Senior Full Stack Software Engineer

The GRIP platform has a large user base, serving thousands of users across 250 public sector organisations. It is a full stack web application that helps government to manage and track its priorities and initiatives, and capture reporting on them, across all government departments, and for consumption by the most senior decision makers. The application has support and visibility at the very highest levels of the organisation. We also help to develop and maintain the government’s Evaluation Registry, which tracks planned and completed evaluations of government’s policies., We are looking for a full-stack developer to join our small software engineering team, building and managing this critical part of Government’s tooling. You will have the opportunity to have genuine impact on how Government manages its work and to contribute to its overall effectiveness., We are at an exciting stage, as we becoming a critical part of how government manages its most important areas of work. This will mean working on how the application scales, building new features, and maintaining a reliable, high-quality service., You will work on both the front and back end of the application, mainly in JavaScript, working with a range of AWS services. Our core stack includes React, Node.js, and Postgres, so you will need to be comfortable working with these. Other parts of our work are in Python, and experience of Python web frameworks, e.g. Django, would also be helpful. Each engineer is involved across the full range of responsibilities. Your work will therefore include managing our infrastructure and responding to any performance issues, building server functionality and new microservices, database management and schema changes, prototyping and building new front-end features, and testing and deployment. There will also be opportunities to engage directly with users in a range of roles across government, and to help shape the overall direction of the product.

You can expect to have responsibility to:

• Build accessible and interactive interfaces, server functionality, and microservices, taking responsibility for the quality of your code.
• Decide and evolve how we structure and manage our data.
• Be a confident communicator, able to bridge the gap between the technical and non-technical team members to build the right product., We will assess applications against the Experience and Behaviours elements of the Civil Service Success Profiles:
• Behaviours - the actions and activities that people do which result in effective performance in a job:
• Experience - the knowledge or mastery of an activity or subject gained through involvement in or exposure to it.

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV and personal statement (500 words)., In the interview we will ask a range of technical questions, and also ask you to provide examples of how you meet each of the assessed Behaviours:

• Managing a quality service (lead behaviour)
• Working together
• Changing and improving
• Delivering at pace

We will ask follow up questions as appropriate.

The interview also provides an opportunity for you to ask any questions you may have regarding the role., If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, 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.

Please note terms and conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) 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

• Experience of front-end development, with detailed knowledge of HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
• Experience of technologies used for web applications, e.g. HTTPS, JSON and CDNs, and of Unix-like operating systems, e.g. Linux and/or Mac OS.
• Experience of back-end data infrastructure, including SQL databases.
• Understanding of software design principles, including progressive enhancement.
• Experience in building robust and accessible interfaces that work for multiple users.
• An understanding of front-end web performance.
• Ability to quickly research and learn new programming tools and techniques.
• Experience of writing robust code using approaches such as TDD/BDD, unit testing, integration testing and feature testing
• Understanding of agile principles and working practices
• Experience of code reviewing workflows and version control.
• Experience of user-centred design principles and delivering to user needs.

Desirable experience

• Deeper experience in any of our technology choices, or in web application security, * Managing a Quality Service
• Working Together
• Changing and Improving
• Delivering at Pace

Technical skills

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

• Software engineering skills, in line with the person specification and job description., This vacancy is using Success Profiles , and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills., At this stage we will also consider how you have demonstrated the experience and technical skills you will need for the role.

Please provide a personal statement of no more than 500 words. It should explain how your knowledge, skills and experience (using examples) meet the requirements for this role in line with the Success Profile element(s) being assessed (e.g. Behaviours, Experience etc). Using the job advert information, particularly the job description and person specification. Information is available on the application process (including what Civil Service Success Profiles is) and how to write your personal statement.

Selection process

Candidates who pass the sift will be invited to complete a technical exercise and an Interview.

For the technical exercise, you will be asked to take part in a pair programming exercise with two of our developers. The exercise will cover challenges similar to ones that you would be likely to encounter in the role. You will be asked to talk through your thought process, draw on your previous experience and offer solutions to the problems in the exercise.

The successful candidate might not resolve all issues in the example, but the ability to communicate and problem solve in a collaborative way will be necessary to a successful interview.

Pulled from the full job description

• Childcare
• Annual leave

• Company pension, £59,207 - £96,051 National min: £59,207 London min: £65,193 Offers above the band minimum are subject to our assessment of your skills and experience as demonstrated at interview. Salaries over the band minimum will be paid as a non pensionable allowance. The maximum salary reflects the maximum possible digital allowance, as well as a London weighting. A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97% GBP, Alongside your salary of £59,207, Cabinet Office contributes £17,152 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides .

• Learning and development tailored to your role.
• An environment with flexible working options.
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity.
• A Civil Service Pension which provides an attractive pension, benefits for dependants and employer contributions of 28.97%.
• A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by one day per year up to a maximum of 30.