Infrastructure Operations Engineer (Operational Comms)

About us  

At Wiltshire Police, we are dedicated to making our community a safer place for everyone. Our team is committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity, professionalism, and service. We believe in creating a supportive and inclusive environment where every member can thrive and make a meaningful impact. Whether you’re just starting your career or looking to advance, Wiltshire Police offers a range of opportunities to grow and develop. Join us, and be part of a team that values courage, compassion, and dedication to public service. Help us to keep Wiltshire safe. 

About our DDaT Services team 

At Wiltshire Police, we're transforming policing through Digital, Data and Technology. We recognise that DDaT is no longer simply an enabler of policing; it is a strategic capability at the heart of how we protect communities, empower our workforce and deliver better public services. As we evolve from a traditional ICT function into a modern, user-centred DDaT organisation, we're embracing cloud technologies, automation, AI, data and digital innovation to create smarter, more connected and resilient services. Join us at the start of an ambitious transformation, where you'll have the opportunity to shape the future of digital policing, work with emerging technologies, influence meaningful change and build a rewarding career that makes a real difference to our organisation and the communities we serve. 

About the role 

The Infrastructure Operations Engineer (Operational Communications) supports the delivery, operation and resilience of mission-critical operational communications services, including Airwave 
radio and associated systems.

The role is responsible for helping ensure that frontline policing communications remain continuously available, secure and reliable, enabling safe and effective delivery of life-critical operations.

You'll contribute to the stability, proactive monitoring and continuous improvement of operational communications services, supporting rapid incident response, service resilience and operational readiness.

What you will be doing  

• Support the operation of Airwave radio and associated operational communications infrastructure, ensuring services are monitored, stable and available for frontline policing and that interoperability with other agencies and emergency services is maintained.
• Assist in the monitoring of operational communications systems, including network status, coverage, availability and service alerts, escalating issues in line with defined procedures.
• Identify, log and categorise operational communications incidents, ensuring accurate information capture and timely escalation to senior engineers, suppliers or on-call support.
• Support incident management activities for live operational communications issues, including assisting with diagnostics, restoration actions and communication updates.
• Assist with major incident support, ensuring accurate logging, status tracking and support to senior responders during critical or multi-agency events.
• Undertake technical configuration of radio systems including software and radio hardware/asset upgrades
• Carry out routine operational checks on radio systems, control room interfaces and supporting infrastructure, ensuring service readiness and identifying early signs of degradation.
• Support planned maintenance and change activities affecting operational
  communications, following strict change control to minimise risk to live policing operations.
• Create and own robust test plans for end to end user functionality and interfaces with other connected systems such as control room technology
• Assist with service continuity and resilience activities, including backup checks, failover validation and reporting on system readiness for major incidents.
• Support device and asset management processes for operational communications equipment (e.g. radio devices), ensuring records are accurate, auditable and up to date.
• Maintain and update operational communications documentation, including runbooks, checklists, escalation paths and standard operating procedures.
• Apply and follow security, accreditation and cryptographic control procedures, escalating any risks relating to access, devices or communications security.
• Support service transition and early life support for changes impacting Airwave or future ESN services, helping ensure operational readiness.
• Work collaboratively with control rooms, operational policing teams and technical teams, ensuring a coordinated approach to service support.
• Liaise with suppliers and national service providers to support fault resolution, service performance and escalation activities.
• Contribute to continuous service improvement, identifying recurring issues, trends or risks within operational communications services.
• Develop detailed knowledge of operational communications environments, including Airwave, ESN transition, radio systems and critical communications infrastructure, including Control Room.
• Take ownership of continuous professional development, proactively maintaining, developing and demonstrating the application of skills, knowledge and behaviours required for the role, ensuring professional capability remains current, effective and aligned to evolving technologies, standards and ways of working.

About you and your experience  

• ITIL 4 Foundation certification. 
• Foundation-level IT / Computing qualification or equivalent early-career experience in infrastructure operations
• Experience in Incident Management – can identify and register incidents, gathering the required information and allocating it to the appropriate channel
• Ownership and Initiative – can show an awareness of problem resolution processes and pass problems on to your team
• Problem Management – can investigate problems in systems, processes and services, with an understanding of the level of a problem, for example, strategic, tactical or operational and contribute to the implementation of remedies and preventative measures
• User Focus – can show an awareness or understanding of user experience analysis and its principles and explain the purpose of user stories and the focus on user needs

What we offer

• Excellent career development opportunities 
• Professional development and training
• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays, rising to 30 days
• Hybrid working (3 days in the office)
• Flexi hours scheme 
• Free On-Site Gym membership 
• Physical and mental well-being support 
• Generous Pension scheme 

Please note, all roles will be subject to a vetting procedure, some roles due to the nature of their work, will require additional security clearance. 

Depending on the number of applications received, we reserve the right to close this role early. 

We are proud of being a truly inclusive organisation who provides fair and equal consideration to all of our applicants. We encourage and welcome applications from people of all ages, genders, ethnicities, nationalities, disabilities, sexual orientation, religions or beliefs and of neuro divergence.  

If there are any adjustments we could make to the recruitment and selection process to support you, please let us know.