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About the job
Job summary
At the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), we encourage applications from everyone, particularly groups currently underrepresented in our workforce. We pride ourselves on the positive impact diversity has and promote inclusivity and equality of opportunity for all. Our recruitment process is anonymised, which means that your name, date of birth and other personal details will not be seen by the sift panel.
Role Title: Senior Software Engineer
Grade: SEO
Salary: £40,808 – £51,454
Maximum salary amount includes a Digitech Allowance of up to £7,000. The final salary and any allowance awarded will be based on an assessment of your skills and experience as demonstrated at interview.
Can you see yourself working with the latest technologies reaching 50 million users?
If so, we are expanding our team and would love to hear from you!
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.
Job description
The DVLA deliver wide reaching digital services to the UK public and industry. We maintain the national record of vehicles and drivers. If you have applied for a driving licence, changed vehicle, re-licensed your vehicle or completed a vehicle enquiry you would have used one of our services.
The time is right to join one of the leading agile, cloud and technical departments in the government, one that is constantly pushing the boundaries of technological innovation to find, develop, and introduce new and innovative technological advancements. On a modern cloud platform, we work with a range of industry-leading technologies, such as serverless, Docker, and Kubernetes.
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 youre working on the front-end, youll 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.
Responsibilities
Include but not limited to:
Working within a technical framework of the project to meet customer requirements
Developing Software in an agile team environment
Application Support
Working closely with business analysts and agile delivery managers to prepare and review user stories and tasks
Some testing responsibilities
Mentoring junior developers within the team
Would you like to find out more about the role, the digital team and what its like to work at DVLA? If so, DVLA are organising a familiarisation session where you can virtually ‘meet the team’ on Wednesday 15th November 2023 at 12:30pm.
Please click here to book your spot.
Additional information
This role will be based in Swansea, and we will be operating a hybrid working model that allows you to work between home and on-site giving you greater flexibility about where and when you work, subject to business needs and this also allows for ongoing support, development, and collaboration with colleagues.
Therefore, the expectation is that you will spend a minimum of 40% of your working time based at your principal workplace (DVLA). We would encourage you to discuss the working arrangements for this role with us during the recruitment process.
Person specification
You will be experienced working as a software engineer across multiple teams and projects, developing software using a variety of modern technologies and tools. A passion for back-end, front-end development, security or serverless technology. 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. As we develop we are committed to the development of our employees, so we will help you achieve certification in these areas as well as AWS and Azure.
You need to have a passion for modern software development technologies and standard methodologies. You would need to have had to communicate with engineering peers and business partners.
We strive to ensure that DVLA is a great place to work where everybody can be their true self, be treated with dignity and respect, and according to their individual needs. We have a number of staff network groups run by staff to support their colleagues.
Working for the DVLA Digital Team
At the DVLA our work matters. Were at the forefront of digital within government, providing new and improved services that are reliable, easy to use and offer value for money for our customers. With over 50 million driver records and over 40 million vehicle records, the opportunity to work at this scale is unrivalled across the region. Our services generate billions in revenue and make a difference to the lives of 9 out of 10 households in the UK.
If you would like to read more about the great opportunities with the DVLA Digital Team then click here.
We have recently posted an insightful blog, where our Principal Engineer covers some hot topics across our Software Development areas which you can find here, “DVLA Software Developer: Behind the Screens”.
To read about the DVLAs engineering site please click here.
Our people are transforming our digital services, head over to our DVLA Digital Services Blog to read about what we have been up to.
The Senior Software Engineer role currently sits within a Market Force Led (MFL) capability based pay framework and your basic salary could increase/decrease based on the outcomes of an annual capability assessment. View details of the MFL pay framework policy and principles.
Due to the evolving nature of the business, vacancies can become available at any time. Therefore, this campaign may create a reserve list to fulfil demand if it arises which will be held for a period of 12 months.
Behaviours
We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
Technical skills
We’ll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- Digital Data and Technology Profession Capability Framework Senior Developer Modern Standards Approach (Skill level: practitioner)
- Digital Data and Technology Profession Capability Framework Senior Developer Systems Integration (Skill level: practitioner)
- Digital Data and Technology Profession Capability Framework Senior Developer Systems Design (Skill level: practitioner)
- Digital Data and Technology Profession Capability Framework Senior Developer Programming and Build (Software Engineering) (Skill level: practitioner)
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 at least 26.6%, depending on rate of salary and chosen pension scheme
- Digital communities with clear career frameworks
- On-site gym plus personal training available
- On-site nursery, restaurants and coffee bar
- 25 days holiday, increasing by 1 each year (up to 30)
- Free parking
- Ability to buy and sell annual leave
Visit our careers website or to find out more about the great opportunities and benefits of working at DVLA.
