Summary
A principal end user computing engineer owns the strategy roadmap and leads on resourcing, learning and development for their team. At this level, you look at the bigger picture and understand trends in the business.
Background
Background Components
Description | Background |
---|---|
Has good inter-personal skills. Is well organised and practical, with a logical, analytical approach to problem solving. Pays careful, close attention to detail. Has an extensive understanding of installing many of the items of hardware and/or software to be found in own organisation and of the operational environment and the business importance of the services and applications it provides; has also acquired specialist expertise in all areas of installation. | Prior Knowledge and Skills |
Has gained expertise in the alignment of performance setting and assessment with organisational goals. Understands processes and procedures of performance management. Manages projects and organises the work of others. Demonstrates a responsible and disciplined approach, even under pressure. Has excellent and developed communication and negotiation skills. Understands the legal and best practice requirements of human resource management. Has a positive attitude towards diversity principles. | Prior Knowledge and Skills |
Work Activity Components
Title | Details |
---|---|
Risk management | Ensure that the risks associated with the installation or decommissioning are understood and that measures to reduce them are adopted where appropriate. |
Documentation | Ensures all installation work is documented in compliance with appropriate standards and configuration management records are updated. |
Guidance | Provides specialist guidance and some supervision to less experienced colleagues. Analyses work in progress, takes action to ensure targets are met within safety and quality procedures, including hand-over to client where appropriate. |
Installation and removal | Takes responsibility for installation and/or decommissioning projects, providing effective team leadership. Ensure that the risks associated with the installation or decommissioning are understood and that measures to reduce them are adopted where appropriate. |
User assistance and customer contact | Takes responsibility for the information flow to and from the customer during project work. Escalates issues arising to appropriate level and acts upon resulting decisions |
Problem investigation and resolution | Investigates installations not achieving design aim or business requirement and makes recommendations for remedial action. |
Testing/fault resolution | Monitors effectiveness of installation and ensures that appropriate recommendations for change are made. |
Standards and procedures | Undertakes development of quality plans and method statements and is responsible for their implementation. Carries out performance and quality reviews against organisational standards and analyses installation statistics. |
Installation scheduling | Undertakes the planning, estimation, and scheduling of installation/decommissioning work. Ensures that installation priorities are understood and disruption to the organisation is minimised. Approves requests for changes to projects or the technical environment within specified |
Implementation and controls | Ensures implementation of information, and records management policies and standard practice, ensuring that information is protected, available and accessible, and can be retrieved as required. Complies with all relevant information and data security policies and procedures. |
Development needs | Determines development needs for a professional practice area. Aligns development activities with organisational priorities, learning and development strategies and career pathways. |
Communities of practice | Promotes the establishment and ongoing development of one or more community of practice (CoP). Encourages participation and ensures alignment with organisational needs. |
Lead, manage and supervise | Manages, supports and guides the work of groups of staff in line with organisational strategy. |
Probationary period and contract | Defines and manages probationary periods, setting out the requirements of the job, monitoring progress (e.g., regular interviews) and reacting to variances from expectations, organising training and development as required within appropriate timescales. |
Work allocation, support and delegation | Allocates responsibilities, including supervisory and assigns packages of work to groups of staff. Ensures that work packages are aligned with the particular skills and abilities of teams. Supports teams in the delivery of work packages. Delegates work to individuals and teams, taking full account of skills and capabilities. |
Guidance, performance and feedback | Optimises the performance of people, measuring and reporting on performance against agreed quality and performance criteria. Collects data on the performance of groups of staff. Gives regular feedback to teams and senior staff as to team performance on work packages. |
Formal appraisals | Conducts formal appraisals of the performance of team members. Facilitates a dialogue with team members about expectations, progress, performance and development needs. Participates, as appropriate, in formal processes such as compensation negotiations, grievance procedures, and disciplinary procedures. |
Empowerment and role model | Facilitates effective working relationships within and between teams of staff. Motivates groups of staff and teams towards a high level of performance. Engages with and empowers groups of staff. Acts as a role model for groups of staff, setting a standard, acting professionally at all times and working to a professional code of conduct and ethics. |
