Lead Software Engineer

Job summary

As one of our Lead Software Engineers, you will be leading a delivery team of between 6-8 Software and Test Engineers. You will have responsibility for leading the team supporting Critical Business Systems keeping the mariner safe at sea. This role, alongside the delivery manager and product owner, is key to the success of ensuring the systems are maintained, stable and secure.

The work we do really matters to the safety of lives at sea, climate change, environmental management and the ecology of the sea.

As a lead you will be involved in technically leading an Application Support team that owns a number of business critical systems , the work will include dealing with any live incidents, dealing with any security issues, continuous improvement work, and working with other teams/applications that interact with the teams services.

As one of the Lead Engineers, you will also be part of the Technical Leadership group of Engineering, working with the Head of Engineering, helping shape policies and standards and driving the Engineering profession forward.

We encourage and facilitate involvement in wider government, looking at how other Software Engineering depts work and what we can learn from them.

On a personal development level, we have a well-developed framework, access to a whole range of certifications (e.g. we offer all the Microsoft certifications), as well as wider range of other technical and leadership development.

Hybrid working

This job role can be worked on a hybrid basis, which is an informal, non-contractual and voluntary arrangement, working between the office in Taunton and remotely within the UK.

The contractual location for the roles will be our office in Taunton, those individuals who live beyond a reasonable travelling distance from Taunton will be able to work from home unless required to attend the office for in-person events.

For those individuals who live within a reasonable commuting distance of the office, how often individuals attend the office will be agreed on a case by case basis.

Please note there may be occasions when staff are required to travel into the office in Taunton for meetings, however this will be agreed on an individual basis. On these rare occasions the travel and any accommodation would need to be at their own expense.

Part-time hours of 30 hours might be considered for this role.

Job description

• Provide technical leadership to an agile team designing and crafting software solutions, utilising methodologies such as unit testing and pair programming. The team will be focussed on developing and enhancing a set of core services, as well as building in resiliency and maintainability.
• Coaching and mentoring the delivery team.
• Ensure effective use of automated testing and deployment tools to build and support a continuous delivery environment .
• Collaborate with others in the development community, identifying good practices we can adopt and sharing our experiences.
• Share knowledge of tools and techniques with the wider team.
• Continually develop your own skills as part of a programme of continuous professional development.

Person specification

• A broad range of software engineering experience, including developing high-quality .NET applications.
• Experience with supporting, mentoring and developing software and test engineers, fostering an inclusive and collaborative team environment.
• Broad knowledge of design principles and patterns, able to lead the design of systems or components.
• A good knowledge of DevOps principles, for example Continuous Integration or Continuous Delivery.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Leadership
• Developing Self and Others

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• A broad range of software engineering experience, including developing high-quality .NET applications

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £63,558, UK Hydrographic Office contributes £18,412 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

At the UK Hydrographic Office, it's very important to us that our people feel valued.

We offer a huge range of benefits such as training and development, well-being support, flexible/ homeworking, a fantastic state of the art building, high spec equipment, and so much more.

See our attached Candidate Information Pack for more details.

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 candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

How to Apply:

When you click "Apply Now" at the bottom of this page, you will be required to attach your anonymised CV, together with a 500 word supporting statement on the experience criteria below.

Timeline:

• Advert Closes for applications: 22nd October 2026
• Shortlisting: w/c 2nd November 2026
• Interviews: w/c 9th November 2026

We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates change. You will be provided with sufficient notice of the confirmed dates.

Lead Criteria:

We have identified a lead criterion for this role, which we may use to differentiate between applications in the following scenarios:

• To conduct an initial-sift in a high volume of applicants (over 20 applications).

• To establish a merit-order in the event of a tie

The lead criteria for this role are identified below.

Sift/Shortlist Criteria:

All applications are processed anonymously. You will be short-listed against the following criteria:

• A broad range of software engineering experience, including developing high-quality .NET applications
• Experience in providing technical leadership, coaching and supporting engineering teams (lead criteria).

Please ensure that you cover all the above criteria in your CV and 500 word supporting statement.

Interview Criteria:

Experience:

• Experience in providing technical leadership, coaching and supporting engineering teams

Technical:

• A broad range of software engineering experience, including developing high-quality .NET applications

Civil Service Behaviours (Grade 7):

• Communication and Influencing
• Leadership
• Developing Self and Others

See here for furth