Lead Developer and DevOps Engineer

Salary: £41,666 - £51,506

Job Type: Permanent

Working pattern: 35 hours per week. Monday-Thursday in our Head Office in Lancaster, work from home on Fridays (flexible working options will be considered)

About the role

We’re looking for a Lead Developer and DevOps Engineer to play a key role in shaping the future of our software products. This is a senior, hands-on position that blends technical leadership with full stack development and DevOps expertise, offering the opportunity to drive innovation and influence our technical strategy.

In this role, you’ll lead and mentor a team of developers, set architectural direction, and ensure best practice across development and delivery. You’ll take ownership of key technical decisions, helping to build secure, scalable, and high-performing systems aligned to business needs.

You’ll be responsible for designing and delivering robust web applications and managing data architecture. In your DevOps role you will drive the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of our cloud infrastructure, automation, and deployment practices. Working closely with stakeholders, you’ll translate requirements into effective technical solutions and support agile delivery across projects.

If you are a full stack engineer with considerable technical expertise combined with excellent leadership and communication skills, this is a fantastic opportunity to make a real impact in a collaborative and forward-thinking environment.

The full Job Description can be found by clicking here.

So, what are you waiting for?

If you like the sound of the role and the organisation, and you think the below attributes describe you well, then we would love to hear from you.

• Experience in a similar role leading a technical team in an Agile environment

• Experience making key technical decisions around architecture and strategy

• Full stack engineer with significant Angular Framework experience

• Database design for performance and scalability

• Building and maintaining CI/CD pipelines

• Container orchestration using the Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)

If you have the following attributes, then we’d be even more impressed:

• Experience with the Rust programming language

Further information

Closing date: Friday 26th June 2026

Interviews will be held no later than Friday 3rd July

If you have any questions or would like to discuss this opportunity further, please contact Sean Hanratty, Software Development Manager at [email protected].

We reserve the right to close the job vacancy early if we find an appointable candidate or receive a high volume of applicants.

This job may meet the eligibility requirements to qualify for visa sponsorship.

About us

We are proud to be one of the UK’s leading educational charity groups, encompassing an awarding organisation, a provider of dyslexia intervention software. Our enthusiastic people bring genuine passion and natural energy to everything that they do and through their infectious energy they transform the lives of thousands of people each year through the power of education. It has never been a more exciting time to join Ascentis as we continue our journey of growth across the UK and overseas.

We are market leading in the education sector and the specialist areas we operate within, maintaining the #1 provision for ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) in the UK as well as being a leading Access Validating Agency. We are based in Lancaster but we have a national reach, with a significant customer base in London. We have recently secured two major achievements, winning the Innovation of the Year and Awarding Organisation of the Year at the 2024 Federation of Awarding Bodies awards.

In addition to working with Colleges, Training Providers and Local Education Authorities, Ascentis also operates within the Primary and Secondary school sector in the UK and International schools, using our specialist IDL software that provides multi-sensory programmes in literacy, numeracy and phonics. Today the software is used by thousands of children across the world.

Ascentis is made up of brilliant people, unique in terms of background, personality, characteristics, experience and skill. We value our people for the differences they bring to the table and believe this diversity is powerful. We are an equal opportunities employer, and we are determined to ensure that no applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of gender, age, disability, religion, belief, sexual orientation, marital status, or race, or is disadvantaged by conditions or requirements which cannot be shown to be justifiable.

To find out what our employees have to say about working at Ascentis watch the video foundhere.

Benefits

• 25 days annual leave plus 8 public holidays, birthday day off, closure days gifted during the Christmas period, increased annual leave with long service and an Annual Leave Purchase Scheme (up to a maximum of 43 days)

• Competitive pension benefits, including a salary sacrifice scheme

• Access to Informal Flexibility, allowing you to flex your working times and location where viable

• Incremental service benefits as a family-friendly employer, including enhanced Maternity, Neonatal, Paternity, Shared Parental, Adoption Leave and Pay, Sick Pay, Life Insurance, and Paid Compassionate Leave

• Access to state-of-the-art office and break facilities, such as bean-to-cup coffee machine, vending machine, pool table, Xbox, outdoor seating, dressing room (with access to hair dryers, straighteners, airers, shower facilities), Harry Potter reading room, employee library and more

• Free parking, locked bike storage shed

• Access to car electric charging points (charges payable by employee)

• Tailored learning and development opportunities

• Cycle to Work Scheme

• Home and Tech Scheme

• Discounted gym membership at 3-1-5 Health Club

• 24-hour employee helpline and a proactive focus on wellbeing

• Aviva DigiCare+ health app with access to virtual GP appointments, annual health check and more

• Reward and recognition scheme, regular team building and communication activities

Do you like the sound of Ascentis, but think your skills might suit another role?

We also have other vacancies available. Take a look at our website for more! www.ascentis.co.uk/jobs