Team dynamics | Integrates staff into teams to perform packages of work, taking account of individual and team capabilities. Consider the importance of skill mix within teams. Is sensitive towards team |
Career paths and mentoring | Advises individuals on career paths and encourages pro-active development of skills and capabilities. Provides mentoring to support professional development. |
People processes | Participates, as appropriate, in formal processes such as compensation negotiations and disciplinary procedures. |
Transformation and change | Manages teams involved in significant transformation projects and/or during times of change, aligning change programmes with staff skills and capabilities. Supports staff, through difficult and challenging change programmes. |
Tailoring/ installation/ testing | Designs and develops user code to enhance or customise system software to satisfy business objectives and tailors system software to ensure maximum efficiency. Prepares software implementation procedures with fall back contingency plans. Ensures that new versions of system software are properly installed and thoroughly tested. |
Service problems | Investigates potential and actual service problems and recommends solutions. Develops and uses formal procedures to plan and test proposed solutions. |
System software tuning | Gathers performance data and statistics from the IT platforms to enable recommendations for the tuning of system software. Tailors system software parameters to maximise throughput and efficiency. |
Software releases | Carries out full impact analysis of new software releases and recommends upgrade plans. Reviews upgrades and fixes available from system software suppliers and identifies those which |
System software failure | Develops and uses procedures for collection of critical information in the event of system software failure. Analyses documentation, storage dumps and logs relating to system software failures to identify the failing component. Isolates failures and recommends actions to circumvent problems and enable the restoration of services with the minimum of business impact. Liaises with suppliers to obtain corrective code, installing and testing the code to ensure a permanent resolution. |
Knowledge/Skills
Knowledge/Skills Components
Title | Depth | Details | Type |
---|---|---|---|
Conceptual Thinking | Acquiring understanding and insights regarding the underlying issues in complex problems or situations through the development of abstract representations, the identification of patterns and the analysis of hypotheses. | Behavioural Skills | |
Information Acquisition | Identifying gaps in the available information required to understand a problem or situation and devising a means of resolving them. | Behavioural Skills | |
Flexibility | Taking account of new information or changed circumstances and/or business requirements and modifying response to a problem or situation accordingly. | Behavioural Skills | |
Planning and Organisation | Determining a course of action by breaking it down into smaller steps and by planning and resourcing each of these, making allowance for potential problems and escalating if necessary. | Behavioural Skills | |
Improvisation | Dealing effectively with unexpected situations in a timely manner, taking advantage of opportunities and overcoming problems. | Behavioural Skills | |
Interacting with People | Establishing relationships, contributing to an open culture and maintaining contacts with people from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines. Effective, approachable and sensitive communicator in different communities and cultures. Ability to adapt style and approach to meet the needs of different audiences. | Behavioural Skills | |
Influence, Persuasion and Personal Impact | Conveying a level of confidence and professionalism when engaging with stakeholders, influencing positively and persuading others to take a specific course of action when not in a position of authority. | Behavioural Skills | |
Teamwork | Working collaboratively with others to achieve a common goal. | Behavioural | |
Leadership | Clearly articulating goals and objectives and motivating and leading others towards their achievement. | Behavioural Skills | |
Providing Direction | Directing others to undertake specified tasks within a defined timescale. | Behavioural | |
Delegation | Delegating tasks, responsibilities and authorities effectively. | Behavioural | |
Follow-up and Monitoring | Checking progress against targets, taking action to resolve exceptions/ issues and reporting and escalating where necessary. | Behavioural Skills | |
Application Systems | Familiar with | Technical or functional understanding of Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) applications and/or other bespoke software deployed within the organisation in order to provide system configuration, audit, technical, and/or functional support. | Technical Knowledge and Skills |
Operating Systems | Proficient in | System software that controls activities such as input, output, dynamic resource allocation, and error reporting, within the operation of a computer configuration. | Technical Knowledge and Skills |
Programming Languages | Proficient in | A set of codes and syntax (supported by software tools) that enables the unambiguous translation of specified functionality into source code for the creation of computer programs. | Technical Knowledge and Skills |
Corporate, Industry and Professional Standards | Proficient in | Applying standards, practices, codes, and assessment and certification programmes relevant to the IT industry, and the specific organisation or business domain. | Technical Knowledge and Skills |
