Software Engineer (Development)

Change your career, change lives

The Open University is the UK's largest university, a world leader in flexible part-time education, combining a mission to widen access to higher education with research excellence, transforming lives through education. Find out more about us and our mission by watching this short video (you will be taken to YouTube by clicking this link).

About Digital Services

Digital Services is at the heart of delivering life-changing learning experiences that enrich society. We combine trusted design, data expertise, and cutting-edge technology to support lifelong learning.

Our objectives are to:

• Enhance the student and staff experience through simple, evidence-based solutions.
• Deliver value iteratively, securely, and at speed.
• Foster a vibrant, supportive workplace that embraces continuous learning and growth, empowering everyone to succeed.

As a service-led institution, we are committed to simplifying and improving how we work by organizing ourselves around the services we provide. This enables us to design and deliver outstanding services effectively and efficiently.

With our ethos of being “open to people, places, methods, and ideas,” we proudly support students in every setting imaginable—from submarines to prisons, and everywhere in between. We take pride in enabling our academics to teach and our students to learn, no matter the circumstances.

About the Role

As a Software Engineer (Development) (known internally as an Engineer (Development)) at The Open University, you will be part of the Teaching and Learning group, a dynamic and innovative team dedicated to delivering world-class online educational software to our staff and over a hundred thousand students. Collaborating closely with engineers, designers, and product owners, you will build scalable and efficient solutions that meet user needs and support the organisation’s goals.

You will actively participate in all stages of the software development lifecycle, from analysing requirements and designing system architectures to coding, testing, and deploying applications. Your contribution will ensure our solutions are secure, reliable, robust, accessible and user-friendly.

We’re looking for a motivated engineer with a solid foundation in software development and a passion for learning and innovation. If you enjoy solving complex problems, thrive in a collaborative environment, and are eager to grow your skills, this role offers the perfect opportunity to work on meaningful projects and advance your career.

Join our friendly, dynamic team and help shape the future of our applications across our diverse technology stack, including both on-premises and AWS cloud platform. Work with a range of applications and tools including Moodle, the open source platform used as a basis for all our online learning systems, and Azure DevOps, used in our agile workflow and for automation. You will work across both front-end and back-end using a range of technologies, primarily PHP and JavaScript (for developers without Moodle or PHP experience, we will provide training and support).

As a vital part of our agile team, you’ll contribute ideas, tackle technical challenges, and mentor junior engineers while supporting our commitment to continuous improvement and development.

The Open University is an employer committed to the ongoing development of staff both through its own award-winning distance teaching and industry standard training programmes. As an organisation it promotes a healthy work life balance with a generous leave allowance, a Christmas closure period and flexible working. Our team work remotely and at the university main campus in Milton Keynes. You should be able to attend in-person meetings, on campus, when required.

Key Responsibilities

• Participate in Software Development: Contribute to the development and enhancement of software systems throughout the software lifecycle, from design to deployment, following best practices and industry standards.
• System & Software Design: Assist in the design and documentation of software and system architectures, ensuring that solutions are scalable, reliable, and meet The Open University's needs.
• Program & Debug Software: Write, test, and maintain high-quality code with accompanying test scripts and documentation, ensuring that it is well-structured, efficient, and aligns with project requirements.
• Assist with System Integration: Support the integration of various software components and systems, ensuring seamless interoperability and functionality.
• Lead Testing Efforts: Design and execute test plans to validate software quality, ensuring functionality, performance, and security requirements are met.
• Support Software Configuration Management: Manage software configuration and version control, ensuring that changes are tracked, documented, and easily retrievable.
• Data Modelling & Database Design: Contribute to data modelling and assist with database design to support application development and data integrity.
• User Experience & Analysis: Support user experience design and analysis to ensure that the software solutions are user-friendly and meet stakeholder expectations.
• Monitor Emerging Technologies: Stay updated with emerging technologies and assess their potential impact on current and future projects.
• Information Security & Quality Assurance: Implement security measures and contribute to quality assurance processes to maintain the integrity and reliability of software systems.
• Contribute to Services, Products & Requirements Analysis: Engage in business analysis to understand stakeholder needs and help define and document technical requirements.
• Evaluate Feasibility: Conduct feasibility assessments for proposed solutions to determine their technical viability and alignment with project goals.
• Non-functional Testing: Perform non-functional testing to ensure systems meet performance, scalability, and security standards.
• Support Application & System Operations: Provide support for application and system operations, assisting in incident management, including out-of-hours as required, and ensuring smooth functioning of services.
• Availability & Capacity Planning: Contribute to managing system availability and capacity, ensuring that services are reliable and scalable to meet current and future needs.
• Problem Management: Participate in problem management processes, helping to identify and resolve underlying issues to improve system stability.

You will support this work by developing and advocating for the Open University’s Engineering manifesto and promoting best practices.

About You

Key Skills and Experience:

• Proven Software Development Experience: At least 2 years’ experience in a software development role.
• Software Development Lifecycle: Solid understanding of the software development lifecycle, including design, development, testing, and deployment.
• Software Design and Development: Strong skills in designing and developing software solutions that are scalable and efficient.
• Advanced Testing Knowledge: Proficient in functional and non-fun