SFIA 9 skills directory A–Z
Search for or browse the skills in SFIA 9.
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- Generic attributes, business skills and behavioural factors.
- also known as workplace skills, employability skills, 21st-century skills, transferable skills, transversal skills, durable skills, power skills, or soft skills
- SFIA 9 change tracker - For full details of changes for SFIA 9 - use the Excel sheet
| Title | Skill code | Description | Tags | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Network design | NTDS | Designing communication networks to meet business requirements, ensuring scalability, reliability, security and alignment with strategic objectives. | Small change, New level | |
| Network support | NTAS | Providing maintenance and support services for communications networks. | Large change, New level | |
| Non-functional testing | NFTS | Assessing systems and services to evaluate performance, security, scalability and other non-functional qualities against requirements or expected standards. | Structural change, New skill | |
| Numerical analysis | NUAN | Creating, analysing, implementing, testing and improving algorithms for numerically solving mathematical problems. | Guidance notes | |
| Offensive cyber operations | OCOP | Plans, executes and manages offensive cybersecurity operations, including target selection, electronic target folders and post-operation analysis. | New skill | |
| Organisation design and implementation | ORDI | Planning, designing and implementing an integrated organisation structure and culture. | Guidance notes, New level | |
| Organisational capability development | OCDV | Providing leadership, advice and implementation support to assess organisational capabilities and to identify, prioritise and implement improvements. | ||
| Organisational change enablement | OCEN | Facilitates cultural and behavioural change by enabling individuals and teams to embed new ways of working and adapt to changes. | New skill | |
| Organisational change management | CIPM | Planning, designing and implementing activities to transition the organisation and people to the required future state. | New level | |
| Organisational facilitation | OFCL | Supporting workgroups to implement principles and practices for effective teamwork across organisational boundaries and professional specialisms. | ||
| Penetration testing | PENT | Testing the effectiveness of security controls by emulating the tools and techniques of likely attackers. | Small change, New level, Guidance notes | |
| Performance management | PEMT | Improving organisational performance by developing the performance of individuals and workgroups to meet agreed objectives with measurable results. | Small change | |
| Portfolio management | POMG | Developing and applying a management framework to define and deliver a portfolio of programmes, projects and/or ongoing services. | ||
| Portfolio, programme and project support | PROF | Providing support and guidance on portfolio, programme and project management processes, procedures, tools and techniques. | Small change | |
| Problem management | PBMG | Managing the lifecycle of all problems that have occurred or could occur in delivering a service. | New level | |
| Process testing | PRTS | Assessing documented and undocumented process flows within a product, system or service against business needs through investigation and testing. | New skill, Structural change | |
| Product management | PROD | Managing and developing products or services throughout their full lifecycle, from inception through growth, maturity, and decline, to retirement. | New level, Structural change | |
| Professional development | PDSV | Facilitating the professional development of individuals in line with their career goals and organisational requirements. | ||
| Programme management | PGMG | Identifying, planning and coordinating a set of related projects and activities in support of specific business strategies and objectives. | Guidance notes | |
| Programming/software development | PROG | Developing software components to deliver value to stakeholders. | ||
| Project management | PRMG | Delivering agreed project outcomes by aligning appropriate management techniques, collaboration, leadership and governance to specific project and organisational contexts. | Small change | |
| Quality assurance | QUAS | Assuring, through ongoing and periodic assessments and reviews, that the organisation’s quality objectives are being met. | New level, Guidance notes | |
| Quality management | QUMG | Defining and operating a management framework of processes and working practices to deliver the organisation's quality objectives. | New level, Guidance notes | |
| Radio frequency engineering | RFEN | Designing, installing and maintaining radio frequency based devices and software. | ||
| Real-time/embedded systems development | RESD | Designing and developing reliable real-time software typically within embedded systems. | Guidance notes, Small change | |
| Records management | RMGT | Planning, implementing and managing the full lifecycle of organisational records. | New skill | |
| Release management | RELM | Managing the release of new and updated services into production, ensuring alignment with business objectives and compliance standards. | Large change, Split, New level, Re-named | |
| Requirements definition and management | REQM | Managing requirements through the entire delivery and operational lifecycle. | ||
| Resourcing | RESC | Acquiring, deploying and onboarding resources. | New level, Guidance notes | |
| Risk management | BURM | Planning and implementing processes for managing risk across the enterprise, aligned with organisational strategy and governance frameworks. | New level, Guidance notes | |
| Safety assessment | SFAS | Assessing safety-related software and hardware systems to determine compliance with standards and required levels of safety integrity. | ||
| Safety engineering | SFEN | Applying appropriate methods to assure safety during all lifecycle phases of safety-related systems developments. | New level | |