Operational/Service Architecture | Proficient in | Knowledge of the IT/IS infrastructure and the IT applications and service processes used within own organisation, including those associated with sustainability and efficiency. | Technical Knowledge and Skills |
Risk Management | Proficient in | Methods and techniques for the assessment and management of business risk including safety-related risk. | Other Knowledge and Skills |
Access Control Systems | Proficient in | Any tool or system which provides security access control (i.e. prevents unauthorised access to systems). | Technical Knowledge and Skills |
Middleware | Proficient in | Software which forms part of the operating platform infrastructure. | Technical Knowledge and Skills |
Infrastructure Configuration | Proficient in | Knowledge and understanding of infrastructure configurations. | Technical Knowledge and Skills |
Cloud/Virtualisation | Familiar with | The principles and application of cloud/ virtualisation (including ownership, responsibilities and security implications). Use of tools and systems to manage virtualised environments. | Technical Knowledge and Skills |
Equipment Installation | Expert in | Installation, testing and commissioning of supplier specific equipment and software in all legitimate operational environments. | Technical Knowledge and Skills |
Safe Installation Practice | Expert in | The knowledge and ability to install and maintain hardware systems to operate within their planned specification in a way that ensures they are safe to use by those authorised to work with them. | Technical Knowledge and Skills |
Infrastructure/System Security | Proficient in | The security threats and vulnerabilities that impact and/or emanate from system hardware, software and other infrastructure components, and relevant strategies, controls and activities to prevent, mitigate, detect and resolve security incidents affecting system hardware, software and other infrastructure components. | Technical Knowledge and Skills |
Presentation Techniques | Proficient in | Methods and techniques for delivering effective and accessible presentations, either face-to-face or online within various contexts and to a variety of audiences. | Other Knowledge and Skills |
Appraisal Techniques | Proficient in | Methods and techniques for appraising an individual’s performance and potential. | Other Knowledge and Skills |
Operations Management | Familiar with | Methods, techniques and tools for planning, organising, resourcing, directing, co- ordinating and monitoring ongoing (non-project) activities. | Other Knowledge and Skills |
Budgets | Familiar with | Principles, methods, techniques and tools for the preparation and monitoring of budgets to manage costs and ensure cost-effectiveness and value for money. | Other Knowledge and Skills |
Techniques for Effective Meetings | Proficient in | Methods and techniques for running effective meetings and for understanding and influencing the roles played by participants. | Other Knowledge and Skills |
Coaching Techniques | Proficient in | Methods and techniques for coaching individuals or groups by a balanced combination of support and direction, including use of virtual learning environments plus add-ons to augment feedback specific to work items, workflow or career plans. | Other Knowledge and Skills |
Project Planning and Control Techniques | Familiar with | Methods and techniques associated with planning and monitoring progress of projects. | Other Knowledge and Skills |
Own Organisation’s Learning and Development Procedures | Proficient in | The procedures used within own organisation for staff learning and development. | Other Knowledge and Skills |
Resource Allocation | Proficient in | The effective and efficient routine deployment of resources, (but also including reassessment and reallocation in a dynamic multi-project environment), to achieve optimum results. | Other Knowledge and Skills |
Service Level Agreements | Familiar with | The purpose and composition of a service level agreement (SLA); the relationship between an SLA, an OLA (Operational Level Agreement) and an underpinning contract for the supply of services. | Other Knowledge and Skills |
Health and Safety | Proficient in | Statutory health and safety requirements relating to working environment. | Other Knowledge and Skills |
Performance Monitoring | Proficient in | Identifying, agreeing and monitoring (usually by face-to-face interviews) objectives and deliverables with individuals. Identifying under-performance issues against agreed quality standards and performance criteria. Identifying gaps in capability and causes, disciplinary or ability-related (needing assistance, training or other support). | Other Knowledge and Skills |
Disciplinary Issues and Procedures | Familiar with | Managing episodes of unsatisfactory behaviour or performance in accordance with appropriate policies and legislative conformance. Includes changes to circumstances, such as sickness, disability and other personal issues. | Other Knowledge and Skills |
Team Dynamics | Familiar with | Knowledge and understanding of the psychological and environmental forces that influence the direction of team behaviour and performance and the tools and techniques to improve team cohesion and performance. | Other Knowledge and Skills |
Information Assurance | Proficient in | Information assurance methods, tools and techniques (including the Caldicott Principles) used to protect the integrity, availability, authenticity, non-repudiation and confidentiality of user data and manage the risks related to the use, processing, storage, and transmission of information. | Other Knowledge and Skills |
