Careers in the Department of Social Protection

The Department of Social Protection's mission is to promote active participation and inclusion in society through the provision of income supports, employment services and other services.

The department is the largest payment organisation in the State. It also operates the public employment service and directly funds a wide range of employment programmes and citizen advisory services.

The department's main functions are to:

• advise government and formulate appropriate social protection and social inclusion policies
• design, develop and deliver effective and cost efficient income supports, activation and employment services, advice to customers and other related services
• work towards providing seamless delivery of services in conjunction with other government departments, agencies and bodies
• control fraud and abuse within the social protection system

The department plays a key role in two of the major government policy domains – the distribution and re-distribution of income to assure social cohesion and equity of economic outcomes, and the efficient operation of the supply side of the labour market.

You can read more about the department's goals in the Statement of Strategy.

Recruitment for the Department of Social Protection is generally conducted, through open competition, by the Public Appointments Service (PAS). PAS is the centralised provider of recruitment, assessment and selection services for the civil service and is the main access route for candidates interested in joining the public service.

All information for any current open positions and information relating to PAS is available on the Public Jobs website.

Open competition for appointment of Administrative Officer (AO) - Information and Communications Technology in the Department of Social Protection (Sligo)

We have exciting opportunities for ICT graduates in our Information Systems Division (ISD) at the Department of Social Protection of, one of Ireland's largest government departments.

This position will play a key role in supporting the department's digital transformation agenda and the modernisation of service delivery through innovative technology solutions. We are seeking motivated ICT graduates with strong technical aptitude to join our dynamic team in developing and maintaining mission-critical systems.

Working as part of the ISD Team, the person(s) appointed to the role will be engaged in a range of functions which may include some or all of the following:

• software development on complex bespoke platforms and business applications including the department’s modern integrated Business Object Model implementation, and the department’s award winning MyGovID, MyWelfare and WelfarePartners online platforms
• business continuity planning, process improvement, implementing standards such as ISO and ITIL
• support for the development of ICT strategic and operational policy including input to the overarching eGovernment, information sharing and shared services agenda
• play an active role as part of the team involved in designing, developing, testing and supporting end-to-end business solutions for use internally and by customers of the department
• develop server-side applications within a Microsoft based stack, with experience in both frontend and backend development across languages such as C#, VB.NET, Java, Python, JavaScript and COBOL
• develop software for websites, web applications, desktop, batch jobs and mobile apps
• develop UI interfaces using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, desktop UI builders and other UI development methods
• analysis and business process re-engineering to determine solutions for complex business problems
• testing, including accessibility testing of software
• develop and maintain a broad knowledge of technology solutions, current trends and techniques and proactively pursue new technology developments
• play an active role on the team working with business units in the Department to identify ICT/digital needs, opportunities and solutions
• explain complex technical information to a non-technical audience, potentially including as part of user support and training programmes
• create and maintain comprehensive technical documentation
• research a topic and summarise findings
• undertake such training and development as may be required to ensure that you stay up to date with the technologies in your area of operations
• assist with the procurement of ICT/digital services and products as may be required; and such other duties as may be assigned from time to time by your manager

Candidates should note that the role responsibilities as outlined are not exhaustive and that additional duties may be assigned.

The links to apply for these specialist roles are within the candidate information booklet below.

State Boards allows applications to open positions.