will then be invited to a 1-hour panel interview held via video conference.

Should we receive a high volume of applications, a pre-sift based on the following criteria will be conducted before the sift -

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or related field, or equivalent workplace experience.
• In-depth knowledge of email systems such as hybrid Microsoft Exchange environments, Office 365, and cloud-based collaboration platforms.

Should you be unsuccessful in the role that you have applied for but demonstrate the capability for a role at a lower level, we reserve the right to discuss this opportunity with you and offer you the position without needing a further application.

A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months, from which further appointments may be made.

Terms & Conditions

Please review our Terms & Conditions which set out how we recruit and provide further information related to the role and salary arrangements.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact recruitment@digital.justice.gov.uk