Power SPPA’s cloud-first operational excellence with your expertise!

The Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) administers pensions for Scottish Teachers, Police, Firefighters' and National Health Service employees on behalf of the Scottish Government. We’re responsible for protecting the financial futures of over half a million people - that’s around 1 in 10 people in Scotland. If you’re looking for meaningful work, a supportive environment and a career with purpose, you’ll find it at the SPPA. Our office is based in Tweedbank in the Scottish Borders, the train station is a short two-minute walk away and offers regular services to and from Edinburgh Waverley, making it a convenient and well-connected location for commuters. The surrounding area offers access to green space, walking routes and a strong sense of local community, supporting wellbeing both in and outside of work. Our modern office building is designed to support flexible and collaborative working, with spaces for teamwork, quiet focus and hybrid working. Colleagues benefit from a comfortable, welcoming environment that reflects our commitment to wellbeing and inclusion.

As the Senior Infrastructure Engineer, you will be central to enabling SPPA’s secure, reliable and modern cloud services by leading the design, implementation and ongoing management of critical infrastructure across Azure and wider platforms. Working closely with colleagues, suppliers and partners, you will drive the development of scalable, secure solutions using modern standards, scripting tools (such as Python and DevOps platforms) and infrastructure-as-code approaches, while ensuring robust governance, effective problem resolution, system integration and continuous improvement across SPPA’s technology landscape.

Responsibilities:

• Lead and line manage the SPPA Infrastructure/Cloud Engineering team.
• Build and maintain knowledge and awareness of best practice of cloud and IT infrastructure management. An in-depth knowledge of MS Azure is critical to this role, as is knowledge of the wider Microsoft product suite and Linux. Oracle knowledge, or the ability to acquire it rapidly, would be advantageous to the postholder. Knowledge of securely integrating MS Azure with other cloud platforms is essential.
• Work closely with SPPA colleagues, suppliers, and managed service providers to deliver the design, implementation and ongoing maintenance of critical cloud services. This should include a deep cloud expertise, including key IaaS, PaaS and SaaS technologies such as IAM, Networking, Storage, Compute and Governance.
• Manage the environment and ensure quick and easy deployments using Infrastructure as Code (IaC) via Terraform and have some experience using and supporting scripting and software tools, in particular a knowledge of Python and MS DevOps platforms would be beneficial.
• Design and implement infrastructure solutions and services, for example, networking and physical infrastructure, commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software, open-source packages and solutions, or virtual and cloud computing.
• Use information security practices and available security controls to contribute to protecting solutions and services.
• Shape contributions to IT Change and Architecture Boards in the capacity of trusted advisor, and/or present to them, to ensure compliant and secure services are developed in line with best practice and architectural principles.
• Own an issue until a new owner has been found or the problem has been mitigated or resolved and consult specialists where required determine the appropriate resolution and assist with its implementation, initiating and monitoring actions to investigate patterns and trends to resolve problems and determine future preventative measures.

Qualifications

You must hold a relevant MS Azure qualification such as:

• Azure DB Administrator
• Azure Administrator
• Azure Security Engineer
• Azure Developer
• Azure Data Engineer

or demonstrable equivalent industry experience.

Success Profile

Success profiles are specific to each job and they include the mix of behaviours, experience and technical criteria the candidates will be assessed on.

Experience

1. (Lead Criteria) Significant experience designing and implementing scalable infrastructure solutions.

Technical / Professional Skills:

This post is aligned to the Infrastructure Engineer at the Senior Infrastructure Engineer level in the IT Operations family. Read the technical skills for this role in the GDD role and capability information.

Candidates who pass the sift will receive information about the technical assessment and competency-based interview. You can request a reasonable adjustment at any stage of the recruitment process.

Behaviours:

1. Leadership - Level 3
2. Making effective - Level 3
3. Communicating & Influencing - Level 3
4. Managing A Quality Service - Level 3

You can find out more about the behaviours here: Candidate Guide

How To Apply

Apply online, providing a CV and Supporting Statement (of no more than 750 words) which provides evidence of how you meet the experience and behaviours listed in the Success Profile above.

Stage one (CV & Supporting Statement review):

An initial review will be conducted using the CV and Supporting Statement on the below Lead Criteria:

Experience: Significant experience designing and implementing scalable infrastructure solutions.

Candidates who pass the initial review will have their applications fully assessed against the behaviours in the Success Profile.

At this stage, you will not be scored against the Technical / Professional skills.

Stage two (interview and assessment): If successful at application review, you will be invited for assessment, which will consist of an in-person interview and GDD Technical Assessment at the SPPA office in Tweedbank, where we will test the Experience, Technical / Professional Skills and Behaviours.

Sifting will commence from 2 November 2026

Assessments are scheduled between 19 - 25 November 2026, however this may be subject to change.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools can be used to support your application, but all statements and examples provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, and presented as your own) applications will be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.

Please see our candidate guidance for more information on acceptable and unacceptable uses of AI in recruitment.

Recruitment Principles

As a government organisation, we adhere to the Civil Service Commission Recruitment Principles and we investigate any complaints received in relation to recruitment cases.

About Us
At the SPPA, we are committed to The Fair Work Framework
This means offering:
- Security and stability
- Flexible and hybrid working options
- Opportunities to learn and develop
- A respectful and inclusive working environment
At the SPPA we want our workforce to be representative of Scottish society and we strive to be a workplace where people are welcomed and valued for the contribution they make.

We support flexible working and encourage applications from people from all backgrounds, including those starting their careers, changing careers, or returning to work.

We are committed to removing any barriers to applying for our jobs and aim to offer support and make reasonable adjustments to allow full participation in the recruitment process.

Our staff are part of the UK Civil Service observing the Civil Service Code and working for Ministers and senior stakeholders to deliver vital public services which improve the lives of the people of Scotland.

We offer a supportive and inclusive working environment along with a wide range of employee benefits. Find out more about what we offer.

As part of the UK Civil Service, we uphold the Civil Service Nationality Rules.

You can also find out more about careers at the SPPA here - SPPA Careers | SPPA (pensions.gov.scot)

Working Pattern

Our standard hours are 35 hours per week. We offer a range of flexible and hybrid working options, with two days minimum working on site at SPPA. If you have specific questions about the role you are applying for, please contact us.

Security Checks

Successful candidates must complete the Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS), before they can be appointed. BPSS is comprised of four main pre-employment checks – Identity, Right to work, Employment History and a Criminal Record check (unspent convictions).

You can find out more about BPSS on the UK Government website, or read about the different levels of security checks in our Candidate Guide.

Sponsorship

Skilled Worker sponsorship is not available for this role. As a result, we are unable to appoint candidates who require Skilled Worker sponsorship now or in the future. Applicants must have an existing and ongoing right to work in the UK.

Equality Statement

We are committed to equality and inclusion and we aim to recruit a diverse workforce that reflects the population of our nation.

Find out more about our commitment to diversity and how we offer and support recruitment adjustments for anyone who needs them.

Further Information

Find out more about our organisation, what we offer staff members and how to apply on our Careers Website.

Read our Candidate Guide for further information on our recruitment and application processes.

We will hold a reserve list for this post for 12 months.

Apply Before: 1 November 2026 (23:59)