Tooling Innovation Specialist

Job Description

At BT International, our purpose is to keep the world connected. As part of BT, we build on almost 180 years of innovation and expertise to deliver secure connectivity and digital services to some of the world’s leading multinational businesses and organisations. Our customers trust us to safeguard their data, drive their digital transformation and keep their businesses running.

With colleagues on the ground across the world and supporting customers wherever they need to operate, BT International offers a truly global experience. Whether it’s about providing cloud connectivity, helping organisations collaborate, or enabling innovation in cybersecurity and digital services, you’ll be part of a team that shapes how businesses succeed in a world that is being transformed by AI.

If you have the drive and ambition to make an impact on a global stage, BT International is where it happens.

Why this job matters

BT International provides network, security, IT, and voice managed services to a wide range of customers. From Critical National Infrastructure and public services to large multinationals, corporates, wholesalers, and small businesses, our customers rely on these managed services to operate and deliver on their commitments.

This role is responsible for driving innovation across the end-to-end technological ecosystem underpinning BT International’s products and service offerings. It will play a pivotal role in the transformation of BT International’s operations by working with multiple stakeholders to ingest requirements, design solutions, and deliver continuous service improvements.

The role involves close collaboration with internal and external suppliers to:

• Enhance the use of existing tools, systems, and automation.
• Identify capability gaps and develop business cases for investment.
• Drive improvements across business processes, product delivery, employee experience, and ultimately, customer outcomes.

The team will be measured on its success in delivering innovation alongside the ethos of continuous improvement that drives operational excellence today.

What you’ll be doing – your accountabilities

1. Drive the engineering organisation’s ability to deliver high-quality code on time and on budget, embedding measurability and predictability into engineering capabilities.
2. Oversee technical decisions, technology choices, and architectures for high-performance products and platforms, balancing short-term impact with long-term transformation.
3. Monitor and manage timely releases, ensuring compliance with release quality metrics.
4. Provide consultation on complex and strategic issues using advanced technical knowledge, developing bespoke or leading-edge solutions.
5. Drive the implementation of the technical roadmap to meet business and engineering needs.
6. Implement engineering and operational excellence initiatives, including metrics and processes for continuous assessment and improvement.
7. Act as an influencer within the software engineering function, implementing the technical vision and driving innovation in new technologies, platforms, and applications.
8. Develop “best-in-class” engineering services, ensuring components are modularised, secure, reliable, diagnosable, actively monitored, and reusable.
9. Oversee the implementation of new architectures, standards, and methods for enterprise-scale systems, proactively removing blockers for the team.
10. Perform research and deep-dive data analysis to identify issues and reduce technical debt.
11. Support the adoption of new architectures, standards, and methods for enterprise systems.
12. Coordinate the evaluation and deployment of high-quality tools and automation to support continuous delivery and developer productivity.
13. Build and maintain an engineering culture that fosters innovation and creativity while ensuring predictable and reliable delivery.
14. Champion and share knowledge on emerging software engineering trends.
15. Conduct market research into the latest technology trends and competitor activity to shape innovation direction.
16. Present BT’s innovation capabilities to support customer bids, requiring strong presentation and PowerPoint skills.

The skills you’ll need to succeed

• Minimum 3 years’ experience in a managed service provider or telecommunications company.
• Strong ability to lead technical discussions and deliver complex customer outcomes.
• ITIL v4 Foundation certification (mandatory).
• Degree in Business IT or related field (preferred).
• Background in DevOps, ITSM, OSS tooling, or related technologies (preferred).
• Experience with ServiceNow, Entuity Network Analytics, IBM SevOne, NetBrain Technologies, Ansible Platform (advantageous).

Additional capabilities:

• Storytelling with data – ability to build cases for change, drawing on analytics, and communicate effectively to business audiences.
• Business acumen – understanding of business strategy, organisational performance drivers (including people), and financial literacy (KPIs, business cases).

Experience you’d be expected to have

• Mandatory: ITIL v4 Foundation.
• Preferred: Degree educated and aligned to a professional body.
• Preferred: Background in BSS ITSM tooling, OSS tooling management, and/or MSP/Telco services.

Key decisions

• Allocation and prioritisation of work, including CapEx and front-door projects, ensuring delivery on time and to SLA.
• Delivering on commitments to the business, department, and customers.
• Simplifying the use of tools, systems, and automation to improve employee experience, in line with IT, governance, and security policies.
• Evolving the tooling strategy across managed services capabilities, identifying vendors and future technologies.

Leadership accountabilities

Looking in – Owning outcomes
I take the right decisions that benefit the broader organisation.

Looking out – Delivering for the customer
I execute brilliantly on clear priorities that add value to our customers and the wider business.

Looking to the future – Building for the future
I build diverse, future-ready teams where all individuals can be at their best.

Additional Allowances & Benefits

• Bonus
• Company car or car allowance
• Health Insurance
• Cafeteria
• Smart working allowance

A few points to note

Although these roles are listed as full-time, if you’re a job share partnership, work reduced hours, or any other way of working flexibly, please still get in touch.

Please note that as part of our recruitment process, we conduct background checks, which include verification of the highest educational qualification. Additionally, for certain positions, a certificate of good conduct may be requested following a successful application.

Don’t meet every single requirement?

Studies have shown that women and people who are disabled, LGBTQ+, neurodiverse or from ethnic minority backgrounds are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single qualification and criteria. We're committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace where everyone can be their best. So, if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every requirement in the Job Description, please apply anyway – you may just be the right candidate for this or other roles in our wider team.