IT Operations Controller

DWP Digital; Newcastle upon Tyne; Hybrid; GBP 39,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent UK government department is seeking an Associate IT Operations Controller to join their 24/7 operations team. This role involves ensuring the stability and security of digital services used by millions. Candidates should have experience in IT operations and knowledge of monitoring tools. The position offers hybrid working, a competitive salary of £38,772, and benefits including a generous pension scheme and professional development opportunities.

Benefits

Flexible working including flexible hours

Time off for volunteering

Professional development opportunities

Discounts on shopping and fun days out

Qualifications

• Experience working in a live IT operations environment.
• Background in first-line command centre or incident resolution.
• Practical knowledge of enterprise monitoring tools.

Responsibilities

• Act as first line of defence in detecting IT service issues.
• Monitor infrastructure and applications across environments.
• Collaborate with teams to drive timely issue resolution.

Skills

Experience in IT operations

Problem management

Incident management

Monitoring tools knowledge (BMC, Dynatrace)

IT infrastructure understanding

Tools

BMC

Dynatrace

Job description

IT Operations Controller

Pay of £38,772, plus 28.97% employer pension contributions, hybrid working, flexible hours, and great work‑life balance.

Are you ready to be the first line of defence in protecting critical national digital services?

As an Associate IT Operations Controller, you'll join a 24/7 operations team responsible for monitoring systems and tooling that keep DWP's digital services stable, secure and available for millions of people across the UK.

You'll thrive in a fast‑paced operational environment, working with vendor partners, internal teams and technical specialists to detect IT issues early, respond quickly, and help prevent service disruption. If you're someone who loves problem‑solving, staying calm under pressure, and working collaboratively across technical teams, this could be the perfect next step in your IT operations career.

This role is based from either Newcastle or Manchester; the locations of our physical command centre.

Important: This is a 24/7 shift role with a 20% shift allowance. You'll be required to work 14 shifts every 28 days/nights on a 12‑hour rota, rotating between days (07:00-19:00) and nights (19:00-07:00).

DWP. Digital with Purpose.

We are looking for an Associate IT Operations Controller to join our community of tech experts in DWP Digital.

We're using fresh ideas and leading‑edge tech to build and maintain digital solutions that will be used by nearly every person in the UK, every day and at key moments in their lives.

DWP is the UK's largest government department. We help people into work and make payments worth over £195bn a year to support and empower millions of people.

The scale of what we do is extraordinary, and our purpose is unique. We'd love you to join us.

What skills, knowledge and experience will you need?

• Experience working in a live IT operations environment, such as problem management, change management, incident management, monitoring, or event management.
• A background in first‑line command centre, service monitoring, or incident resolution teams.
• Practical knowledge of monitoring tools such as BMC and Dynatrace (or similar enterprise monitoring tools).
• Understanding of IT infrastructure technologies, such as networks, servers (Wintel, Unix, Linux), storage platforms and databases.

You and your role

As our Associate IT Operations Controller you will act as the first line of defence in detecting IT service issues before they impact users.

You will support the protection of critical DWP services used by millions of people. You will help safeguard sensitive information and maintain system integrity across complex networks and digital platforms.

As part of the User Experience Command Centre (UXCC) within IT Service Operations, you'll be responsible for monitoring infrastructure and applications across datacentre and cloud environments (AWS and Azure) using enterprise‑grade tooling. You'll follow event management processes, triaging and categorising alerts, raising incidents, and providing initial diagnosis to minimise disruption. This role will also involve collaborating with internal teams, external suppliers and 2nd/3rd‑line technical SMEs to drive timely resolution of issues.

Key responsibilities include supporting batch monitoring, vulnerability management and operational security activities as you help drive improvements in performance, processes and user experience. On a regular basis you'll be analysing patterns and trends, identifying opportunities for simplification with the aim of increasing efficiency.

This is a role where your actions have real impact on service stability, customer experience and the resilience of DWP's key national systems.

Location

You'll join us in one of our brilliant digital hubs in Newcastle or Manchester, whichever is most convenient for you.

Hybrid Working

We work a hybrid model - you'll spend some time working at home and some time collaborating face‑to‑face in a hub.

Pay

We offer pay of £38,772 per annum.

Pension

You'll get a brilliant civil service pension with employer contributions worth 28.97%, worth up to £11,241 per year.

Holidays

A generous leave package starting at 24 days and rising to 26 days after one year.

You can also take up to 3 extra days off a month on flexi‑time. You'll also get all the usual public holidays.

Benefits package

• Flexible working including flexible hours and flex‑friendly policies
• Time off volunteering and charitable giving
• Bring your authentic self to work with 'I Can Be Me in DWP'
• Discounts and savings on shopping, fun days out and more
• Interest‑free loans to buy a bike or a season ticket
• Sports and social activities
• Professional development, coaching, mentoring and career progression opportunities

Award‑winning environment and culture

• DWP recognised as 2024 Diversity Employer of the Year at the Computing Women in Tech Excellence Awards
• Diverse and Inclusive Leadership winner at Digital Leaders Awards 2024
• Commended as Best Place to Work in Digital at the Computing Digital Technology Leaders Awards 2025
• Recognised as one of the Best Public Sector Employers at the 2025 Women in Tech Employer Awards

Process

We know your time is valuable, so our application and selection process is just two stages: Apply: Complete your application on Civil Service Jobs. Full instructions will be available when you click through. Interview: A single‑stage interview online.

Click APPLY for more information and to start your application.