NICS IT Apprentices 2025
- Posted by Fearghal Quinn
- Posted in Careers Blog
The IT Apprentice role is an exciting opportunity to gain hands-on experience, learn new skills, and kickstart your career in the dynamic field of information technology. As an IT apprentice within the NICS you can have a positive impact on the day-to-day lives of the people who live and work in NI. Our apprentices will have the opportunity to work alongside talented IT Professionals, and in partnership with numerous stakeholders, who will support you as you take your first steps towards a fulfilling and successful career in IT.
We are recruiting IT Apprentices for both Development and Operational (Infrastructure) roles. Successful candidates may be assigned to either role, depending on business needs.
Development
Development IT Apprentices will gain fundamental programming skills and develop capability to apply these to specific languages and platforms. They will develop a knowledge and understanding of the software development life cycle and contribute to the design, development, and delivery of robust, cost effective and secure business solutions.
IT Operations
Operations IT Apprentices are predominantly based in IT Assist, within the Department of Finance, and will learn how to complete incident management activities on technologies ranging from end user devices to large data centre hosted appliances. Apprentices will also be involved in the day-to-day operations of these technologies to ensure they operate at peak efficiency. They will develop a knowledge and understanding of system administration and monitoring tools and provide technical advice and guidance to users.
Salary
The salary for an ICT Level 1 is £24,336 rising to £25,796 from 1 August 2025.
Career Progression
IT Apprentices will have the opportunity to progress via NICS Career Opportunity and Promotion arrangements (Straight Through Grading) to the next higher grade, on completion of their qualification. Advancement will be conditional on the attainment of the level 3 Apprenticeship NI qualification, satisfactory performance, conduct and attendance, and is dependent on there being available vacancies at the next grade.
Academic Development
Successful candidates will participate in an Apprenticeships work-based training programme with Belfast Metropolitan College. Apprentices (ICT Level 1) will be enrolled on the Level 3 Apprenticeship Programme in IT and Telecoms Professional, studying either Networking Infrastructure or Software Development.
For further information, including eligibility criteria, please click on link below.