Mid & Senior Developers

Job summary

The GOV.UK One Login Programme represents a once in a generation opportunity to simplify and widen access to all digital government services. Sitting at the heart of the government, we are building one simple, safe and secure way for users to log in and prove who they are that will work across all government services.

Effective identity assurance is central to digital transformation and GOV.UK One Login enables people to prove who they are online, with the necessary level of confidence to access and use particular services. Our technology stack runs on AWS, using serverless compute and storage products. Backend services are written in TypeScript/Node.js and JVM technologies. Web applications also use TypeScript.

The GOV.UK One Login programme is full of talented and passionate people who are focussed on delivering high quality products for services and individuals. We’re half way through our build phase and features are being shipped weekly as we work to mature our product set so that we can expand the range of services and departments benefitting from our work.

The right person will join a well motivated and multi-disciplined delivery team working to deliver on our commitments and roadmap. We are an ambitious and visionary team so if you want to be at heart of this, have a background in software delivery and are used to working in a scaled agile environment then this could be the place for you!

Sometimes described as the most strategic programme in government, GOV.UK One Login represents a once in a career opportunity to work on a software product that will be used by the majority of the people living in the UK. It’s a fast paced, dynamic and challenging environment that is sure to offer you career satisfaction as well as a chance to develop and enhance your skills.

GOV.UK One Login is being designed and built for the many, not the few. It will unite services across government, revolutionising the way government departments interact digitally with users. One Login will deliver an accessible and essential function that will change lives and help millions.

If this sounds like the next role for you on your career journey then we’d love to hear from you.

Find out more at the GDS Blog.

Job description

We have vacancies for both Developer and Senior Developers. We are running a single campaign and will offer one of the two roles based on performance at interview.

As a Developer or Senior Developer you can expect to have a central role in multidisciplinary teams building the future of government services. You will work across a range of new, maturing and established codebases, in Java or TypeScript deployed to AWS following serverless or containerised patterns.

You will have the autonomy to scope work and find a route to solutions, whilst enabling those around you to do the same. You will be given the space to hone a mastery and grow in the role, whilst sharing your existing experience with the engineering community. All whilst doing work that improves government services for millions of users across vital services.

As a Developer or Senior Developer on GOV.UK One Login, you’ll:

• work as part of a multi-disciplinary agile team, getting involved with every part of the lifecycle of a service, from user research to continuously deploying code to production in our AWS environments
• build robust, performant Java and/or TypeScript services to serve a variety of citizen and government needs, taking responsibility for the quality of code you produce
• implement tooling and automation to support development, operation, reliability, security and continuous improvement of the systems you work on
• support the live operation of the services we run, and participate in out-of-hours support rotas where necessary - you'll be paid an allowance, and a further hourly payment, for any duties you perform when on call
• share your work and the things you’ve learned through blog posts and show and tells, with the option of presenting at conferences and meetups
• use your learning and development budget to develop your career
• help recruit other developers and, where appropriate, get involved with sifting and interviewing

Senior developers will also be expected to:

• share knowledge among the GDS teams, ensuring that your team is understood by others and understanding the working of the wider organisation
• take responsibility for solving complex issues, drawing upon a broad knowledge of web technologies
• provide technical leadership within a team, advising and working with developers to identify the best approaches and solutions

Person specification

The skills we would expect a Developer to have are: 

• experience in back-end development, with knowledge of either the JVM ecosystem or the JavaScript/TypeScript/Node.js ecosystem.
• an awareness of technologies used for cloud based web applications, such as databases, backups, CDNs, containerisation, and serverless approaches.
• familiarity with modern software development approaches such as automated testing, test-driven development (TDD), continuous integration, pair programming, code review and version control
• experience working in a collaborative environment, and an understanding of the benefits of agile and multi-disciplinary approaches

In addition to the above Senior Developers will also have:

• experience supporting others in applying modern development standards
• experience in management, helping colleagues with their career development and coaching more junior staff members

Benefits

The benefits of working at GDS

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 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
• paid volunteering leave
• 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 children's holiday play schemes across different locations in central London
• 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

GDS offers hybrid working for all employees. This means that everyone does some working from home and also spends some time in their local office. You’ll agree to your hybrid working arrangement with your line manager in line with your preferences and business needs.

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

Things you need to know

Selection process details

The standard selection process for roles at GDS consists of:

• a simple application screening process - We only ask for a CV and cover letter of up to 750 words. Important tip - please ensure that your cover letter includes how you meet the skills and experience listed in the “person specification” section above
• a phone screening
• a 45 minute technical pairing exercise
• a 135 minute technical and behavioural panel interview by video call

Whilst we value the use of AI technology to enhance our daily work, we also value the personal touch and urge applicants to write responses without the use of AI to emphasise their own unique experiences.

Depending on how many applications we get, there might also be an extra stage before the video interview, for example a phone interview or a technical exercise.

In the event we receive a high volume of applications, we will conduct the initial sift against the lead criteria which is:

• work as part of a multi-disciplinary agile team, getting involved with every part of the lifecycle of a service, from user research to continuously deploying code to production in our AWS environments

In the Civil Service, we use Success Profiles to evaluate your skills and ability. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, increases performance and improves diversity and inclusivity. We’ll be assessing your technical abilities, skills, experience and behaviours that are relevant to this role.

For this role we’ll be assessing you against the following Civil Service Behaviours:

• working together
• changing and improving
• making effective decisions

We’ll also be assessing your experience and specialist technical skills against the following skills defined in the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework for the Developer and Senior Developer role:

• programming and build (software engineering)
• modern standards approach
• systems design
• development process optimisation
• information security
• availability and capacity management
• service support
• systems integration

Recruitment Timeline

Role closes: 12th January 2025

Sift completion: from 13th January 2025

Phone and technical tests: starting from 20th January 2025

Panel interviews: starting from 27th January 2025

Candidates that do not pass the interview but have demonstrated an acceptable standard may be considered for similar roles at a lower grade.

A reserve list will be held for a period of 12 months, from which further appointments can be made.

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.

Please note that this role requires SC clearance, which would normally need 5 years’ UK residency in the past 5 years. This is not an absolute requirement, but supplementary checks may be needed where individuals have not lived in the UK for that period. This may mean your security clearance (and therefore your appointment) will take longer or, in some cases, not be possible.

You may be aware that there are plans for the Government Digital Service (GDS) & the Central Digital & Data Office (CDDO) to move into the Department of Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT). This move is to bring together the digital transformation of public services into one core department. The move itself will offer huge opportunities whilst allowing DSIT to lead the way and drive forward the new Government's digital agenda. 

As the announcement is relatively new, we are awaiting more detailed information. Therefore, we encourage you to apply for this role, and will keep you informed with updated information throughout the application process.