Lead Software Developer - Companies House - HEO

We are looking for talented Lead Software Developers to join us at Companies House!   

Join Companies House, where you can be part of an exciting transformation in the world of corporate governance! Our organisation is at the forefront of change, empowered by new, ground-breaking legislation like the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill.   

Companies House is a place of digital innovation where you will develop our software services using languages such as Javascript (both in browser and NodeJS runtime environments) and Java, and frameworks such as Express and Spring.  We also have J2EE based historic applications.  Over time you will be expected to become familiar with all these technologies - training will be provided.  We are also a team who uses agile practices, try new technologies and work flexibly to suit every individual.   

This role is instrumental for us to deliver on our goals as an organisation.  You would be key in leading our Software Developers, providing coaching and mentoring to them and delivering at pace.  

We encourage innovation and training; each developer is given time to undertake innovation and training within their regular activities. This allows teams to try out new things, stay up to date with industry trends and encourage professional development. We provide access to online training platforms, access to instructor led training and ability to attend conferences (budgets permitting). 

Our approach to hybrid working provides opportunities for you to be adaptable in the way you work so that you can achieve a healthy balance between your work and home life. We currently expect people to attend their base office a minimum of one day a week but the exact degree of choice you have will depend on your role and your day-to-day work activities and should be agreed through discussions with your line manager. 

Companies House offers a flexible and welcoming culture that promotes a healthy work life balance as well as a proactive approach to wellbeing that allows us to be our best at work.  We recognise that people are the key to our success so offer a fantastic benefits package including flexible working with no core hours, 30 days annual leave, 8 bank holidays and 1 privilege day as well as enrolment into the Civil Service Pension scheme with a contribution rate averaging 28%.   

Find out more about what a great place Companies House is to work

Job description

You will lead a team of 5 talented Software Developers working in a cross functional Scrum team. This will involve providing coaching and support to upskill their technical capabilities and ensuring your team design and deliver efficient and maintainable solutions. 

• You will work with the developer community to define and document technical standards.
• You will communicate between the product owners and developers to ensure key deliverables are achieved and understood by both parties.
• You will help the development teams maximise their automated test coverage. 
• You will be joining a passionate team of Developers with varying levels of technical abilities. There are many other experienced Lead Developers within Companies House who lead 12 Agile software development teams between them, so you will be surrounded by a team of experts who will fully support you.
• You will be leading a team writing software services in Java and/or Javascript/Typescript using Nodejs/Spring/Spring Boot.  

You may be working within our R&D software development team made up of Lead Developers who research new technologies and approaches. You’ll be using your highly technical skillset to test and identify potential solutions to issues with our development processes, systems and/or projects. 

You will show enthusiasm and take the lead in sharing your knowledge and experience within our software development and lead software developer communities. 

You would also work closely with the architects and the platform team who manage our development pipeline using Concourse CI, SonarQube, AWS, Terraform and Artifactory. We use Docker containers and ECS.   

This is an exciting time to join us as we consistently evolve our own technical capabilities and ways of working to make our work at Companies House more efficient and easier to use for our customers.  

We are currently working towards: 

• Many releases per day automatically into production.
• Automated test coverage for everything from accessibility to security and performance.
• Constant innovation and running iterations of our services to meet and exceed user needs.
• Ensure we are meeting the needs of our users by ensuring we have diversity in thought and ideas.  

So, if you are looking for a place where you can focus on your own development as well as support others to succeed and perform at their best, then this is the role for you! 

Person specification

We're looking for the following experience, which will be assessed at sift and at interview.  Please refer to the 3 bullet points in bold below when writing your personal statement (including work-based examples).   

• Excellent coding skills and programming tools, frameworks and techniques including knowledge in Java, JavaScript/Typescript and Spring.  
• Mentoring experience or can demonstrate leadership capabilities.
• Strong communication skills where you can translate technical jargon into simple, clear descriptions so understanding is achieved.
• Understanding and experience of using agile techniques/methodologies. 
• Understanding of full stack web technologies, including use of relational and noSQL databases.
• Application of good working practices such as test-driven and behaviour-driven development (TDD/BDD), pair programming, version control/branching strategies, Continuous Integration/Continuous Development, and application of design patterns.  
• Knowledge and understanding of developing and running applications securely in Cloud environments. 

Behaviours

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

• Changing and Improving
• Leadership
• Developing Self and Others
• Delivering at Pace

Technical skills

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

• REST interfaces
• Web
• Security
• Containers