IT Systems Engineer
IT Systems Engineer
We are looking for a proactive a values driven IT Systems Engineer to design, secure, and maintain business-critical systems. To work closely with QACE and QAC to support the following environments;
1. QAC – Enterprises – All Formats, which is a transcription service with a separate IT infrastructure to maintain industry standards (e.g. PCI DSS, ISO27001, Cyber Essentials).
2. Queen Alexandra Charity– the wider organisation, which includes QAC College (education environment).
While the primary focus is expected to be on QACE, there may be periods where the emphasis shifts toward QAC, working with the QAC IT team to provide technical expertise, guidance and support depending on business needs.
£41885.48 - £51,717.12 p.a* (PP22 – M9)
*Dependant on qualifications, knowledge & experience.
37 hours per week/52 weeks per year
Participation in out of hours emergency work to support critical systems (out of hours work may include, evenings and/or weekends).
1. QAC – Enterprises – All Formats, which is a transcription service with a separate IT infrastructure to maintain industry standards (e.g. PCI DSS, ISO27001, Cyber Essentials).
2. Queen Alexandra Charity– the wider organisation, which includes QAC College (education environment).
While the primary focus is expected to be on QACE, there may be periods where the emphasis shifts toward QAC, working with the QAC IT team to provide technical expertise, guidance and support depending on business needs.
Salary£41885.48 - £51,717.12 p.a* (PP22 – M9)
*Dependant on qualifications, knowledge & experience.
Hours37 hours per week/52 weeks per year
These hours would be actioned any time between 7.00am to 19.00pmParticipation in out of hours emergency work to support critical systems (out of hours work may include, evenings and/or weekends).
Interview Date - Monday 11th May 2026Key Responsibilities
Systems
• Build, Administer, harden, upgrade, troubleshoot and maintain key critical systems for QACE All Formats, including;
o Firewall inc firewall policies
o Backup infrastructure
o Network Infrastructure (inc network segmentation)
o Servers (Hyper v, Windows, Linux)
o Cloud Services (e.g. Entra) o On prem Services (Active Directory, SIEM, Print, Access Control, CCTV)
o Perform hardware lifecycle tasks, including OS installation and upgrades, development, security hardening and testing compatibility (Windows 11, Windows server, NAS, Network Infrastructure)
o Support cryptographic controls, key management, and secure certificate lifecycle
o Manage software licenses
o Operate controls aligned to PCI DSS/ISO27001 including:
o Access control, least privilege, role-based access
o Logging and monitoring of security events
o System hardening and vulnerability management
o Secure software lifecycle support
o Data protection and encryption in transit/at rest
o Secure configuration Baseline
• Manage MFT (Multiple File Transfer) infrastructure.
• Implement and enforce security policies (Group Policy, EDR policies, firewall Policies, Access Control).
• Manage patching, vulnerability remediation, and system upgrades in accordance with risk and change control policies.
• Maintain evidence for audits: including documentation and Standard Operating Procedures, configuration baselines, change records, access reviews, vulnerability scan results, penetration test reports, network diagrams, dataflow maps, asset inventories.
• Work with vendor/third party services to meet business requirements.
• Perform software lifecycle tasks, including software installation and upgrades, development, security hardening and testing compatibility.
• Designing and maintaining Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery arrangements including 6 monthly test of the DR solution in Droitwich.
• Own incident/problem/change management
• Lead QACE troubleshooting, root cause analysis and corrective actions.
• Undertake remediation work in line with assessment outcomes
• Develop runbooks, SOPs, and automation for repeatable, auditable operations.
• Monitor capacity, performance, and reliability; implement proactive improvements.
• Participate in out of hours work for critical systems.
• Work with Security Compliance Manager on policies, control design, risk assessments, control effectiveness testing, audits, log review/analysis and annual assessment planning.
• Produce high-quality documentation: network diagrams, data flow diagrams, asset inventories, control mappings, Standard Operating Processes, and build standards.
• Share knowledge and expertise within the team, by providing technical guidance and/or coaching/mentoring (relevant to skills/experience).
• Assist Security Compliance manager with DR/BC planning and documentation.
• Adhere to Change Management, Incident Management, and Access Review processes.
• Maintain accurate asset inventories, data flow maps, and network diagrams for scope validation.
