Deputy Head of Information Systems Office/Principal Developer

Ready for a key change role within the Assembly, supporting and reshaping the provision of information systems?

Deadline for applications Please note that the deadline for submission of applications expires at 12 noon on Monday 21 December 2020.

Important information We are committed to providing equality of opportunity in employment and welcome applications from all suitably qualified applicants irrespective of gender, marital or family status, religious belief, political opinion, disability, age, race, nationality or sexual orientation. However, as females are currently under-represented in this area, we would particularly welcome applications from females.

The application process is now closed Please note that the deadline for applications expired at 12 noon on Monday 21 December 2020.

If you applied for this opportunity and would like to view your application you can do so by logging in to the application portal.

This is a challenging new post within the Information Systems Office combining two distinct roles. The post holder will lead the Assembly’s Application Development and Business Relationship functions and also be the Deputy Head of Information Systems Office.

Deputy Head of Information Systems Office / Principal Developer

The main duties and responsibilities of the job are:

To lead and manage the Application Development team, providing customised ICT solutions to facilitate the work of the Assembly, its Committees, its Members and the Secretariat.
To lead and manage the Business Relationship function, liaising with senior managers and staff across business areas involved in IT related projects and providing guidance and advice to the Business Relationship Manager as required.
To provide professional IS and IT expertise and advice to all users in the Assembly and to provide authoritative and expert advice on application development matters to the Head of IS Office, the Director of Parliamentary Services and the Secretariat Management Group in relation to the strategic provision of IS facilities and services for the Assembly.
To lead the development of, and support for, the ongoing development of the Assembly Information Management System (AIMS) covering the work of the Business Office, Committees, Hansard and other in-house procedural teams.
To be responsible for the provision of technical hosting and design services, consultancy and technical support for web-based Assembly platforms.
To take a leading role in software evaluations and development projects and to provide technical advice and support across a range of Assembly technologies.
To develop specifications for the procurement of ICT enabled business solutions and to lead, in an IS Office representational role, in discussions with potential contractors and suppliers within the specialism.
To lead the development, management and monitoring of IS and IT policies, procedures and systems relating to the work of the Application Development and Business Relationship teams.
To provide advice on the development, management and monitoring of other IS and IT policies, procedures and systems for the Assembly.
To prepare and maintain the financial, staffing, IT and training requirements for the Application Development and Business Relationship teams, for the approval of the Head of IS Office.
To be responsible for maintaining the security, confidentiality and integrity of all internally developed Assembly information systems.
To assist with the drafting, profiling and management of the IS Office annual budget with specific responsibility for monitoring those areas of the budget related to application software licences and subscriptions.
To assist in the day-to-day management of a complex team of IT specialists in the IS Office. This includes all aspects of project management, recruitment, training and performance management, preparation of business plans, SMG papers, management reports and updates on progress.
To comply with the Assembly’s Equal Opportunities and Dignity at Work policies and procedures.
You may also be required to carry out other duties that the Assembly Commission reasonably requires of you.

Salary range: £57,245 - £58,981 (under review)
The standard working week is 37 hours, excluding meal breaks (42 hours gross). Working hours will be dictated by the level of business and sitting times of the Assembly and will involve work into late evenings on sitting days and intermittently at weekends and on public holidays.
In addition to the usual public and privilege holidays, there is an annual leave allowance of 25 days, increasing incrementally by one day per year up to a maximum of 30 days. Please be aware that a major influence in determining when leave can be taken will be the parliamentary timetable.

Applicants must, by the closing date for applications:

1. Possess at least a Bachelor’s (or higher) Degree in Computing or other discipline relevant to Information Systems / Information Technology and at least 3 years’ experience of leading and managing an application development team;

AND

a minimum of one year’s experience in each of the areas described below at (i), (ii), (iii), and (iv):

(i) Application Development

Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 or later
C#.NET and ASP.NET programming skills
Agile Development Processes
MVC Architecture
Entity Framework
Team Foundation Server

(ii) Application Development Lifecycle Management:

Azure DevOps including:
Azure Boards for capacity management
Azure Pipelines for build & release management
Azure Team Foundation Server for version control
Azure Test Plans for application testing

