Hi, my name is Beth and I work as a Lead Service Manager in the Home Office.
Tell us about yourself, your journey into tech and what did you do before joining the Home Office?
I joined the Home Office in February 2022 with a background in tech support having spent 18 years working in NHS IT. Initially I started as a Desktop Support Engineer before progressing onto running a Service Desk and Desktop Support Team, then moving into IT Service Improvement. I then dipped my toes into the working world of the private sector, briefly working in IT Service Management, but I much preferred the public sector… so I joined the Home Office.
What attracted you to pursue a career at the Home Office?
I enjoy working in the public sector and have done for most of my career as I find value in helping people. Just because I’m not on the front line or public facing doesn’t mean the work I do doesn’t have an impact… it’d be rather difficult to run the Home Office and help people without a good IT department! I knew that Liverpool has a large civil service community, so when I knew I wanted to return to the public sector, I did some research and applied to the Home Office. As it’s such a wide-ranging organisation and with big public impact, I felt my skills could be well used whilst also covering my core value of helping people.
What does your day-to-day work involve?
My days are very varied, which I really enjoy. One minute I could be discussing the decommissioning of a legacy service with colleagues and then next be looking at the roadmap of upcoming services. I spend time in meetings working collaboratively with other Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) colleagues and the business teams. With the Home Office having staff based across the country in various towns and cities, the great collaboration tools we have here makes it very easy for me to meet with colleagues, partner organisations and suppliers all-round the UK, enabling me to carry out my work efficiently and effectively.
What do you enjoy doing most about your role as a Lead Service Manager?
I enjoy the variety of the work. I work in a team that deal with literally hundreds of services across the immigration portfolio, whilst I personally cover a specific set of Asylum and Immigration Enforcement systems. Day to day I run service reviews with suppliers, attend delivery boards, ensure stakeholders at all levels are happy with the services provided and oversee any High Priority Incidents (HPIs) for my services, ensuring the users affected are kept abreast of what is happening.
Tell us about the support available to you at the Home Office.
The support here is amazing, especially for people like myself who are neurodiverse and have disabilities. I’ve found the Home Office to be a disability confident employer. There is a Reasonable Adjustments Team, and we also have a Workplace Adjustment Passport, so I can be sure that any adjustments I need are put in place and recorded in case of a change of management. There is also a lot of training available for managers and staff, so they can gain a better understanding of disabilities and how to support colleagues. I’ve also found the Home Office to have a great culture, one of collaboration and learning.
What advice would you give to someone who is considering a career in tech at the Home Office?
There are a wide range of roles available in DDaT and not everyone who works in DDaT is a complete techie. For example, in Service Management we have staff that have joined with a background in IT and those that haven’t but who have been able to use their transferable skills to learn and adapt to their new role. There are also great development opportunities to support you along your career journey.
