Senior App Support and SQL Admin

About Us:

At Hammersmith & Fulham, we are ambitious in reforming the council to ensure this is a place for everybody. Within the Resources department, our ambition is to be 'ruthlessly financially efficient' in everything that we do, to ensure that our residents and services are receiving the best value for money whilst challenging old-fashioned thinking, unfairness and removing waste where possible.

This role will require a highly skilled sql server administrator to support H&F’s sql server environment which is critical to operating the council’s services. You will take a lead role on high priority projects such as an upgrade of this environment. Experience of working with sql server in Azure is desirable. You will also become the application expert for H&F’s income management and payment system and interfaces. An experienced and organised analyst with solid technical ability and excellent people skills is required to lead across all aspects of application support and related project delivery.

Our mission is to be the best council. To do this we need the best people to help build our vision. Successful candidates will be self-motivated, able to communicate effectively at every level, and driven to challenge themselves and us as an organisation to be the best we can be.

If you’re looking to develop your career in a fast-paced, professional environment whilst making a difference, then we look forward to hearing from you.

Please refer to the Role Profile for more information.

Role Responsibilities:

Management of MS SQL Server including configuration, patching, installation and upgrading of software and delivery of relevant documentation. Maintenance of the environment and databases, resolving any issues arising. Develop a detailed understanding of the council’s applications and their associated business functions. Lead application resource on future application upgrades, integrations and developments. Provide excellent support to the council’s user base. Lead on the provision of prompt and effective technical support of key corporate business and directorate applications across the council through resolution of incidents and service requests in line with agreed service agreements, ensuring minimal disruption / loss of service. Ensure delivery of a high-quality user experience, including fit for purpose systems, and high standards of access, availability, usability, usefulness and excellent standards of service. 

You will need to:

Patch, install, configure and upgrade sql server.
Respond to SQL Server DBA alerts and take prompt action to fix any critical issues arising.
Develop a detailed understanding of the councils’ Income Management and payment system Pay360, other assigned applications and their associated business functions.
Lead resource for this application in all future product upgrades, integrations, and developments. Provide excellent support to the council’s user base.
Provide informal training / knowledge sharing with colleagues as expected to enhance resilience. Produce support documentation to share with other resources.

People Values:

How we act defines who we are.  At the heart of our organisation is a common approach to defining ‘who we are’.  We are looking for people who can build this into everything they do.

We are fair

We treat everyone with compassion, dignity and fairness. We value the views and opinion of others, and promote benefits and opportunities for all.

We are caring

We care about our borough and doing things well. We focus on standards and continuous improvement; learning from our mistakes and celebrating success.

We are collaborators

We work together for a better society. We work with our residents, businesses, schools, third sector and others for better outcomes for everyone.

We are driven

We will only settle for the very best. We seek to continually improve and put our residents, customers and businesses at the heart of everything we do.

Recruiting for Attitude:

Your skills and ability are important however, we recruit as much for attitude as we do experience. We are looking for people who have the following attributes: 

Complex problem-solving 

The ability to work within a complex system and find simple solutions and outcomes that deliver real change. 

Critical thinking 

The ability to challenge the norms through evidence-based approaches using both numerical and critical reasoning and thinking. You can rationalise decision-making and form views quickly and soundly from a range of sources. 

Creativity 

You take approaches that demonstrate how doing things differently and creatively changes the dynamic in situations. You can apply creative solutions that deliver hard outcomes. 

People management 

You can get the best out of people. You have a coaching-style and drive through a commitment to personal and professional development. You are clear in your expectations and have exceptional feedback from your team about their working environment. You recognise and support people as individuals. 

Coordinating with others 

You have the knack of working well with others. You have an appreciation of your own presence and approach and can demonstrate how you have developed and continue to develop how you work with others. You can also recognise how others work, think, and feel to get the most out of collaboration. 

Emotional intelligence 

You have a high degree of self-awareness and self-regulation in a wide range of situations from one-to-one conversations to team and group dynamics. You can recognise motivating factors and demonstrate empathy appropriately applying a wide range of adaptive social skills. 

Judgement and decision making 

You can take rational and evidence-based decisions and take responsibility for your decisions and actions. Where there is ambiguity or a lack of evidence you can demonstrate the ability to understand the environment and show flexibility in applying your judgement. 

Negotiation 

You can demonstrate an understanding of the range of skills and techniques required to successfully negotiate with a range of other partners. This includes understanding how to structure and undertake successful negotiation on an organisational-wide level. 

Service orientation 

You must be unequivocal in your commitment and drive for outstanding service delivery. Both in terms of the quality of products and work delivered as well as the achievement of objectives. You and your team can demonstrate how your overall contribution to the organisation and service delivers to our organisational aims and objectives. 

Cognitive flexibility 

The ability to recognise the environment in which you work and adapt and shift to this environment to maximise your own personal achievement and lead others in the same approach. Applying cognitive flexibility to situations of significant change and transformation. 

Hammersmith & Fulham Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults. We expect all employees, workers and volunteers to share this commitment. We will ensure that all our recruitment and selection practices reflect this commitment.
 
Corporate Equalities Employment Policy: In order to combat discrimination, no unnecessary conditions or requirements will be applied which could have a disproportionately adverse effect on any one group. All sections of the population will have equal access to jobs. No applicant or employee will receive less favourable treatment because of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage or civil partnership and pregnancy or maternity, unless a Genuine Occupational Qualification (GOQ) applies.
 
We are a Disability Confident Employer – committed to ensuring that our recruitment and selection process is inclusive and accessible.

Interview Date

W/c 18 September 2023