(iii) Database Design and Management

Microsoft SQL Server 2012 or later with experience of :
logical and physical data modelling and writing SQL code
design, support and maintenance of transactional replication for distributed databases
design, support and maintenance of always-on Availability Groups for high-availability and disaster-recovery

(iv) Internet / Web technologies

a sound, in-depth knowledge of HTML including cascading style sheets (CSS), Bootstrap and Internet scripting skills such as JavaScript, JQuery, AJAX, etc

2. At least 5 years’ experience of leading and managing an application development team;

AND

have a minimum of one year’s experience in each of the areas described above at (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv).

*NB Only those courses with a computing content of 50% or more will be considered and applicants must give full details on the application form of how the content of the course meets this requirement.

Quick Q&A for this job...

How much is the salary?

The salary range is £57,245 – £58,981 (under review). This is an Assembly Grade 4 position.

What business area will I work in?

The Information Systems Office (ISO) sits within the Parliamentary Services Directorate and provides the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) systems and services to support the business of the Assembly. There are at present 17 staff in the ISO team supporting 650+ users including Assembly Members, their staff (including staff in Constituency Offices), Party support staff and Assembly Secretariat staff. Staff are predominantly Information Systems (IS) and Information Technology (IT) specialists and there are a small number of administrative staff. The Deputy Head of Information Systems/Principal Developer is a new role within the ISO.

Who would I report to?

The successful candidate will be accountable to the Head of Information Systems Office.

Where is the job based?

The successful applicant will be based in Parliament Buildings, Belfast.

When is the closing date?

Completed application forms must be submitted by 12 noon on Monday 21 December 2020.

The Selection Process

Stages of the Selection Process

There are five elements within the Recruitment and Selection Framework:

Experience – the knowledge or mastery of an activity or subject gained through involvement in or exposure to it.

Ability – the aptitude or potential to perform to the required standard.

Technical – the demonstration of specific professional skills, knowledge or qualifications.

Assembly Skills and Behaviours –the actions and activities that people do which result in effective performance in a job.

Strengths – the things we do regularly, do well and that motivate us.

The elements which will be assessed for this role will be Experience, Technical and Assembly Skills and Behaviours and the selection method(s) that will be used are detailed below. Further information on the Recruitment and Selection Framework are included in the Guidance on Recruitment and Selection for Applicants.

Eligibility Sift

The essential criteria reflect the experience and knowledge that an applicant must possess in order to be able to undertake the role. An eligibility sift will be carried out on the basis of the information contained in the essential criteria section of the application form. You must therefore demonstrate clearly in your form how, and to what extent, you meet with the essential criteria for the post.

Shortlisting

The selection panel reserve the right to use shortlisting as part of the selection process for this post. Should shortlisting be used, the shortlisting criterion listed in the Job Specification will be applied. The selection panel reserve the right to set a minimum standard for the shortlisting criterion which applicants must achieve in order to be invited to the interview stage of the selection process. If shortlisting is not necessary, all applicants who have demonstrated the essential criteria will proceed to the next stage of the selection process.

Interview Stage

The interview will address the information contained in the Job Specification and will assess elements of the Recruitment and Selection Framework.

Interviews are planned for week commencing 8 February 2021

Further information on the Recruitment and Selection process is available in the Recruitment and Selection Framework and Guidance on the Recruitment and Selection for Applicants.

Further Interview Stage

The selection panel reserves the right to hold a further interview stage if deemed necessary.

Application Pack: Deputy Head of Information Systems Office / Principal Developer

Below you will find everything you need to apply for the position.

Read all the information about the job and the associated guidance related to working in the Assembly:

You are now ready to complete the online application:

Please note the application form will be unavailable on Saturday 21^stNovember between 00:00 – 09:00 due to maintenance on the system.

If you are unable to access the form during this time please try again later.

The deadline for applications expired at 12 noon on Monday 21 December 2020.

Further Information

If you require more information on the recruitment process, please contact the Human Resources Office on 02890 520327 or email recruitment@niassembly.gov.uk.

Visit our website for further information about the Assembly.

Good Luck