Applications Operations Engineer - NCA - HEO

The purpose of the Applications Operations Engineer role is to support and maintain critical digital forensic and/or intelligence collection applications to ensure they meet the NCAs evolving operational demands. Working in a small team of highly enthusiastic IT professional staff, transferring skills within the team will ensure we are better placed to look after the SOS networks to provide full critical support, upgrades, development and maintenance.

The role involves supports the delivery of 1st, 2nd and 3rd line support of technical systems to a professional standard, adapting to and meeting user requirements; Installing new hardware, installation and configuration of a mixture of Operating Systems including Windows Server 2019, 2019, 2022 and Windows 10 and 11, virtual servers (VMWare and Hyper V) and the use of containerized technologies; Supporting systems maintenance in line with technical requirements for business area.

This post requires SC clearance as a minimum, with a possibility to gain DV within 12 months of being in post.

Due to the nature of this role, travel between sites may be required. As such, a Full, clean, UK Driving Licence is desirable.

Please note, staff in our DF Engineering functions will form part of an on call rota.

This role aligns to within the Government Digital and Data career framework.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Business as Usual Support - Help deliver 2nd and 3rd line support of the supported SOS systems to a professional standard, meeting user requirements, reacting to system problems to ensure continued availability of SOS systems within defined service levels. Support 1st and 2nd line functions if required to ensure the business can function as efficiently as possible.
• Installation of hardware - Installation of desktop computers, screens and build/delivery of laptops where required.
• Installation of software - Installation, updating or upgrading of software including of support, asset management plus managing licensing requirements.
• Creation and maintenance of system documentation - Create technical designs and ensure High and Low Level Designs (HLD/LLD) are maintained to an accurate level.
• Continual Improvement - Researching advances in technology to better meet business requirements with innovative solutions to meet business or technical problems.
• Client Image Build - Creation of client images including deployment and testing, using Windows Deployment Server or similar technologies.
• Patching and upgrades - Using standard IT tooling to deploy and test software patches.
• Configuration - Implementation of Group Policies for servers and clients to ensure the secure running and use of the systems.
• DHCP and DNS - Be able to deploy DHCP and DNS services, fault find these services in the event of a system problem being identified.
• Certificates - Be able to generate system certificates at renewal or based on certificate requests.
• Server Maintenance - Assist with supporting servers within the current network.
• Supporting the wider SOS team - Providing support to the wider team, assisting where needed and to share knowledge, providing briefing sessions and training material to aid in that process.
• Assist in project work - Be the lead for new projects in developing new technologies to best meet the requirements.
• Digital forensic principles - To gain an understanding of digital forensic tools or techniques would be useful, even at a basic level.
• Networking - Have a basic understanding of networking to be able to fault find servers and / or network issues.
• Active Directory Management - Upgrade of Domain Functional Levels and AD architecture in line with industry best practice.

Virtual Open Evening Event

To find out more about the role and the application process we will be holding a virtual opening evening via MS Teams on Wednesday, 22 October 2025 at 6:00 p.m.

To register, please click on the following link. The registration will close on Sunday, 19 October 2025 at 11:00 p.m. You will not be able to register after this date and time.