Distinguished Engineer (Head of Service Reliability Engineering) - HMRC - SCS1

Manchester Digital; Manchester; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

HMRC is seeking a Head of Service Reliability Engineering to lead the independent SRE tower within CEPO and Enterprise Live Services. You will embed reliability, operability, resilience and observability across services, products and platforms, setting direction and maturing capabilities at scale.

The role coaches product teams, partners with security and platform engineering, defines objectives using SLOs and error budgets, and drives evidence-based improvements to enable faster, safer change.

Qualifications

• Technical leadership in enterprise-scale reliability engineering
• Experience implementing SRE practices with SLOs and error budgets
• Strong observability and telemetry capabilities across complex systems
• Resilience and recovery design for critical services
• Secure-by-design operations collaboration with security teams
• Expertise in cloud-native/platform-based technologies
• Development of service maturity frameworks for risk and investment decisions
• Excellent communication with Directors and Executives

Responsibilities

• Define and embed enterprise reliability engineering capability across HMRC
• Coach product, platform and ELS teams to meet reliability targets
• Use objective evidence to guide architecture, design and operational decisions
• Establish observability practices and governance across services
• Drive security-integrated reliability and resilience improvements
• Lead stakeholders at Director and Executive levels on risk and maturity

Skills

Technical leadership

SRE practices

Observability

Resilience planning

Security-aware operations

Cloud & Platform engineering

Service maturity frameworks

Executive stakeholder management

Job description

Location

Bristol, Leeds, London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Telford

About The Job

Job summary This is a rare opportunity to shape reliability engineering across one of the UK’s largest and most important digital estates. Enterprise Live Services (ELS) at HMRC is evolving into a modern, engineering-led organisation - enabling HMRC to deliver change faster while strengthening reliability, resilience and trust. As Head of Service Reliability Engineering, you will lead a distinct, independent capability spanning services, products and platforms. You will make reliability, operability and observability integral to engineering from the outset. With enterprise-wide reach and influence, you will set the direction for SRE, raise service maturity and build a lasting capability that enables teams to innovate safely and operate with confidence.

Job Description

The Head of Service Reliability Engineering is accountable for defining, embedding, and continuously raising service reliability engineering capability across HMRC. Sitting within Chief Engineering & Platform Office (CEPO) and Enterprise Live Services (ELS), the role leads the independent SRE tower, operating as a centre of excellence for reliability, operability, resilience, and observability. The role does not own delivery, platforms, or live operations. Instead, it coaches, challenges, and enables product, platform, and ELS teams to meet enterprise reliability and service maturity expectations using objective, evidence‑based practices.

The role provides strategic leadership and technical authority to ensure that:

• Reliability and operability are designed into services from inception
• Assurance is grounded in observable service behaviour and maturity evidence
• Enterprise standards enable autonomy and speed, rather than acting as delivery gates
• HMRC can demonstrate confidence, auditability, and resilience at scale

Person specification

Technical Leadership: Provides senior technical leadership in enterprise-scale Reliability Engineering, with the credibility to influence architecture, set standards and deliver reliability outcomes in complex, regulated environments. Site Reliability Engineering (SRE): Leads the adoption of SRE practices by using SLOs, error budgets and reliability metrics to drive measurable improvements in service performance and operational decision‑making. Observability: Establishes and governs enterprise observability capabilities, using telemetry, dependency mapping and modern monitoring platforms to improve operational insight and decision quality. Resilience and Recovery: Designs and embeds resilience practices that validate recovery capabilities, identify operational risks and strengthen service continuity through testing and evidence‑based improvements. Secure‑by‑Design Operations: Integrates security and reliability disciplines by using security intelligence, risk indicators and close collaboration with cyber teams to enhance service operability and resilience. Cloud and Platform Engineering: Applies deep expertise in cloud‑native and platform‑based technologies to assess and mitigate reliability risks associated with architecture, platforms and continuous delivery environments. Service Maturity and Assurance: Develops and applies service maturity frameworks that use evidence‑based assessment to inform risk, investment and operational decisions rather than relying on compliance measures. Executive Stakeholder Management: Communicates complex technical risks clearly to senior stakeholders and uses objective evidence to influence strategic decisions at Director and Executive level.

What an Outstanding Candidate Would Also Bring (Desirable)

Brings experience operating in highly regulated environments, shaping engineering standards across organisations, building reliability communities of practice and supporting modern service management approaches.