Application operations engineer
Find out what an application operations engineer in government does and the skills you need to do the role at each level.
Last updated 30 November 2024 — See all updates
Contents
- — What an application operations engineer does
- — Application operations engineer role levels
- — 1. Associate application operations engineer
- — 2. Application operations engineer
- — 3. Senior application operations engineer
- — 4. Lead application operations engineer
- — 5. Principal application operations engineer
- — Roles that share application operations engineer skills
What an application operations engineer does
An application operations engineer supports, manages and maintains a single application or a suite of applications.
Application operations engineer role levels
There are 5 application operations engineer role levels, from associate application operations engineer to principal application operations engineer.
The typical responsibilities and skills for each role level are described in the sections below. You can use this to identify the skills you need to progress in your career, or simply to learn more about each role in the Government Digital and Data profession.
1. Associate application operations engineer
As a trainee, you will work in an established team and support application operations engineers in their daily work, under their direction.
This role level is often performed at the Civil Service job grade of:
- AO (Administrative Officer)
- EO (Executive Officer)
Skill | Description |
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Level: awareness Awareness is the first of 4 ascending skill levels |
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Level: awareness Awareness is the first of 4 ascending skill levels |
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Level: awareness Awareness is the first of 4 ascending skill levels |
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Level: awareness Awareness is the first of 4 ascending skill levels |
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2. Application operations engineer
An application operations engineer maintains services and is responsible for conducting user and security administration.
At this role level, you will:
- monitor applications and be accountable for batch processes
- in some organisations, carry out the duties of an end user computing engineer, such as fixing technical problems, maintaining hardware and liaising with the problem or incident manager
This role level is often performed at the Civil Service job grade of:
- EO (Executive Officer)
- HEO (Higher Executive Officer)
Skill | Description |
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Asset and configuration management Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
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Availability and capacity management Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
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Level: awareness Awareness is the first of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: awareness Awareness is the first of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: awareness Awareness is the first of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: awareness Awareness is the first of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Service management framework knowledge Level: awareness Awareness is the first of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: awareness Awareness is the first of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: awareness Awareness is the first of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: awareness Awareness is the first of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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3. Senior application operations engineer
Dealing with more complex issues, a senior application operations engineer is responsible for code deployment and co-ordinating change-based activities, such as taking services live. Depending on the complexity and size of a project and the likely impact it will have on the business, you might manage and maintain certain aspects of an application.
This role level is often performed at the Civil Service job grade of:
- HEO (Higher Executive Officer)
- SEO (Senior Executive Officer)
Skill | Description |
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Asset and configuration management Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Availability and capacity management Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Service management framework knowledge Level: awareness Awareness is the first of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
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4. Lead application operations engineer
A lead application operations engineer defines the application strategy and the strategy for security administration.
At this role level, you will:
- liaise with leads within IT operations on how applications are performing and changes that need to be put in place
- potentially manage and maintain certain aspects of an application (depending on the complexity and size of a project, and the likely impact it will have on the business)
This role level is often performed at the Civil Service job grade of:
- SEO (Senior Executive Officer)
- G7 (Grade 7)
Skill | Description |
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Asset and configuration management Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Availability and capacity management Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels |
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Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
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Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels |
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Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Service management framework knowledge Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: working Working is the second of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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5. Principal application operations engineer
A principal application operations engineer owns the application strategy and leads on resourcing, learning and development for their team.
At this role level, you will:
- have expert technical understanding
- be accountable for vendor and supplier management
- potentially manage and maintain certain aspects of an application (depending on the complexity and size of a project, and the likely impact it will have on the business)
This role level is often performed at the Civil Service job grade of:
- G7 (Grade 7)
- G6 (Grade 6)
Skill | Description |
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Asset and configuration management Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Availability and capacity management Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Service management framework knowledge Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: expert Expert is the fourth of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: expert Expert is the fourth of 4 ascending skill levels |
You can:
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Level: practitioner Practitioner is the third of 4 ascending skill levels |
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Roles that share application operations engineer skills
Updates
Published 7 January 2020
Last updated 30 November 2024
30 November 2024
- The skill 'asset and configuration management' has been updated. The level descriptions were edited to improve clarity and to better meet the definitions for each level.
- The skill 'availability and capacity management' has been updated. The level descriptions were edited to improve clarity and to better meet the definitions for each level.
- The skill 'service management framework knowledge' has been updated to improve clarity. No change was made in the meaning of the skill level descriptions.
30 August 2024
- The skill level descriptions for 'change management' have been updated to improve clarity and ensure consistency across the framework. No change was made to the meaning of skill level descriptions.
7 January 2020
- First published.