| Sales support | SSUP | Providing advice and support to the sales force, customers and sales partners. | Guidance notes | |
| Scientific modelling | SCMO | Applying computer simulation and other forms of computation to solve real-world problems in scientific disciplines. | Guidance notes | |
| Security operations | SCAD | Manages and administers security measures, using tools and intelligence to protect assets, ensuring compliance and operational integrity. | Large change, Split | |
| Selling | SALE | Finding prospective customers and working with them to identify needs, influence purchase decisions and enhance future business opportunities. | Small change | |
| Service acceptance | SEAC | Managing the process to obtain formal confirmation that service acceptance criteria have been met. | New level, Guidance notes, Large change | |
| Service catalogue management | SCMG | Providing a source of consistent information about available services and products to customers and users. | New level | |
| Service level management | SLMO | Agreeing targets for service levels and assessing, monitoring and managing the delivery of services against the targets. | ||
| Software configuration | PORT | Designing and deploying software product configurations into software environments or platforms. | New level, Guidance notes | |
| Software design | SWDN | Architecting and designing software to meet specified requirements, ensuring adherence to established standards and principles. | Small change | |
| Solution architecture | ARCH | Developing and communicating a multi-dimensional solution architecture to deliver agreed business outcomes. | Small change | |
| Sourcing | SORC | Managing, or providing advice on, the procurement or commissioning of products and services. | Large change | |
| Specialist advice | TECH | Providing authoritative, professional advice and direction in a specialist area. | Small change | |
| Stakeholder relationship management | RLMT | Systematically analysing, managing and influencing stakeholder relationships to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes through structured engagement. | Small change | |
| Storage management | STMG | Provisioning, configuring and optimising on-premises and cloud-based storage solutions, ensuring data availability, security and alignment with business objectives. | Small change, New level, Guidance notes | |
| Strategic planning | ITSP | Creating and maintaining organisational-level strategies to align overall business plans, actions and resources with high-level business objectives. | New level, Small change | |
| Subject formation | SUBF | Specifying, designing and developing curricula within a structured and systematic education environment. | ||
| Supplier management | SUPP | Aligning the organisation’s supplier performance objectives and activities with sourcing strategies and plans, balancing costs, efficiencies and service quality. | Small change | |
| Sustainability | SUST | Advising and leading sustainability initiatives to reduce environmental impact and ensure compliance with relevant standards and regulations. | Guidance notes, Small change | |
| System software administration | SYSP | Installing, managing and maintaining operating systems, data management, office automation and utility software across various infrastructure environments. | New level, Re-named, Large change | |
| Systems and software lifecycle engineering | SLEN | Establishing and deploying an environment for developing, continually improving and securely operating software and systems products and services. | Guidance notes, New level | |
| Systems design | DESN | Designing systems to meet specified requirements and agreed systems architectures. | Small change, New level | |
| Systems development management | DLMG | Planning, estimating and executing systems development work to time, budget and quality targets. | New level | |
| Systems installation and removal | HSIN | Installing and testing, or decommissioning and removing, systems or system components. | ||
| Systems integration and build | SINT | Planning, implementing and controlling activities to integrate system elements, subsystems and interfaces to create operational systems, products or services. | Small change | |
| Teaching | TEAC | Delivering and assessing curricula in a structured and systematic education environment. | ||
| Technology service management | ITMG | Managing the provision of technology-based services to meet defined organisational needs. | Small change | |
| Threat intelligence | THIN | Developing and sharing actionable insights on current and potential security threats to the success or integrity of an organisation. | Guidance notes | |
| User acceptance testing | BPTS | Validating systems, products, business processes or services to determine whether the acceptance criteria have been satisfied. | Small change, Re-named | |
| User experience analysis | UNAN | Understanding the context of use for systems, products and services and specifying user experience requirements and design goals. | New level | |
| User experience design | HCEV | Producing design concepts and prototypes for user interactions and experiences of a product, system or service. | New level | |
| User experience evaluation | USEV | Validating systems, products or services against user experience goals, metrics and targets. | ||
| User research | URCH | Identifying users' behaviours, needs and motivations using observational research methods. | New level, Small change | |
| Vulnerability assessment | VUAS | Identifying and classifying security vulnerabilities in networks, systems and applications and mitigating or eliminating their impact. | ||
| Vulnerability research | VURE | Conducting applied research to discover, evaluate and mitigate new or unknown security vulnerabilities and weaknesses. | Small change, New level, Guidance notes | |
| Workforce planning | WFPL | Strategically projecting the demand for people and skills and proactively planning the workforce supply to meet organisational needs. | Small change, Guidance notes |