Hi, I’m Imran, Head of Engineering at the Home Office.
After graduating from university with a degree in Mathematics and Computing and having a strong passion in technology, I joined the Civil Service in 2001 as a Performance Analyst for the Police National Computer (PNC). Here, I monitored the PNC system regularly and shared usage data with senior managers and customers. I remember my first day at work, walking into the data centre in Hendon, North London feeling quite nervous and in awe of the size of the building and the large team that I would be working with. It was a great opportunity to start my tech career in a place where I knew I would be making a difference by helping to protect UK citizens.
I went on to do a more technical role as a Database Administrator (DBA), managing hierarchical databases. As technology advanced, I moved into relational database management working with Oracle, looking at how to build and integrate these databases with Java based applications. The focus is now on software development/engineering using Automation and Cloud Technology. It’s been a huge learning curve and a fascinating journey, beginning with Mainframes to now building applications that are running on the Cloud.
As Head of Role for over 2,000 Engineers working on Infrastructure, Networks, Software Development and DevOps, leadership is not only about delivery it’s also about managing staff, supporting them, and watching their growth. This is really important to me because one of the challenges I observed at the beginning of my career was a slower rate of progression and I’m proud to say that this has improved considerably. I’m passionate about seeing my team progress and reach their full potential.
Currently, in my day-to-day work, I get to meet people across the business. This includes those working with policing, migration and border control, passport applications and more. I also have opportunities, not only to hear from colleagues who look after and manage the tech we provide, but also users of that technology to understand their experience. Our aim is to become digital by design, marking an important and necessary shift in the way we do things.
Looking forward, we’re on a digital journey to improve and modernise our IT systems using some of the most cutting-edge technology to deliver for our users. At the same time, our focus is on building in-house capability and getting the right balance between civil servants and suppliers to deliver what our users need, creating a controlled environment to manage and run our services.
For new entrants and existing employees, we have a fantastic and structured career framework, which includes standardised role definitions and clear career pathways showing how our people can progress from an Apprentice Engineer through to a senior role such as a Lead Engineer and right up to Principal Engineer level using the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA).
If you’re considering a position with us, it’s an exciting time to join! We’re recruiting for a number of roles and specialisms in Manchester, Sheffield, Glasgow, Hendon and Croydon. And we’re looking to increase our teams considerably in the Manchester and Sheffield offices. These influential Civil Service jobs, traditionally located in London, are now being based and created all across the UK so I hope you will consider these locations when looking at our roles on offer.
Wherever you work, you’ll join a diverse team who enjoy working together and have the opportunity to develop your career quickly, working on a variety of projects, across different multi-disciplinary teams. You’ll learn to use a range of different technologies and tools with support from your team every step of the way.