• Support annual PCI DSS assessment (ROC/SAQ), quarterly ASV scans, and periodic internal/external pen tests.
• Ensure evidentiary trails are complete, reproducible, and time bound (e.g., logs retained ≥1 year, online ≥3 months per policy).
• Adhere to the Charity’s Health and Safety Policy at all times, recognising responsibility for own safety and that of others.
• Act at all times in accordance with the Staff Code of Conduct and QAC Values of Respect, Excellence, Enabling, Collaboration and Inclusion.
• Comply with all QAC policies and procedures.
• Receiving appropriate training, instruction and information to carry out emergency procedures safely and effectively.
• Responding to emergency situations in line with organisational policies and procedures.
• Supporting the organisation’s compliance with relevant Health and Safety legislation.
Queen Alexandra Charity is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and all staff and volunteers are required to act in such a way that at all times safeguards the health and wellbeing of our students/clients. Successful applicants will be subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and two employment references.
o Logging and monitoring of security events
o System hardening and vulnerability management
o Secure software lifecycle support
o Data protection and encryption in transit/at rest
o Secure configuration Baseline
• Manage MFT (Multiple File Transfer) infrastructure.
• Implement and enforce security policies (Group Policy, EDR policies, firewall Policies, Access Control).
• Manage patching, vulnerability remediation, and system upgrades in accordance with risk and change control policies.
• Maintain evidence for audits: including documentation and Standard Operating Procedures, configuration baselines, change records, access reviews, vulnerability scan results, penetration test reports, network diagrams, dataflow maps, asset inventories.
• Work with vendor/third party services to meet business requirements.
• Perform software lifecycle tasks, including software installation and upgrades, development, security hardening and testing compatibility.
• Designing and maintaining Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery arrangements including 6 monthly test of the DR solution in Droitwich.
Operations & Service Excellence• Own incident/problem/change management
• Lead QACE troubleshooting, root cause analysis and corrective actions.
• Undertake remediation work in line with assessment outcomes
• Develop runbooks, SOPs, and automation for repeatable, auditable operations.
• Monitor capacity, performance, and reliability; implement proactive improvements.
• Participate in out of hours work for critical systems.
Collaboration & Documentation• Work with Security Compliance Manager on policies, control design, risk assessments, control effectiveness testing, audits, log review/analysis and annual assessment planning.
• Produce high-quality documentation: network diagrams, data flow diagrams, asset inventories, control mappings, Standard Operating Processes, and build standards.
• Share knowledge and expertise within the team, by providing technical guidance and/or coaching/mentoring (relevant to skills/experience).
• Assist Security Compliance manager with DR/BC planning and documentation.
Compliance & Governance• Adhere to Change Management, Incident Management, and Access Review processes.
• Maintain accurate asset inventories, data flow maps, and network diagrams for scope validation.
• Support annual PCI DSS assessment (ROC/SAQ), quarterly ASV scans, and periodic internal/external pen tests.
• Ensure evidentiary trails are complete, reproducible, and time bound (e.g., logs retained ≥1 year, online ≥3 months per policy).
Other Duties• Adhere to the Charity’s Health and Safety Policy at all times, recognising responsibility for own safety and that of others.
• Act at all times in accordance with the Staff Code of Conduct and QAC Values of Respect, Excellence, Enabling, Collaboration and Inclusion.
• Comply with all QAC policies and procedures.
QAC employees may be expected to undertake designated emergency response duties as part of their role. This includes:• Receiving appropriate training, instruction and information to carry out emergency procedures safely and effectively.
• Responding to emergency situations in line with organisational policies and procedures.
• Supporting the organisation’s compliance with relevant Health and Safety legislation.
Safeguarding Statement:Queen Alexandra Charity is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and all staff and volunteers are required to act in such a way that at all times safeguards the health and wellbeing of our students/clients. Successful applicants will be subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and two employment references.