Things you need to know
Selection process details
Technical Skills
Digital Data & Technology Profession Capability Framework Software Developer – Senior Developer
- Modern standards approach. You can competently apply a modern standards approach and guide others to do so. (Skill level: practitioner)
- Systems Integration. You can define the integration build. You can co-ordinate build activities across systems. You can understand how to undertake and support integration testing activities. (Skill level: practitioner)
- Systems Design. You can design systems characterised by medium levels of risk, impact, and business or technical complexity. You can select appropriate design standards, methods and tools, and ensure they are applied effectively. You can review the systems designs of others to ensure the selection of appropriate technology, efficient use of resources and integration of multiple systems and technology. (Skill level: practitioner)
- Programming and Build (Software Engineering).You can collaborate with others when necessary to review specifications. You can use the agreed specifications to design, code, test and document programs or scripts of medium-to-high complexity, using the right standards and tools. (Skill level: practitioner)
Assessment and Interview
As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide a CV to Inspire People (our Recruitment Partners) which outlines your experience and suitability for the role (based on the experience points outlined in the essential criteria on this advert).
On receipt of your CV, DVLA Hiring Managers will complete a sift. Please note; the sift will be completed on a rolling basis whilst the campaign is still live and so there is potential for feedback to be shared with you (on your application) before the advert closes.
If at sift your application is successful, you will be invited to the first stage of the interview process (hosted by inspire people), where you will be asked to complete a pre-recorded video interview (this again will be based on the experience points outlined in the essential criteria on this advert).
If you are successful at this stage, you will be invited to a final stage interview (which will include an assessment) and be conducted by DVLA Hiring Managers.
Final stage interview will take place from week commencing Monday 11th December 2023.
At the final interview stage, you will be assessed against various Behavioural and Technical elements. (Find more information around these elements by following the Success Profiles and Technical skill links in the advert).
This interview will be conducted via a video, details of which will be provided, should you be selected for interview..
How to Apply
To apply please click ‘Apply at advertiser’s site’ at the bottom of the page. You will be required to submit a CV providing detailed evidence of your experience of the following essential criteria:
- Working on one or more large-scale, enterprise software delivery projects.
- Experience in one or more technical specialisms such as Java, C#, front-end development or serverless technology.
This interview will be conducted via a video interview, details of which will be provided to you should you be selected for interview.
If invited to interview, this may consist of a range of question types. These could include questions around behaviours and how you would respond in any situation as well as specific examples of things you have done.
The selection process will be designed specifically for the role. As a result, your assessment will include:
An interview and a coding exercise.
Youre encouraged to become familiar with the role profile, as you may be assessed against any of the criteria recorded within.
Please familiarise yourself with the DDaT framework as you will be tested on elements of this during the interview stage.
The Department for Transport alongside other Government Departments recruit using Success Profiles. This means for each role we consider what you will need to demonstrate in order to be successful. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, drives up performance and improves diversity and inclusivity.
Appointments for this position will be made in order of merit.
In the event that your application is successful, but there are no further available posts (at the current grade) then you may be contacted to discuss a potential offer for a lower graded role (with similar experience and responsibility requirements). This will be based on availability of roles.
In the event that you are unsuccessful (for this campaign), your application may be considered for a lower graded position, if your demonstrated skills and experience meet the requirements of the alternative position. This approach, if used, will be again done so based on the availability of roles and candidates will again be considered in order of merit.
For further information on Success Profiles visit our Careers website.
Please take note that DVLA does not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker License sponsor and are unable to sponsor any individuals for Skilled Worker Sponsorship.
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.
Complete the Assistance required section in the Additional requirements page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need during the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at an interview, or if youre deaf, a Language Service Professional.
If you need a reasonable adjustment so that you can complete your application, you should contact Government Recruitment Service via dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
Document Accessibility
If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the ‘Contact point for applicants’ section.
This job advert contains links to the DfT Careers website. Our website provides useful guidance and information that can support you during the application process. If you cannot access the information on our website for any reason, please email DRGComms@dft.gov.uk for assistance.
Further Information
For more information about how we hire, and for useful tips on submitting your application for this role, visit the How We Hire page of our DfT Careers website. You can find detailed information about the recruitment process and what to expect when applying for a role.
Pre-employment Checking
Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicants details held on the IFD will be refused employment.
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.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Nationality requirements
Working for the Civil Service
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).
Apply and further information
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Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name : Tom McNeill
- Email : Tom@Inspirepeople.net
Recruitment team
- Email : dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Further information
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Visit the Civil Service Commission website Here
