Lead Developer

You’ll provide technical leadership to support the delivery of secure, scalable and user-centred digital services. Working with multidisciplinary teams and a range of stakeholders, you’ll help shape technical solutions, promote modern software engineering practices and ensure the delivery of high quality software.

Alongside leading technical delivery, you’ll coach and support team members, contribute to planning and prioritisation activities, and help foster a collaborative and inclusive culture. You’ll also play a key role in maintaining technical standards, driving continuous improvement and supporting successful outcomes for users and the organisation., * 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 building scalable, secure web applications (preferably in Azure), with detailed knowledge of server-side JavaScript programming or other modern languages.

• Applying agile development methodologies, software design patterns, continuous integration, test-driven development and version control practices.

• Experience of developing and working with RESTful APIs.

• Experience of leading and mentoring development teams, promoting good software engineering practices and the delivery of high quality, well tested software.

• Keeping up to date with emerging technologies and applying new programming tools and techniques to solve business and technical challenges.

• Proven experience of balancing multiple priorities, working effectively in ambiguous environments, and identifying, diagnosing and resolving software faults., * Leadership
• Changing and Improving
• Delivering at Pace
• Developing Self and Others

Technical skills

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

• Baseline technical knowledge, This vacancy is using Success Profiles , and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills., Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

£60,762 A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97% GBP, New entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band. Internal rules apply to existing Civil Servants, i.e. level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive 10% increase. Either case is determined by whichever is the highest.

Salary for the Grade 7 role is £60,762 plus a DDAT allowance of up to £20,756 based on Capability and base salary.

Working hours:

Standard working week is 37 hours, part time at 30 hours or above, flexible working hours policy available., Alongside your salary of £60,762, Planning Inspectorate contributes £17,602 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides .

• Flexible working options, including flexi-time, part-time, compressed hours and home working if suitable for the role.

• A working culture which encourages inclusion and diversity.

• 25 days annual leave increasing by 1 day per year up to 30 days after 5 years, plus 1 privilege day to mark the King?s birthday. In addition to the normal bank holidays.

• Generous family friendly policies.

• Fast and modern IT kit which utilises Windows 11 and Microsoft 365, enabling seamless working from home and collaboration across teams., If there are many applications, we might use a lead sift. This means we’ll first check if you meet the key requirement listed below. If you don’t, we won’t review the rest of your application.
• Experience of leading and mentoring development teams, promoting good software engineering practices and the delivery of high quality, well tested software.

All shortlisted candidates will be advised of the outcome shortly afterwards.

Interview

If you are shortlisted, you will:

• Be asked to attend an interview to have a more in-depth discussion about your experience and suitability for the role
• Interviews will be a blend of behaviour, strength, experience and technical questions
• Complete a short test at interview stage

Candidates who pass the shortlist stage will receive full assessment details with their interview invitations., Candidates who demonstrate strong potential and future readiness but score just below the required level at interview may be considered for alternative positions. These roles may be at a lower grade but align with their skills and offer opportunities for growth.

We encourage all candidates to make themselves familiar with the role and what we will be assessing you against which is detailed in the Person Specification.

ID and Documents

If the job needs specific qualifications or memberships and you get the job, you’ll need to send scanned or photographed images of them before you start.

We must check that any successful candidates are allowed to work for the Civil Service before we employ them. If successful, you will be asked to do a right to work check using identity document validation technology (IDVT) through the services of an Identity Service Provider (IDSP), Civil Service Jobs. If we are unable to confirm your right to work and through the IDVT we will need to do a manual right to work check using original documents with you in person.

Visa Sponsorship

The Planning Inspectorate cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates, we do not hold a Visa sponsorship licence.

This is an opportunity to shape the delivery of digital services that have a real impact on users across England. You’ll help drive innovation, influence technical decision-making and support the development of modern, user centred solutions at scale.

Working in a collaborative multidisciplinary environment, you’ll contribute to complex and rewarding projects while helping to develop others through coaching and mentoring. We encourage continuous learning, knowledge sharing and professional development, giving you the opportunity to grow your expertise and career.

We’re committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone feels valued, supported and able to thrive. In return, you’ll benefit from flexible working, a strong focus on wellbeing, ongoing learning and development opportunities, and the chance to influence the future of digital services.

The Planning Inspectorate has a long and proud history in ensuring a fair planning system for England. The work we do has a significant impact on people?s lives, the communities where they live and the economy.

We want our colleagues to be able to work more flexibly and more collaboratively, exploring new and innovative ways to improve the way we provide services., This role is contractually based at our office in Bristol, 10-minute walk from Temple Meads train station. We recognise and value the mutual benefits of hybrid working and have a flexible approach to in person attendance, which can vary dependent on the requirements of individual business units - the details of which can be discussed with candidates if invited to attend an interview. Excitingly, we’re relocating to a brand new office in December, while maintaining excellent transport links with Bristol Temple Meads station still just a 10 minute walk away.