Training Activities
Training Components
Title | Details |
---|---|
Service Delivery | The service delivery processes: the systems, products, services, hardware and software environment. |
Infrastructure Hardware and System Software | Hardware, communication networks and system software that provides the organisation’s IT infrastructure; features of the infrastructure that need to be taken account of in hardware/software installation, with due attention to sustainability impacts e.g. back-up and recovery, virtualisation techniques to optimise efficient energy use of system hardware components, load sharing in communication networks; availability and use of Cloud services. |
Security Software | Understanding the security threats and vulnerabilities that impact and/or emanate from system hardware, software and other infrastructure components and relevant strategies, controls and activities to prevent, mitigate, detect and resolve security incidents. For example access control software like Active Directory (AD). |
Coaching | Concepts, methods and techniques for providing coaching in subject specialisms to individuals or groups (e.g. GROW model). |
Data Protection and GDPR | Data protection legislation, regulatory framework and compliance, including GDPR (General Data Protection Act). |
Mentoring | Methods and techniques for providing mentoring support to less experienced individuals. |
Security Awareness | Tools and techniques to help users and employees understand the role they play in helping to combat information security breaches and for IT and security professionals to prevent and mitigate risk. |
Health and Safety | Understanding statutory health and safety requirements relating to the working environment and/or the tools and techniques to promote, communicate, implement and maintain a health and safety culture. |
PDAs
PDA Components
Title | Details |
---|---|
Deputising | Standing in for supervisor or manager on a temporary basis during periods of absence. |
Job Shadowing and Special Assignments | Undertaking temporary periods or secondments in other roles, inside or outside IT, particularly those that offer a new perspective on own function or exposure to other environments and cultures. |
Project Assignments | Participating in a project team, working group or task force established to deliver a solution to a specific problem or issue – especially valuable if the group is inter-disciplinary. |
Mentoring | Acting as a mentor, advising those for whom there is no direct responsibility, on matters to do with their job role, career and professional development. |
Research Assignments | Exploring a topic which is not part of own normal responsibilities and presenting findings to colleagues and/or management |
Gaining Knowledge of Broader IT Issues | Increasing and maintaining currency of knowledge of broader IT issues through reading, attending and participating in seminars or conferences, special studies, temporary assignments etc. |
Gaining Strategic Knowledge of Employing Organisation | Developing a comprehensive understanding of the business environment in which the employing organisation operates and its position, policies and direction in relation to industry, country and global issues. |
Participation in Professional Body Affairs | Taking an active part in professional body affairs at branch, specialist group, committee or board level. |
Negotiating and Influencing | Undertaking learning and practice of negotiating with and influencing others. |
Management Development | Undertaking learning and best practice of the skills appropriate to managing all or part of an organisation, including business and financial management, benefits management, people management, management of change and strategic planning. This will require both on and off the job learning and may include participation in an appropriate development programme such as MBA or DMS (Diploma in Management Studies). |
Qualifications
Qualification Components
Title | Awarding Body |
---|---|
ITIL 4 Specialist Drive Stakeholder Value (Managing Professional | AXELOS |
ITIL 4 Strategist Direct, Plan and Improve (Managing Professional / Strategic Leader Module) | AXELOS |
Chartered IT Professional (CITP) | BCS – The Chartered Institute for IT |
ITIL 4 Managing Professional | AXELOS |
FEDIP Leading Practitioner | FEDIP |
Organisation Skills
Framework » Organisation Category » Subcategory |
Skill Name and Description | Level |
---|---|---|
DDaT » IT Operations Job Family | IT Ops – Asset and configuration management
You can conduct life cycle management for assets including hardware, software, intellectual property, licences and warranties. You can manage usage, disposal, compliance, inventory, sustainability, cost optimisation and protection of the asset portfolio. You can help to improve investment decisions and capitalise on opportunities. You can comply with international standards for asset management. You can document information relating to assets including identification, classification and specification of all items, and information related to storage, access and versions. You can apply status accounting and auditing in line with |
3 – Practitioner
You can manage configuration items, related information, service compliance and risks. |
DDaT » IT Operations Job Family | IT Ops – Change management
You can manage service changes, configuration items, organisational change, supplier change and associated documentation. You can request changes in response to incidents or problems that provide effective control and reduction of risk to security performance and availability. You can ensure compliance of the business services impacted by the change. You can understand policy, principles and approach. You can apply understanding and knowledge in project or programme activities. You can develop experience in the use of change management tools and processes. |
