Infrastructure Engineer Ref. 3481 Department: EngineeringLocation(s): Manchester, SamlesburySalary: £36,408, plus a recruitment bonus of £2,000, dependent on skills assessed during the interview. Additionally, there is an opportunity to obtain a skills bonus of £4,513, based on a skills review during your first year in the role. Job descriptionFlexible Working: This role is primarily office-based, with most of the work undertaken in the office and a small proportion of time working outside of the office. We offer flexible working hours, including options for compressed and part-time shifts. While working from home isn't guaranteed, it might be possible on occasion, based on personal and business needs. Once you're fully trained, you may also be required to join an on-call rota. About Us GCHQ is an intelligence, cyber and security agency with a mission to keep the UK safe. We use cutting-edge technology, ingenuity and partnerships to identify, analyse and disrupt threats. Working with our intelligence partners MI5 and MI6, we protect the UK from terrorism, cyber-attacks and espionage. At GCHQ you'll do varied and fascinating work in a supportive and inclusive environment that puts the emphasis on teamwork. The Role As an Infrastructure Engineer, you'll become part of a friendly and skilled team dedicated to finding end-to-end solutions that optimise our systems and support our mission. You'll be assigned a specialism based on your suitability, either at recruitment stage or following an in-role assessment. Specialisms include: Tailored AcquisitionsPlatform EngineersNetwork EngineersDevOps EngineersWeb Technology SMEsWhatever your specialism, you'll have real influence and impact. You might develop solutions for existing and future infrastructure or create innovative approaches to operational challenges. By contributing to your team's success, you'll also hone technical skills that advance your career. Whether you're troubleshooting infrastructure issues or supporting operational tasks throughout their lifecycle, gain plenty of exposure to unique technology and grow in both confidence and experience. This role involves plenty of collaboration. Work in both big and small teams, depending on the project and engage with a range of customers. Additionally collaborate with analysts across varied missions and the wider technical community to develop customer-driven infrastructure. In doing so, meet unique requirements, develop pioneering solutions and help enable the success of our mission.About You Are you passionate about IT and technology? Do you thrive in vibrant environments and love learning new skills? If so, we have an exciting opportunity for you! You only need one qualification: GCSE grade 4/C or above, or an equivalent Level 2 qualification in Maths. No other specific qualifications or deep technical background are required. You might have a background in STEM, experience working in a small company with exposure to end-to-end products, or simply a passion for IT and technology. If you're enthusiastic, motivated, and eager to learn new skills, you'll thrive in this role. Organised and adaptable, you prioritise tasks effectively and stay focussed under pressure. You analyse problems and are willing to explore different approaches to find creative solutions. Moreover, you communicate those solutions to customers with clarity. No matter where you are in your career, if you have a passion for learning new skills in an environment that values collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and innovation, this opportunity is for you.Training and Development When you start, you'll be assigned a "buddy" and a mentor to help you settle into the role and life at GCHQ. You'll engage in a mix of formal and on-the-job training and be given ownership of tasks early in your role. At the beginning, you'll collaborate with your team and line manager on initial responsibilities to develop your skills and ease into the types of projects you'll be working on. As an Infrastructure Engineer, you'll rotate through each of the three areas of our large team, spending 6 months in each area. This will help you gain comprehensive knowledge and a well- rounded experience. After 18 months, you'll be placed in the team that best matches your skills. Please note that the rotation and training programme described is specific to our Samlesbury location. Manchester will have its own tailored training programme. Depending on your specialism, you'll have the opportunity to develop a wider range of valuable skills including: • Technical risk management: Learn to identify, assess, and mitigate technical risks.• Operational security: Gain expertise in protecting systems and data from threats.• Domain services (Windows/Linux): Master the management of domain services across different operating systems.• Operating system administration and security (Windows/Linux/Android/iOS): Enhance your skills in administering and securing various operating systems.• Web technologies (Tor/VPNs/Proxies/CDNs/Cloud): Dive into the world of web technologies and learn to navigate complex networks.• Scripting languages (Python/PowerShell/Bash): Develop proficiency in scripting languages to automate tasks and improve efficiency.• Virtualisation technologies (vSphere, Hyper-V): Explore virtualisation technologies and their applications.• Networking (Cisco, Juniper, NSX): Build your knowledge in networking with industry-leading technologies• Automation Tooling (Terraform/Ansible/Docker): Get hands-on experience with automation tools to streamline processes.• Monitoring and analysis (ELK, Splunk): Learn to monitor and analyse systems using powerful tools.• Storage (3PAR & Primera): Understand the intricacies of storage solutions and their management. We aim to develop your knowledge through exposure and using the right technologies for the problem. So, you'll get experience of a wide variety of tech tools and programming languages, and as your skills develop, we'll support your applications for specialist skill payments that recognise your abilities. We'll also encourage you to pursue external training when necessary to enhance your knowledge of new technologies and provide opportunities to gain relevant funded qualifications.Rewards and Benefits You'll receive a starting salary of £36,408, with the opportunity for additional skills payments once in role, plus other benefits including: • 25 days of annual leave, automatically rising to 30 days after 5 years of service, plus an additional 10.5 days of public and privilege holidays.• Opportunities to be recognised through our employee performance scheme.• Interest-free season ticket loan (travel and parking)• Excellent pension scheme.• Cycle to work scheme.• Facilities such as a gym, restaurant, and on-site coffee bars (at some locations)• Paid parental and adoption leave. Equal Opportunities At GCHQ diversity and inclusion are critical to our mission. To protect the UK, we need a truly diverse workforce that reflects the society we serve. This includes diversity in every sense of the word: those with different backgrounds, ages, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, ways of thinking and those with disabilities or neurodivergent conditions. We therefore welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including those from groups that are under-represented in our workforce such as women, those from an ethnic minority background, people with disabilities and those from low socio-economic backgrounds. Find out more about our culture, working environment and diversity on our website:We're Disability Confident GCHQ is proud to have achieved Leader status within the DWP's Disability Confident scheme. This initiative encourages employers to think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain, and develop disabled people. As a Disability Confident employer, we aim to offer a fair and proportionate number of person-to-person interviews to any candidate who self-identifies as disabled and meets the essential criteria for the role. This is our 'Offer of Interview' (OOI). To secure an interview for this vacancy, the essential criteria (in order of application process) are: • You must hold a GCSE or Level 2 qualification in Maths at Grade 4/C or above. This will be assessed during application sift. • Demonstrate a strong motivation for applying to work for GCHQ as an Infrastructure Engineer. This will be assessed during the application sift.• Exhibit analytical and problem-solving skills. This will be assessed during the application sift.• Show an awareness of up-and-coming technologies. This will be assessed during the application sift. There is a wide range of extra support available through the recruitment process to enable you to do your best. See our website for information on reasonable adjustments we can offer: What to Expect Our recruitment process is fair, transparent, and based on merit. Here is a brief overview of each stage, in order: • Application Sift: We'll review your motivation for the role and the organisation, as well as your essential skills. • Interview: The interview will include a skills assessment, and there will be an opportunity to obtain a skills payment, although this is not guaranteed. Conditional Offer: If you're successful, you'll receive a conditional offer of employment. Please note . click apply for full job