B3 Senior Application Operations Engineer in Social Security Scotland

Social Security Scotland is looking for a Senior Application Operations Engineer to join our Digital Services this role you will support and improve a portfolio of enterprise applications that are critical to the delivery of benefits and services to the people of Scotland.

Working within a complex enterprise environment you will be responsible for the day-to-day operation of business-critical applications acting as a technical subject matter expert for assigned services. You will lead incident and problem resolution activities coordinating support teams technology specialists and suppliers to ensure issues are investigated and resolved within agreed service levels. Through effective troubleshooting and root cause analysis you will help ensure systems remain secure reliable and resilient.

You will develop a detailed understanding of the applications you support their underlying technology stacks and their dependencies across the wider digital estate. Using this knowledge you will investigate complex technical issues identify factors affecting application availability and performance and support the delivery of effective solutions.

As well as supporting live services you will proactively review application performance and capacity to ensure services continue to meet business needs. You will identify opportunities to improve reliability availability security and operational efficiency working with colleagues and suppliers to deliver improvements and maintain application roadmaps. You will also contribute to the assessment of application changes and support the introduction of new or enhanced services into live operation.

The role includes working closely with architects engineers suppliers business owners and end users to resolve issues improve service performance and ensure applications continue to meet organisational standards. You will support application patching certification and compliance activities working with Information Security colleagues and suppliers to ensure services remain aligned with technology security and governance requirements.

This is an opportunity to work across a diverse and evolving application landscape helping to deliver trusted and effective digital services that support the people of Scotland.

An application operations engineer supports manages and maintains a single application or a suite of applications.

Dealing with more complex issues a Senior Application Operations Engineer is responsible for co-ordinating change-based activities such as taking services live. Depending on the complexity and size of a project and the likely impact it will have on the business you might manage and maintain certain aspects of an application.

Responsibilities

• Manage application services and components to ensure they meet business requirements service levels and performance targets.
• Assess document and implement change requests evaluating impacts and ensuring effective change management.
• Identify opportunities to improve processes contributing to the design and delivery of optimisation initiatives.
• Diagnose prioritise and resolve incidents taking ownership through to resolution mitigation or handover.
• Investigate recurring issues monitor trends and implement preventative measures to reduce future incidents.
• Collaborate with technical specialists and stakeholders to determine and implement appropriate solutions.
• Translate technical and business requirements into practical scalable frameworks and solutions.
• Utilise management systems (such as JIRA) monitoring tools (such as Kibana) and logical data models to investigate issues analyse performance and produce reports.
• Install configure maintain and reconfigure application platforms and related technologies.
• Monitor optimise and forecast application performance capacity and resource requirements.
• Understand core technical concepts related to this role and apply them with guidance.
• Review requirements and specifications define test conditions identify risks and analyse and report testing outcomes.
• Engage users and stakeholders to gather requirements conduct user-focused research and use qualitative and quantitative insights to deliver user-centred outcomes.

Success Profiles
We use an assessment framework called Success Profiles which lists the elements we test and provides detailed descriptions of each. Find out more about the framework here

For this post the following Success Profile elements will be assessed:

Experience

1. Demonstrable experience of configuring supporting and maintaining applications and platforms within a complex enterprise environment including conducting complex incident and root cause investigations and taking ownership of incidents through to resolution.
   
2. Demonstrable knowledge of recognised IT standards and best practices including practical experience of ITIL and project delivery methodologies (such as Agile or PRINCE2) to support service improvement change delivery and customer requirements.
   

Behaviours

• Changing and Improving - Level 3
  
• Leadership - Level 3

You can find out more about Success Profiles Behaviours here.

Technical / Professional Skills:
This role is aligned to Senior Application Operations Engineer within the Government Digital and Data Profession.

These skills will be tested during the Technical Assessment if you are successful at sift stage. They will not be assessed at application stage. Please review the following to understand the skill expectations: Application operations engineer - Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework

How to Apply
Apply online you must provide a CV and a Supporting Statement (of no more than 750 words) which provides evidence of how you meet the Experience and Behaviours outlined in the Success Profiles above. Both the CV and the Supporting Statement provided will be assessed against the criteria for the role.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools can be used to support your application but all statements and examples 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 and presented as your own) applications will be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.

Please see our candidate guidance for more information on acceptable and unacceptable uses of AI in recruitment.

Should a large number of applications be received an initial sift may be conducted using the CV and Supporting Statement on the first Experience criteria. Candidates who pass the initial sift will have their applications fully assessed.

There may be a telephone interview prior to the final interview stage.

Successful candidates will be invited to an interview which will assess the Experience and Behaviours and a technical assessment comprising a 10 minute presentation which will assess the Technical Skills. Full details of the interview and assessment process will be shared with shortlisted candidates once the sift has been completed.

We aim to provide feedback on request. However if we receive a large number of applications it may not be possible for us to provide specific feedback on your application. We will provide feedback on request to candidates who attend an interview/assessment.

Expected Timeline (subject to change)
Sift w/c 24th August 2026.
Interview w/c 14th September 2026.
Location In person in either Dundee or Glasgow.

Reserve List
In the event that there are more successful candidates than posts available a reserve list will be kept for up to 12 months.

About Us
Social Security Scotland is an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government. Our benefits help people from all walks of life in Scotland. We offer rewarding careers and employ people across Scotland in a wide range of professions and roles. We are committed to recruiting a diverse workforce that is representative of the clients we serve. Find more about us here.

We offer a supportive and inclusive working environment along with a wide range of employee benefits. Find out more about what we offer.

As part of the UK Civil Service we uphold the Civil Service Nationality Rules.

GDD Pay Supplement
This post is part of the Government Digital and Data (GDD) profession and currently attracts a 3000 annual GDD pay supplement which is paid monthly - pay supplements are reviewed regularly.

Working pattern
Our standard hours are 35 hours per week and we offer a range of flexible working options depending on the needs of the role. We embrace a hybrid working style where all colleagues will spend time in either our Glasgow or Dundee offices. There is an expectation of a minimum 2 days per week in your assigned location which will be either Glasgow or Dundee. If you have specific questions about the role you are applying for please contact us.

Equality Statement
Social Security Scotland are committed to equality and inclusion and we aim to recruit a diverse workforce that reflects the population of our nation.

Social Security Scotland are a Disability Confident Employer. We will consider and implement any reasonable adjustments you may require throughout the recruitment process and during the course of your employment should you be successful in securing a post. If you feel you may require assistance with any part of our recruitment process please contact us at

Find out more about our commitment to diversity and how we offer and support recruitment adjustments for anyone who needs them.

Further Information
This role is only available to existing permanent civil servants who have successfully completed their probation period within Social Security Scotland or the broader Scottish Government.

Find out more about our organisation what we offer staff members and how to apply on our Careers Website.

Read our Candidate Guide for further information on our recruitment and application processes.

The successful candidate will be expected to remain in post for a minimum of 3 years unless successful in gaining promotion to a higher Band or Grade.

If you experience any difficulties accessing our website or completing the online application form please contact the Resourcing Team via

Apply before Monday 24th August 2026 at 23:55.

Contact Name - Resourcing Team
Contact e-Mail -