3 – Practitioner
You can deal with high impact, complex change requests. You can ensure that release policies, procedures and processes are applied. |
DDaT » IT Operations Job Family | IT Ops – Continual service improvement
You can identify and explore opportunities for service and business improvement. You can produce analysis and identify, prioritise and implement improvements and efficiencies, ensuring that the organisation derives maximum value from services. You can recognise the potential for automation of processes, determine costs and benefits of new approaches, and manage change or assist implementation where |
3 – Practitioner
You can analyse current processes, and identify and implement opportunities to optimise them. You can lead and develop a team of experts to deliver service improvements. You can help to evaluate and establish requirements for the implementation of changes by setting policy and standards. |
DDaT » IT Operations Job Family | IT Ops – Incident management
You can co-ordinate the response to incident reports, ensuring relevant prioritisation and detail to allow effective investigation. You can identify the correct procedures or channels for resolution and monitor resolution activity and progress updates for customers. You can understand the relevant change management tools and processes. |
3 – Practitioner
You can lead the investigation and resolution of incidents. |
DDaT » IT Operations Job Family | IT Ops – Ownership and initiative
You can take ownership of problems and proactively resolve technical problems, ensuring that technical solutions continue to meet business requirements. You can take full accountability for the actions taken and decisions made. |
3 – Practitioner
You can take accountability for issues that occur and be proactive in searching for potential problems. You can achieve excellent user outcomes. |
DDaT » IT Operations Job Family | IT Ops – Problem management
You can understand and identify problems, analysing and helping to identify the appropriate solution. You can classify and prioritise problems, document their causes and implement remedies. |
3 – Practitioner
You can ensure that the right actions are taken to investigate, resolve and anticipate problems. You can co- ordinate the team to investigate problems, implement solutions and take preventive measures. |
DDaT » IT Operations Job Family | IT Ops – Service focus
You can maintain focus on the whole life of service delivery (designing, developing, delivering and operating). You can ensure that a set of IT products, suppliers and vendors come together to deliver an IT service. |
3 – Practitioner
You can see the bigger picture by taking groups of services and investigating how to get the best of underlying services. |
DDaT » IT Operations Job Family | IT Ops – Service reporting
You can use management information to consolidate agreed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) into product or service measures, to underpin the service management of a specific product or service. |
3 – Practitioner
You can use your data analytics skills to enhance business performance. |
DDaT » IT Operations Job Family | IT Ops – Technical specialism
You can demonstrate in-depth knowledge of, for example, code (application), messaging and batch management. The technical specialisms will differ for each role and will be defined in a job description. |
4 – Expert
You can understand the direction of future technologies. You can deliver a model to support and maintain those future technologies and any databases that coexist in the current environment. |
DDaT » IT Operations Job Family | IT Ops – Technical understanding
You can demonstrate knowledge of the specific technologies necessary to fulfil the responsibilities and tasks of the role. You can apply the required breadth and depth of technical knowledge. You can actively keep informed of industry developments to make cost-effective use of new and emerging tools and technologies. |
4 – Expert
You can understand the core technical concepts related to the role and apply them with guidance. |
DDaT » IT Operations Job Family | IT Ops – Testing
You can plan, design, manage, execute and report tests, using appropriate tools and techniques. You can work within regulations. You can ensure that risks associated with deployment are adequately understood and documented. |
4 – Expert
You can manage testing activities within development or integration activities. You can manage risks and take preventative action when risks become unacceptable. You can manage customer relations. |
DDaT » IT Operations Job Family | IT Ops – User focus
You can understand users and identify who they are and what their needs are, based on evidence. You can translate user stories and propose design approaches or services to meet these needs. You can engage in meaningful interactions and relationships with users. You can show that you put users first and can manage competing priorities. |
4 – Expert
You can give direction on which tools or methods to use. You can demonstrate experience in meeting the needs of users across a variety of channels. You can bring insight and expertise in how user needs have changed over time to ensure they’re met by the business. You can apply strategic thinking to provide the best service for the end |
This job role profile was created in collaboration with BCS, using Role Model Plus. BCS is the professional body that has the responsibility of updating this job family.