Software Engineer

UCAS is at the heart of connecting people to higher education.

UCAS is the world’s leading shared admissions service for higher education. We provide application services for UK universities and colleges as well as delivering a wide range of research, consultancy and advisory services to schools, colleges, careers services, professional bodies and employers.

We’re a successful and fast-growing organisation, which helps hundreds of thousands of people every year. We're committed to delivering a first-class service to all of our customers — they're at the heart of everything we do.

The Digital Services business unit is at the heart of UCAS’ technical innovation, data and infrastructure. It focuses on leveraging data science, technology, and enterprise architecture to enhance UCAS' digital products and services.

The unit is dedicated to developing and improving customer-centric digital solutions, ensuring seamless and secure online experiences for all users. By providing insightful data and analysis, often made available to anyone with free-to-use intuitive dashboard, Digital Services empowers the Higher Education sector and those interested in the sector with valuable information to make informed decisions. By working in collaborative, expert led, multi-disciplinary teams, Digital Services drives UCAS’ mission to connect students with their next opportunities through advanced technological solutions.

Key Accountabilities:

• Development of software solutions in line with UCAS’ Corporate and IT strategy

• Work with Product Owners to develop individual services in line with their strategic vision

• Develop and maintain a strong working knowledge of existing UCAS applications & systems

• Delivery of quality software solutions
  • In-line with preferred practices, including coding and security standards.
  • using techniques such as pair programming.
  • by working collaboratively using source control tools such as git and Sourcetree.
  • that are easily managed by adhering to SOLID principles.
  • that can be monitored using our technical tooling such as New Relic and Splunk.
  • by working collaboratively with Senior Software Engineers.
  • recognising technical debt and proposing potential solutions
  • by peer reviewing code

• Working in an Agile environment and using tooling such as Jira

• Supporting products and customers using DevOps principles

• Understand how to log, monitor, and identify performant services

• Actively maintain technical skill sets with continual personal development

• Coaching peers and junior developers

You can find the full job description in the attached role profile below.

• Two or more year’s relevant computing experience

• Educated to degree level (or equivalent) in relevant computing discipline

• Experience of working with C#, .Net framework, .Net core, ANSI SQL, ASP.Net MVC, Git, Powershell, Javascript, Typescript, Angular 6+, XUnit, Jasmine, HTML, CSS is essential

• Experience of working with Docker, Postgres, MySQL, oracle, terraform is preferrable

• Experience of working with AWS: Lambda, RDS, Aurora, S3, cloudformation, SNS/SQS is preferrable

• An all-round high level of interest in IT and a capacity and willingness to learn is essential

• Approachable with excellent communication & interpersonal skills

• Comfortable working in a dynamic, large-scale agile change initiative

• A keen desire, where gaps exist, to learn and engage with technologies in our digital estate

• Conversant with one or more testing frameworks

• Experienced with automated CI/CD pipelines and automated testing

• Considerable experience of coaching and mentoring junior members of staff

• Collaborative team player with the ability to work effectively with a range of internal stakeholders

• Experience of working with cloud based technologies

Salary - up to £40,000

• Purpose-driven work in a charity-led organisation connecting people to education and opportunity

• Internal training, mentoring, and access to industry-recognised certifications through our development academies

• Hybrid working model built on trust and flexibility, with a 35-hour week and flexible contracts

• 30 days annual leave, 3 concessionary days over Christmas, bank holidays, and the option to purchase additional leave

• Everyday wellbeing support through Perkbox, offering discounts and wellness tools

• Onsite facilities including a free gym, subsidised café, and free parking at our Cheltenham office

• Inclusive culture supported by employee networks, wellbeing champions, and Mental Health First Aiders

• Recognition and reward through our quarterly employee scheme and an ex-gratia bonus for going above and beyond

Studies have shown that some groups of people are less likely to apply to a role unless they tick every box. At UCAS, we recognise that talent comes in various forms and we are committed to delivering a fair and equitable recruitment process where applicants have an equal opportunity to demonstrate their skills. So, if you are interested in this vacancy, but don't necessarily meet every single point on the job description, please still apply.

If you have any questions and would like to find out more about the role before applying please email the Talent Acquisition team via [email protected] and one of us will be in touch.

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