Skills, Knowledge and Expertise
Essential Criteria
- Relevant industry qualifications (e.g., MSP, Security+, CCNA, Palo Alto)
-
5+ years' experience building, administrating, hardening, upgrades, troubleshooting;
o Backup infrastructure
o Network Infrastructure (inc network segmentation)
o Servers (Hyper v, Windows, Linux)
o Cloud Services (e.g. Entra, MS365) o On prem Services (Active Directory, SIEM, Print, Access Control, CCTV)
o Perform hardware lifecycle tasks, including OS installation and upgrades, patch management, development, security hardening and testing compatibility (Windows 11, Windows server, NAS, Network Infrastructure)
o Manage software licenses -
Practical experience of:
o Cyber Security best practices
§ SIEM, Identify Access Management, TLS, certificates, HSM/key management basics, and secure cipher suites, Endpoint Protection, vulnerability assessment and Patch Management. - Demonstrable knowledge of PCI DSS and ISO 27001 concepts
- Security-first mindset, with strong problem-solving skills and attention to detail
- Ability to interpret standards and translate them into practical, automated controls
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Able to produce high quality, clear documentation and guidance
- Ability to manage key stakeholder relationships across a range of functions (Operations, Security, Audit)
- Action-orientated, with the ability to take ownership. Comfortable operating in high-availability environments
- Strong commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. Identifies with and demonstrates QAC Vision and Values and FREDIE (Fairness, Respect, Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Engagement)
- Ability to work flexibly, including as part of out of hours cover
- Car driver, clean current driving licence and access to own vehicle
For a full account please refer to the Job Description and Person Specification attached
Why work at Queen Alexandra Charity Birmingham
Join our team at Queen Alexandra Charity!
Are you passionate about making a difference to the lives of students with special educational needs? Do you thrive in an inclusive and supportive academic environment? If so, we want YOU to join our team. QAC has just gone through an exciting rebrand, dealt with a period of swift growth and academic improvement and this is your opportunity to become part of a vibrant College that is moving forward and making a real difference to the lives and futures of our students.
The newly structured Queen Alexandra Charity Birmingham offers you the chance to have a positive impact as you join a committed group of colleagues in ensuring that all students achieve their aims and aspirations. We are dedicated to providing exceptional education and support to students with diverse learning needs and life experiences. Our specialist setting fosters an inclusive community where every student is valued, supported, and empowered to reach their full potential.
QAC offers a vibrant, varied and enriching educational experience for both residential and day students. Our curriculum aims to maximise adult life, independence and work opportunities for all students. Class sizes are designed to meet specific needs and support levels are high.
Joining our supportive team, you will have the opportunity to:
· Work closely with students with SEN to achieve their goals
· Make a difference to the educational experience of young people
· Be a voice for students and staff in specialist education
· Foster a positive and inclusive learning environment, promoting academic growth, self-development and self-confidence
· Develop your own skills, aspirations and progress your career.
Our benefits include;
Schedule 1 Benefits (reviewed annually and/or as appropriate)
Academic Year 2024/25
- Access to on site car parking
- Use of QAC Fitness Centre (subject to opening hours)
- Cycle to Work Scheme (Salary Sacrifice)
- 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme Helpline (BHSF)
- Access to Education Support Free Helpline for Teachers & Education Staff
- QAC Mental Health First Aiders & activities to support health and wellbeing
- BHSF Benefits Package including Healthcare Plans, discounted shopping/services
- Annual Flu vaccination/voucher
- Access to other benefit/discount schemes (which may be subject to charge) e.g. Blue Light Card, TOTUM (NUS), Charity Worker Discounts, Discounts for Teachers
- Dell Advantage programme - a free programme that offers savings to students, parents and all staff at QAC - up to 20% off. https://www.dell.com/en-uk/lp/dell-advantage
- Health and Wellbeing Services (Occupational Health/Counselling)
- Free Tea/Coffee and Staff Room facilities
- Dining Room facilities with hot/cold food (free meal provided for those supporting students at mealtimes)
- Additional discretionary concessionary/closure days as part of leave entitlement (including closure over Christmas/New Year period)
- Reward and Recognition Policy – Living the Values Awards (team & individual) and long service
- Enhanced/Occupational paid leave e.g. maternity/paternity (subject to qualifying criteria)
- Occupational sick pay (based on length of service)
- On site wellbeing activities (e.g. yoga, meditation)
- Support for training/ CPD (either by way of study leave and/or funding)
- Flexible working arrangements including Flexible Working Policy Agreements, Time Off in Lieu (TOIL) in prior agreement with line manager.
This list is not exhaustive and may be subject to review and/or change.
We look forward to receiving your application and knowing more about your qualifications, skills,
personal qualities and experience that you would bring to the role and to QAC. Please take time to
review the job description above.
