About the job

Job summary

The Department for Business and Trade has a unique opportunity to unleash the power of UK businesses, reform regulation to reduce burdens and unlock post-Brexit freedoms.    

Job Description   

  Let us tell you a little bit about the role…  

 You will provide technical leadership to the developers in one project team, or a small number of related project teams, and provide technical leadership. You will work together with other leads and the Principal Developer to help shape policies, standards and drive forward the profession of software development.  An expert in various technical areas, or a specialist with very deep knowledge in a particular technical area, who can guide other developers. You’ll have delivered user-centred features and services rapidly within an agile environment. You’ll champion code quality through developer ownership and emerging technologies. You’ll provide technical leadership, coaching and mentoring for your team. You’ll have experience measuring and communicating project progress to stakeholders. Alongside these skills you will work closely with colleagues in other disciplines and teams to ensure work is efficiently delivered.  

 This role is available in seven UK locations and can only be worked from within the UK, not overseas. If your office location is London, you will be eligible to receive London weighting. DBT employees work in a hybrid pattern, spending 2-3 days a week (pro rata) in the office on average. Changes to these working arrangements are available in certain circumstances but must be agreed with the vacancy manager and in line with the requirements of the role and can only be discussed with successful candidates. Travel to your primary office location will not be paid for by DBT, but costs for travel to an office which is not your main location will be covered. 

 Find out about life at DBT, our benefits and meet the team by watching our recruitment video, visiting our website or reading our blog!  

Job description

Responsibilities      

 You’ll be an experienced Lead Developer, or Senior Developer looking to step up, who can:     

• Deliver high quality user-centred features and services within an agile environment 
• Champion community of practice within DDaT to prioritise code ownership and quality 
• Transform DDaT into a modern, agile development centre by embedding practices like Test Driven Development (TDD), Pair Programming, Prototyping/MVP, Continuous Integration and Deployment of small, frequent code changes 
• Mentor, coach and support colleagues to deliver to our standards that reinforce industry standard best practices 
• Work with your peers to improve our tools, technologies, guidance and standards. Work with the developer community to define and document technical standards.
• Support sharing of methods and technologies across teams, government, and the industry by helping to organise events 
• Support developer hiring, shape our in-house team, to make it more diverse and inclusive 
• Line manage developers to deliver great results, learn and grow, and progress their careers 

Person specification

Essential Skills and Experience    

  You’ll have demonstrable skills and experience of:   

• Being an expert in many technical areas, or a specialist with very deep knowledge in a particular technical area such as Python, NodeJs 
• Delivering user-centred features and services within an agile environment using practices such as Scrum, Kanban and/or XP 
• Working with APIs, databases, and cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure 
• Identifying, testing and promoting the adoption of emerging technologies 
• Measuring and communicating project progress to stakeholders 
• Using your knowledge, and working with related disciplines to Build services. Establishing and developing common approaches, contributing to technical strategy, helping to deliver consistently and iterate quickly 
• Taking a “people first” approach and caring deeply about nurturing a healthy team culture 

Desirable Skills and Experience    

This isn’t necessary but would be ideal if you have experience of:   

• Node.js and React 
• AWS and/or GovUK PaaS 
• DevOps mindset to maximise the platforms you will help to build 
• Infrastructure as Code (IaC) like Terraform and/or Cloud Foundry 
• Writing blog posts and giving talk

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £55,400, Department for Business and Trade contributes £14,958 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

How to Apply   

 Unless otherwise specified, all interviews are currently being held online. Please ensure that you check your emails regularly as all updates from us will be sent to you this way.  

Sift will take place week commencing: Tuesday 2nd April   

Interviews will take place week commencing: Monday 15th April    

Please notes these dates are indicative and may be subject to change.  As part of the application process you will be asked to upload a CV and complete a personal statement outlining your experience, skills and fit for the role.  At the sift stage for this role, we will assess your CV and personal statement against the essential skills and experience listed above, so please ensure these documents evidence these criteria. Your personal statement must be a maximum of 750 words. You can use bullet points and subheadings if you prefer. As well as evidencing the criteria you should also touch upon why you're interested in DBT and in this role. 

   If we receive a high volume of applications, we will conduct a ‘short sift’ and read one element of your application. For this campaign a short sift would be conducted based on: CV only    

  How We Interview  

  At the interview stage for this role, you will be asked to demonstrate relevant Technical Skills and Behaviours from the Success Profiles framework. A role-specific list of these can be found below.   Applicants successful to interview stage will be asked to complete a technical task and will be informed on the topic following the sift.   

  There will be a technical element within the interview where you will be asked questions about your specific professional skills and knowledge relating directly to the job role.  We will assess you against these Technical Skills during this process:  

• Availability and capacity management
• Development process optimisations
• Information security
• Modern standards approach
• Programming and build (software engineering)
• Prototyping(with MVP and POC)
• Systems integration
• User focus

  Detailed explanations of each Technical Skill can be found on the DDaT Framework.   We will also assess you against the following Behaviours:  

• Leadership 
• Changing and Improving 
• Developing and Improving

  Reserve List   

   Appointments may be made to candidates in merit order based on location preferences. Candidates who pass the bar at interview but are not the highest scoring will be held on a 12-month reserve list for future appointments. Candidates who are judged to be a near miss at interview may be offered a post at the grade below the one advertised.   

 Security Clearance Details      

 All security clearances require you to provide evidence of your UK footprint where you have been physically present in the UK.  The requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for at least 3 of the last 5 years.  Failure to meet the residency requirements will result in your security clearance application being rejected.  If you require SC clearance you will need to provide evidence of the below requirements.  Checks will be made against:  

• Departmental or company records (personnel files, staff reports, sick leave reports and security records).
• UK criminal records covering both spent and unspent criminal records.
• Your credit and financial history with a credit reference agency.
• Security Services record.
• Location Details

   Further Information     

 The Department for Business and Trade embraces and values diversity in all forms. We welcome and pride ourselves on the positive impact diversity has on the work we do, and we promote equality of opportunity throughout the organisation. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. Click through to apply and find out more.     Our recruitment process is underpinned by appointment on the basis of fair and open competition and appointment on merit, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles. The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with these principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact DBT by email: ddat.recruitment@businessandtrade.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can contact the Civil Service Commission, which regulates all Civil Service recruitment. Click here to download a PDF about the Civil Service Commission/Complaints. 

   Recording of interviews is not permitted except by prior agreement and where it is necessary as an evidenced reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act 2010.   If you make a recording of our employees without agreement, you should be aware that in collecting such personal data you would be deemed a 'data controller' under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and are therefore required to comply with all relevant data protection requirements. You would also be susceptible to enforcement action by the regulator and potential legal action.  

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.