Senior Software Engineer

Job summary

UKEF is committed to be a more customer-centric organisation, making it easier for customers to deal with us, offering improved response times, quicker decision-making and improved case-processing. To enable this, UKEF is committed to using digital as a primary means for managing relationships with a wider range of stakeholders. Focusing on developing end-to-end services that meet user need and enable business outcomes, this is an exciting new role showing the growth and drive of UKEFs digital ambition.

This role requires you to work with other leads and senior management to develop NodeJS applications. This role also requires you to integrate NodeJS applications with other systems, develop microservices and serverless applications and create and maintain technical documentation. Effective communication with project stakeholders is also an essential aspect of the role.

Job description

In this role, you will:

• Work with other discipline leads and senior management to proactively plan technical delivery work, making sure to balance long term engineering sustainability with short term delivery pressures, advocating for technical quality and bringing practical considerations to high level designs
• Advocate user-centric, agile approaches which focus on rapid, effective delivery of high-quality digital services
• Build and maintain a diverse, inclusive culture across the development community, growing awareness, inclusivity, and balance
• Develop NodeJS applications using frameworks like Express.js or Nest.js.
• Develop and maintain CI/CD pipelines for NodeJS applications.
• Ensure that NodeJS applications are optimised for scalability and maintainability.
• Develop APIs and integrate with third-party APIs.
• Integrate NodeJS applications with other systems using APIs, webhooks, or other technologies.
• Develop microservices and serverless applications using NodeJS.
• Ensure that NodeJS applications follow best practices for security and data protection.
• Develop unit tests and integration tests for NodeJS applications.
• Create and maintain technical documentation for NodeJS applications.
• Stay up to date with the latest NodeJS and web development trends and technologies.
• Communicate effectively with project stakeholders, including customers, product managers, and other engineers, to ensure alignment on technical decisions and project goals.

This list is not exhaustive, and you may be required to carry out additional duties according to business needs.

Person specification

Essential

Qualifications

• Graduate level education in a related subject or relevant demonstrable professional experience. (A)
• Evidence of continuing professional development. (A)

Knowledge

• Technology Code of Practice. (A)
• Knowledge of SDLC (Software Development Lifecycle). (A, I)
• Knowledge of Automated Testing and CI/CD techniques. (A, I)

Skills/Ability

Information security:

• You can understand information security.
• You can design solutions and services with security controls embedded, specifically engineered with mitigation of security threats as a core feature.
• (Skill level: practitioner) (A)

Modern standards approach:

• You can competently apply modern standards approach and guide others to do so.
• (Skill level: practitioner) (A)

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) (A)

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) (A)

Service support:

• You can identify, locate and fix faults

(Skill level: practitioner) (I)

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) (I)

Prototyping:

• You can approach prototyping as a team activity, actively soliciting prototypes and testing with others.
• You can establish design patterns and iterate them.
• You can use a variety of prototyping methods and choose the most appropriate.

(Skill level: practitioner) (A)

User focus:

• You can collaborate with user researchers and can represent users internally.
• You can explain the difference between user needs and the desires of the user. You can champion user research to focus on all users.
• You can prioritise and define approaches to understand the user story, guiding others in doing so.
• You can offer recommendations on the best tools and methods to use.

(Skill level: practitioner) (I)

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) (I)

Experience

• Experience in the following disciplines: • JavaScript, NodeJS and Express.JS.
• Azure Cloud Computing.
• NoSQL and SQL Databases, including MongoDB and MSSQL.
• RESTful and GraphQL API Development.
• Containerised Microservices (i.e. using Docker).
• GitHub, Azure DevOps or GitLab.
• GDS/MOJ Components.

(A, I, T)

Qualifications

Graduate level education in a related subject or relevant demonstrable professional experience. (A)

Behaviours

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

• Changing and Improving
• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace

Technical skills

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

• Questions - This will be technical questions designed to evaluate your skills, knowledge, and experience in software development, including areas such as algorithms, data structures, and design patterns.
• Presentation - a topic agreed by UKEF and provided to relevant candidates in advance.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £58,169, UK Export Finance contributes

£16,851 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.

Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window) , and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

We are assessing candidates using Success Profiles see Appendix 1) and across the whole process we will assess your Experience, Technical and Behaviours as highlighted below.

The application must be completed by 23.55 on the day of the closing date for it to be accepted.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Please ensure that you read through the Candidate Information Pack attached to this advert, before applying.

All applications will be sifted against our essential criteria outlined in the personal specification.

• Qualification: • Graduate level education in a related subject or relevant demonstrable professional experience. (A)
• CV
• Technical Question (250 Words) • Based on your experience, describe a NodeJS application or microservice you have designed or contributed to. • What frameworks and integration patterns did you use, and why?
• How did you ensure the application was scalable, secure, and maintainable?
• What challenges did you encounter integrating with databases or third-party APIs, and how did you address them?

For the initial sift your application will be evaluated against:

• Experience - CV
• Technical - Technical Question (250 Words)
• Based on your experience, describe a NodeJS application or microservice you have designed or contributed to. • What frameworks and integration patterns did you use, and why?
• How did you ensure the application was scalable, secure, and maintainable?
• What challenges did you encounter integrating with databases or third-party APIs, and how did you address them?

In the event of a high volume of application, there will be a pre-sift on the following essential criteria:

• Experience in the following disciplines: • JavaScript, NodeJS and Express.JS.
• Azure Cloud Computing.
• NoSQL and SQL Databases, including MongoDB and MSSQL.
• RESTful and GraphQL API Development.
• Containerised Microservices (i.e. using Docker).
• GitHub, Azure DevOps or GitLab.
• GDS/MOJ Components.

(A, I, T)

If you are successful following the sift stage, you will be invited to an initial technical interview, via MS Teams ; this will include the following assessment:

• Technical - you will be assessed across your technical expertise and acumen, in relation to the essential criteria • Questions - This will be technical questions designed to evaluate your skills, knowledge, and experience in software development, including areas such as algorithms, data structures, and design patterns.

If you are successful following the initial technical interview, you will be invited to a second interview, to be held onsite at 1 Horse Guards Road ; this will include the following assessment:

• Behaviours/ Experience - a formal panel interview where you will be interviewed across all three behaviours highlighted in Appendix 1 .
• Technical - you will be assessed across your technical expertise and acumen, in relation to the essential criteria • Presentation - a topic agreed by UKEF and provided to relevant candidates in advance.

Details of interview panel members will be e-mailed to all successful candidates who are invited for interview.

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 (opens in a new window) .

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window) .

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) ch