Please upload a CV/Resume* with details of your full employment history (since leaving school,
including education, employment and voluntary work) including reasons for any gaps in
employment. This should also include a statement of the personal qualities and experience you
believe are relevant to your suitability for the post and how this meets the job description and
person specification requirements. Your CV/Resume* will be re-produced in a standard format by
the system (without personal identifiers) to assist us in our anonymised shortlisting process.
Under Section 7 of SVGA 2006 it is an offence to apply for the role if the applicant is barred from
engaging in regulated activity relevant to children. The College's Safeguarding Policies are
available
As part of our commitment to safer recruitment, and in line with updated guidance published in
September 2022, we will carry out an online search of all shortlisted candidates. This search may
enable us to identify any incidents or issues that have happened, and publicly available for review
online, which we may wish to explore with you in further detail during the interview process. As part
of your application we have asked you to provide the account names, usernames and/or handles for
any social media platform that you use, as well as the names of any websites that you own, post on,
or contribute to. A Google search will also be conducted. These checks will only be conducted if you
are shortlisted for interview. Please see our safer recruitment and selection policy for further
information.
About Queen Alexandra Charity
Queen Alexandra Charity (QAC) provides education, residential support, community services and enterprises in support of young adults with learning difficulties and disabilities.
Education is provided through a national residential College that supports a diverse range of student/client abilities and needs. Our College provides education, training, routes to independent living and employment through an innovative, holistic approach to learning and support. It offers a vibrant, varied and fun educational experience for both residential and day students. Our curriculum aims to maximise adult life, independence and work opportunities for all students. Class sizes are small and support levels high.
We have educational and learning sites based in Birmingham, one of Europe’s most welcoming and vibrant cities, with a rich and diverse culture. Our main site is based in Harborne, a pleasant leafy Birmingham suburb, on a friendly and green 8-acre campus with excellent facilities and resources. In addition we also have Pinewood Campus which is located on a business park and is designated to employment progression.
Clients within our Residential Services programme still require support and the aim is to deliver a service that provides them with the means to live independently/semi independently into the future. Many clients are either in education, voluntary work or paid employment not linked to QAC directly.
Our Community Services based at our Umberslade Campus in Stirchley include a supporter worker service, women's group, men's group, LGBTQ plus group, Saturday Socials, The Night Owl Experience (disability friendly night club visit in Birmingham City Centre).
Education is provided through a national residential College that supports a diverse range of student/client abilities and needs. Our College provides education, training, routes to independent living and employment through an innovative, holistic approach to learning and support. It offers a vibrant, varied and fun educational experience for both residential and day students. Our curriculum aims to maximise adult life, independence and work opportunities for all students. Class sizes are small and support levels high.
We have educational and learning sites based in Birmingham, one of Europe’s most welcoming and vibrant cities, with a rich and diverse culture. Our main site is based in Harborne, a pleasant leafy Birmingham suburb, on a friendly and green 8-acre campus with excellent facilities and resources. In addition we also have Pinewood Campus which is located on a business park and is designated to employment progression.
Clients within our Residential Services programme still require support and the aim is to deliver a service that provides them with the means to live independently/semi independently into the future. Many clients are either in education, voluntary work or paid employment not linked to QAC directly.
Our Community Services based at our Umberslade Campus in Stirchley include a supporter worker service, women's group, men's group, LGBTQ plus group, Saturday Socials, The Night Owl Experience (disability friendly night club visit in Birmingham City Centre).
All students, clients and staff are supported within safe and well-resourced environments.
QAC makes a positive difference to the lives and learning of people with disabilities and learning difficulties. We have high expectations of staff, students and clients whilst being responsive, innovative and collaborative. Our Charity values drive how we work with students, clients, stakeholders and as a team.
QAC makes a positive difference to the lives and learning of people with disabilities and learning difficulties. We have high expectations of staff, students and clients whilst being responsive, innovative and collaborative. Our Charity values drive how we work with students, clients, stakeholders and as a team.
We continue to attract and retain staff of the highest calibre, who are proud of QAC’s achievements and who wish to be an integral part of ongoing and future successes.
As Leaders in Diversity which drives the culture at QAC and we warmly welcome applications from individuals who share our values, from all backgrounds, to add to our committed and diverse team.
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