Technical Skills

Characterise most important knowledge and skills the practitioner will require to achieve proficiency in the role.

Knowledge & Skill Depth — Rating Scale

Summation of the most important knowledge and skills that are needed for competence in all the Work Activities that make up the Task. Qualified by Depth — the degree of the Knowledge & Skill that the practitioner requires to perform a particular Task:

[1] Aware of

Knows that the Knowledge/Skills component exists, and has a general idea of how and when it might be used. However, needs training (formal or informal) and guidance before being competent to apply it.

[2] Familiar with

Is appropriately trained (this may be informal training, achieved by doing the job), and is actively gaining experience by using the Knowledge/Skill on a routine basis.

[3] Proficient in

Is competent in the Knowledge/Skill component, is able to communicate it, and to advise and instruct others with confidence (by clear explanation, coaching etc). Does not need any more training, except perhaps to keep up to date.

[4] Expert in

Is both highly trained and highly experienced, and has comprehensive knowledge of all aspects of the Knowledge/Skill component. Is respected and acknowledged as a source of definitive guidance, and can confidently provide solutions to complex problems in the subject area.

# Knowledge Description Depth
1 Software Testing Testing techniques used to plan and execute software tests of all application components (functional and non-functional) to verify that the software satisfies specified requirements and to detect errors. Expert in
2 User Acceptance Testing (UAT) Scripts Methods and techniques for creating and executing user acceptance testing (UAT) scripts as part of a larger test process. Expert in
3 Software Quality Assurance Techniques Methods, processes and techniques concerned with quality assurance planning, software quality evaluation, creation of quality processes, configuration management, and quality reviews and audits. Expert in
4 Test Management Techniques Principles, methods, techniques and tools for the effective management of the testing process and the execution of tests throughout the lifecycle of development or integration projects. Expert in
5 Application Systems Technical or functional understanding of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) applications and/or other bespoke software deployed in the organisation in order to provide system configuration, audit, technical and/or functional support. Proficient in
6 Metrics The collection, analysis and application of historical and/or synthetic measurements for the estimation and reporting of IT activities, or for business intelligence purposes. Proficient in
7 Corporate, Industry and Professional Standards Applying standards, practices, codes and assessment and certification programmes relevant to the IT industry and the specific organisation or business domain. Proficient in
8 Software Testing Tools Software tools which automate or assist any part of the testing process across all or part of the testing lifecycle. Proficient in
9 Development Approach
  • Understanding and application of different development approaches e.g. iterative/incremental methodologies (agile, XP, TDD, SCRUM) or traditional sequential methodologies (waterfall or V-model).
  • Irrespective of development methodology, a DevOps approach may also be taken where development and operational staff work collaboratively.
 Proficient in
10 Scripting Languages Knowledge and understanding of interpreted languages and tools used to automate software apps, web pages, or shell usage of an operating system. Proficient in
11 DevOps
  • The collaborative approach consisting of agile practices, tools, processes and procedures designed to facilitate rapid IT service and product delivery.
  • DevOps emphasises people (and culture), processes and tools, such as continuous integration and deployment, to improve collaboration between development (Dev) and operations (Ops) teams with the aim of shortening the systems development lifecycle and provide continuous release of high-quality software.
 Proficient in
12 Agile
  • A collection of methods, practices, tools and techniques, underpinned by the Agile Manifesto, that enable teams to develop products and services iteratively and deliver them in increments.
  • An agile culture typically features iterations/sprints, daily stand-ups, show and tells, and retrospectives, and the deployment of techniques such as product backlogs, MoSCoW/WSJF prioritisation and A/B testing.
 Proficient in
13 Operating Systems 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. Proficient in
14 Configuration Management - The discipline that gives precise control over assets and components by recording and maintaining information about the ‘configuration items, including hardware devices, computer programs, software licences, documentation, network devices and data centre facilities (virtualised and static). Proficient in
15 Operational/Service Architecture Knowledge of the IT/IS infrastructure and the IT applications and service processes used within own organisation, including those associated with sustainability and efficiency. Proficient in
16 Release Management Managing the processes, systems and functions to package, build, test and deploy changes and updates which are bounded as releases into the pre-production or production environment; concession management on acceptance of level of non-conforming release items. Proficient in
17 Networking and Communications The planning and management of the interaction between two or more networking systems, computers or other intelligent devices. Proficient in
18 Incident Management Tools Including interrogation of incident database, creation of parent and child incidents, creation of queries to seek trends and use of known error logs/databases. Proficient in
19 Information Retrieval Tools The application of automated (software) tools that enable selective access to information, or extraction of patterns and knowledge from large amounts of data, typically held within some form of database or data warehouse (also referred to as data mining). Proficient in
20 Systems Monitoring Tools Tools, techniques and systems to facilitate real-time monitoring and control of IT systems and infrastructure. Proficient in
21 Application Development Tools Software tools which automate or assist part of the development process. Familiar with
22 Containerisation Tools and Techniques
  • The understanding and application of containers and container orchestration;
  • the management, tools and techniques used to bundle aplications and environments into one image that can be run consistently on any infrastructure including on-premises servers, virtual machines or on stand alone devices.
 Familiar with
23 Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) The understanding, configuration and operation of continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) tools, and the techniques used, within a DevOps approach to software development, to automate software build, test, and deployment. Familiar with
24 Cyber Security Concepts The understanding of cyber security concepts and ability to effectively translate and accurately communicate security and risk implications across technical and non-technical stakeholders so that they are understood and applied. Familiar with
25 Business Environment
  • The business environment relating to own sphere of work (own organisation and/or closely associated organisations such as customers, suppliers, partners and competitors).
  • In particular those aspects of the business that the specialism is to support (i.e. localised organisational awareness from a technical perspective).
 Familiar with
26 IT Environment The IT environment relating to own sphere of work (own organisation and/or closely associated organisations such as customers, suppliers, partners), in particular own organisation’s technical platforms and those that integrate into them. Familiar with
27 Service Management Tools Knowledge and understanding of collaborative tools used in IT Service Management. Familiar with
28 Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) Tools Tools and techniques used for the automation and management of the software development lifecycle (SDLC) process. Familiar with
29 Database Software Software that enables the user to capture, create, populate and manipulate data structures and, where appropriate, unstructured data. Familiar with
30 Structured Reviews Methods and techniques for structured reviews, including reviews of technical work products, test plans, business cases, architectures and any other key deliverables. Familiar with
31 Big Data
  • The discipline associated with data sets so large and/or complex that traditional data processing applications are inadequate.
  • The data files may include structured, unstructured and/or semi-structured data, such as unstructured text, audio, video etc.
  • Challenges include analysis, capture, curation, search, sharing, storage, transfer, manipulation, analysis, visualisation and information privacy.
 Familiar with
32 Cloud/Virtualisation
  • The principles and application of cloud/virtualisation (including ownership, responsibilities and security implications).
  • Use of tools and systems to manage virtualised environments.
 Familiar with
33 International Standards Current and emerging standards associated with IT practice nationally and internationally, published by authorities such as IEEE, IEC, BSI, ISO. Familiar with

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