A journey into DevOps and beyond: Imran's story

The Home Office DevOps team designs and builds solutions that impact daily on the lives of UK citizens. For example, these solutions support policing and counter terrorism, but they also help people prove their identity. The scale and impact of this work is huge.

We interviewed DevOps Principal Imran to hear about the projects he’s working on and the benefits of working at the Home Office.?

Tell us about your career journey and what attracted you into a DevOps role?

I started my career in the private sector, providing IT desktop support services. Then I moved into infrastructure, managing and monitoring backend servers. I also began to automate routine tasks using scripting languages.

I decided software engineering was where I needed to be. It felt like a natural progression. So, I went back to university to learn programming. I undertook modules specifically around web development and I attained a BSc in Computing.

After this, I went on to work as a Web Developer in the private and public sector over a three-year period.

I have always been keen to have my own business, so I started my own IT Services business providing IT support to local businesses in different sectors, including law and real estate. Even though, the business was self-sufficient, I felt the computing industry was moving faster than the growth of my business. Hence, I decided to go back into industry. It was 2019, and Cloud technology was really catching on. I started working for a private pensions company as a Cloud Engineer in Microsoft Azure. However, due to the IT team being relatively small, the scope for progression wasn’t there and that's when I applied for a post at the Home Office.

When I’d been self-employed previously things were uncertain at times, and I have a young family and other responsibilities to consider, so I was looking for more stability but also a place where I could grow my career.

I felt that the Home Office would help me achieve my ambitions and I was attracted by the chance to make a difference to people's lives, which resonated with me and my values.

What do you enjoy about working at the Home Office?

The Home Office is a large organisation; there’s so much you can learn and do.

You’ll meet and work with lots of different people. You can change career paths with professional development routes to support you, and you’ll be encouraged by your manager and team – which has all played a part in my own progression.

Oh, and did I say flexible working is another benefit? Often, I prefer to work in the office with my team, but it’s good to know I have the choice to work from home at times too. For programmers who need that focus time it's perfect.

What are you working on now?

I’m currently working on an Identity and Access Management (IAM) solution that will transform how law enforcement agencies log in to systems. It means the law enforcement community can sign into applications with a single set of credentials so they can focus on providing services to citizens instead of worrying about remembering their passwords.

I'm glad I’m working on this project because of the difference it will make to so many people, ultimately leading to better outcomes for UK citizens.

What would you say to someone considering a tech role at the Home Office?

The work will be technically challenging, so you will learn a lot.

As well as on the job learning, everyone is empowered to take charge of their own Continuous Professional Development (CPD). There are many CPD offers at the Home Office, including access to online learning platforms for self-paced study or hackathons and innovation days for building teamworking skills.

There's a clear path to develop your career. I started as a Senior Engineer and have successfully attained promotion to Principal within a few years.

Ultimately, it's about you, the amazing work you’ll do and those you’ll impact every day!

If you’re looking to make things work better and to keep improving services for the public, you’ll have the opportunity to do this.

Hear more from our team:

To hear more from Imran, the DevOps team and from Software Engineers building products using their platforms, sign up to our free online recruitment event on 23 February. At the event, our recruiters will also provide some tips about our job application process.

You can also read about roles on offer and apply on the Home Office Careers website.?

We’re currently advertising a number Engineering jobs which can be found on the Home Office careers Engineering jobs landing page.?