Senior Developer

Job summary

The Government Digital Service (GDS) is the digital centre of government. We are responsible for setting, leading and delivering the vision for a modern digital government.

Our priorities are to drive a modern digital government, by:

1. joining up public sector services
2. harnessing the power of AI for the public good
3. strengthening and extending our digital and data public infrastructure
4. elevating leadership and investing in talent
5. funding for outcomes and procuring for growth and innovation
6. committing to transparency and driving accountability

We are home to the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence (I.AI), the world-leading GOV.UK and at the forefront of coordinating the UK’s geospatial strategy and activity. We lead the Government Digital and Data function and champion the work of digital teams across government.

We’re part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and employ more than 1,000 people all over the UK, with hubs in Manchester, London and Bristol.

The Government Digital Service is where talent translates into impact. From your first day, you’ll be working with some of the world’s most highly skilled digital professionals, all contributing their knowledge to make change on a national scale.

Join us for rewarding work that makes a difference across the UK. You'll solve some of the nation’s highest-priority digital challenges, helping millions of people access services they need

Job description

Former DSIT recruitment campaigns are continuing as usual, but candidates should be aware that following the Government’s announcement on the changes to some civil service departments, roles will be subject to the machinery of government moves and will ultimately be in one of the new departments. We will provide more information if you are selected for a role. This work remains of high importance to the civil service, and we thank you for your continued interest.

The National Data Library will be a single trusted gateway to curated, high-quality public sector data. We are transforming the government’s open data portal, data.gov.uk into the National Data Library to improve how we support problem solvers to use public data. We have an ambitious roadmap with the goal to maximise the use of available data to make good decisions, build innovative services, learn and experiment.

As a Senior Developer, you’ll play a key role in building and improving the performance of the National Data Library platform.

Read about what it’s like working at GDS as a developer on the GDS blog.

As a Senior Developer, you’ll:

• work within a multi-disciplinary product team and lead the design, development, and maintenance of robust, scalable open data services and APIs
• provide strategic technical leadership by setting software architecture, engineering practices, and technical direction across the team
• define and evolve scalable, secure design patterns and coding standards, ensuring alignment with GDS standards and cross-government platforms
• collaborate with teams to select technologies, shape roadmaps, and deliver resilient, maintainable digital services that meet programme goals
• represent the department at technical forums, open-source communities, and government working groups
• ensure delivery aligns with the Service Standard, Technology Code of Practice, and departmental governance processes

Person specification

We’re interested in people who have experience:

• collaborating effectively with others to develop, deploy and improve containerised cloud-based applications; and can demonstrate strong coding ability in Python and familiarity with HTML, CSS and JavaScript
• using modern software development principles and supporting web application technologies including Docker and Kubernetes; and can demonstrate experience using GitHub as a version control system to document development effectively
• communicating effectively with non-technical users and explaining complex technical concepts in a clear, accessible way
• identifying, locating and fixing service faults
• designing systems of moderate risk, impact and complexity; selecting appropriate design standards, methods and tools; and reviewing designs to ensure suitable technology choices, efficient resource use and effective system integration.
• defining integration builds, coordinating build activities across systems, and understanding how to undertake and support integration testing activities
• understanding common web security risks such as OWASP Top 10, and the corresponding mitigations
• working under guidance to identify process optimisation opportunities and contributing to the implementation of proposed solutions

Benefits

There are many benefits of working at GDS, including:

• flexible hybrid working with flexi-time and the option to work part-time or condensed hours
• a Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%
• 25 days of annual leave, increasing by a day each year up to a maximum of 30 days
• an extra day off for the King’s birthday
• an in-year bonus scheme to recognise high performance
• career progression and coaching, including a training budget for personal development
• a focus on wellbeing with access to an employee assistance programme
• job satisfaction from making government services easier to use and more inclusive for people across the UK
• advances on pay, including for travel season tickets
• death in service benefits
• cycle to work scheme and facilities
• access to an employee discounts scheme
• 10 learning days per year
• volunteering opportunities (5 special leave days per year)
• access to a suite of learning activities through Civil Service learning

Any move to Government Digital Service from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

Office attendance
The Department operates a discretionary hybrid working policy, which provides for a combination of working hours from your place of work and from your home in the UK. The current expectation for staff is to attend the office or non-home based location for 40-60% of the time over the accounting period.
DSIT does not normally offer full home working (i.e. working at home); but we do offer a variety of flexible working options (including occasionally working from home).

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our cand