Software Engineer

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) deliver wide reaching digital services to the UK public and industry. We maintain the national record of vehicles and drivers so if you have applied for a driving licence, taxed your vehicle or completed a vehicle enquiry you would have used one of our services.

Within and between our teams, we have a friendly and stable engineering community. Keeping work/life enjoyable is key to us, and we strive to ensure the efficient and secure use of software and infrastructure.

Our current deliveries include:

• Two major programmes of work, modernising our drivers and vehicles services and systems.
• Entirely new services including a new customer portal, mobile digital driving licence and identity platform.
• The DVLA digital payment service that helps us collect around 6 billion pounds a year.

New versions of key driving licence services that will help us to reduce paper forms, reduce waiting times and to enable all of our customers to transact digitally.

As part of our core business services, you will work with Java and SpringBoot alongside tools like OpenAPI. No specific Java experience is needed. All you need is a passion for building clean, maintainable, and secure applications using an object-oriented language.

If you’re working on the front-end, you’ll be developing applications and reusable components using a combination of Ruby on Rails and React. You will also have the opportunity to build and develop our external and internal UIs, so this is an exciting opportunity to deliver far reaching, intuitive and accessible front-end systems.

We also make extensive use of serverless Node.js and TypeScript using AWS services such as Lambda, Step Functions and Dynamodb to build services using event-driven architecture patterns.

As part of our ongoing mission to support and develop all staff within the DVLA, you will be given a high spec Macbook and we will help you to achieve certification in areas such as AWS and Java, as well as giving you the freedom and support necessary to perform in your role and continuously develop your skill set.

Your responsibilities will include, but aren’t limited to:

• Developing Software to meet user needs.
• Following Best Practice Guidelines and help to improve those Guidelines.
• Writing clean, secure and well-tested code.
• Coaching and mentoring more junior colleagues.
• Operating the services they build and identify issues in production.

Great line management is important to us as an organisation, and we will equip and support line managers to develop the skills they need. We aim to empower line managers to create teams where people can flourish and deliver excellent outcomes for the public., * Software Developer: Programming & Build (Software Engineering) (Skill level: Practitioner).

• Modern Development Standards Software Developer: Modern Development Standards (Skill level: Practitioner).
• Systems Integration Software Developer: Systems Integration (Skill level: Working).
• System Design Software Developer: Systems Design (Skill level: Working).

The interview will also include a Whiteboard Exercise and a Coding Assessment. Guidance will be provided if you are invited to interview.

The interviews will take place week commencing 27/04/2026.

This interview will be conducted online via Microsoft Teams. Further details will be provided to you should you be selected for interview.

You can find out more about our hiring process, how to apply, and application and interview guidance on our careers site .

Please note that we will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates will change.

Further information on the selection process

Feedback on your application can only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

We will also hold a 12-month reserve list for this role, which may lead to potential opportunities beyond the role you applied for. You can read more about our reserve lists here.

Reasonable Adjustments

As a Disability Confident Leader employer, we are committed to ensuring that the recruitment process is fair, accessible and allows all candidates to perform at their best. If a person with a visible or non-visible disability is substantially disadvantaged, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes., A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5-year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

If your application is successful but you have been dismissed from the Civil Service within the last 12 months, your application could be removed at the pre-employment checking stage.

All External applicants and current employees of accredited non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) will be required to undergo a Social Media Check. A Social Media Check is a review of your publicly available online activity, typically across platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and others. The purpose is to identify any public posts or content that could raise concerns for employers, such as:

Hate speech or discriminatory behaviour

Threats or acts of violence

Illegal activity or substance misuse

Sexually explicit material

Extremist views or affiliations

Importantly, this check does not involve hacking into your accounts or accessing private messages. It only considers content you have chosen to make public.

Employers use this kind of screening to help ensure their workplace remains safe, inclusive, and aligned with company values. It’s not about judging your personality or lifestyle—it’s about checking for potential red flags that might affect the role or company culture.

If you have questions or concerns about the social media check, we would be happy to explain in more detail what’s being looked at and how your data is handled securely and fairly.

Vetting

For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the Demystifying Vetting website.

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 .

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

• You will be experienced working as a software engineer across multiple projects, developing software using a variety of modern technologies and tools.
• You will be able to work with a team to shape and define requirements and have the skills to build, test, and deliver features and services.
• You will need to be comfortable in using modern CI/CD tooling with an understanding of languages such as Java, Ruby, C#, HTML, Python or similar.
• You may have experience delivering services using a public cloud provider such as AWS, Azure or Google Cloud, or a motivation to develop these skills., Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check. To allow for meaningful checks to be carried out, candidates will be required to have at least 5 years continuous residency in the UK. All applicants for this role must ensure that they meet this minimum residency requirement - if you do not, your application will be withdrawn., * Delivering at Pace

Technical skills

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

• Software Developer: Programming & Build (Software Engineering) (Skill level: Practitioner)

• Software Developer: Modern Development Standards (Skill level: Practitioner)

• Software Developer: Systems Integration (Skill level: Working)

• Software Developer: Systems Design (Skill level: Working), This vacancy is using Success Profiles , and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills., Experience – you will be asked to provide a CV (unlimited wordcount) and personal statement (750-word count). Please provide evidence of your Experience of the following: Experience working on one or more commercial, software delivery projects.

• Experience in one or more technical specialism such as Java, C#, front-end development or serverless.

£39,163 The salary of £39,163 (basic salary £35, 663) includes a non-pensionable Recruitment & Retention Allowance of £3,500 A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97% GBP, Alongside your salary of £39,163, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency contributes £11,345 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Passionate, reliable and always willing to push yourself and those around you, you’ll continue to seek improvement in your own role and challenge us too. Because we pride ourselves on how we approach your development. From training courses to specialist skills workshops and opportunities to grow your expertise, we thrive when you thrive. You can find out more about all of the above here alongside a full list of our benefits:

• Best in class learning and development tailored to your role

• An environment with flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance

• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity with a range of staff communities to support all our colleagues

• Generous employer contribution of 28.9%, depending on chosen pension scheme

• Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.

• Digital communities with clear career frameworks

• On-site gym plus personal training available (membership applies)

• On-site nursery, restaurants and coffee bar

• 25 days holiday (plus bank holidays), increasing by 1 each year (up to 30) & 8 Bank Holidays plus an additional Privilege Day to mark the King’s birthday.

• 24-hour Employee Assistance Programme providing free confidential help and advice for staff.

• Free parking

Find out more about the benefits of working at DfT and its agencies .

We are recruiting software developers, to work with us and help us build services that reach over 53 million people a year. In this role, you’ll work in an agile delivery team alongside lead and senior engineers to build modern, cloud-based services. Joining our department comes with many benefits, including: * Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here * 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave), plus 8 bank holidays and a privilege day for the King’s birthday * Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance. Read more in the Benefits section below! Find out more about what it's like working at Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency - Department for Transport Careers, At DVLA, licensing is just the start. Every project you implement, touch and deliver has a ripple effect that’ll wash across the nation. Here the work you’re doing has the capacity to change the way 53 million people interact with our services. As we aim to keep our roads some of the safest in the world, our innovative, transformative digital-led services help optimise a nation of individuals and business every single day. To see how our people are transforming our digital services, head over to our DVLA Digital Services Blog and, to understand more about the great opportunities and benefits of working at DVLA read our Inside DVLA blog.