Advanced Software Developer / Software Developer

The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Newcastle upon Tyne

GBP 40,000 - 60,000

Job description

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an Advanced Software Developer (Band 7) to join the award winning Bespoke Development team at Newcastle Hospitals. A Software Developer (Band 6) would also be considered and can progress to a Band 7 once they complete competencies over a 12 month period.

The Bespoke Development team design enterprise level, cutting edge software applications used by one of the largest NHS trusts in the country. As an Advanced Software Developer you will be responsible for leading the delivery of high quality software products used to support clinical decision making and support the Trust business.

Interview Date: 22 May 2024
37 Hours 30 Minutes/Week
You will be redirected to Trac to apply for the vacancy. Please expand the job details section and read all of the information before applying for the vacancy.

Main duties of the job

Lead the development of bespoke software applications used to support the Trust's clinical systems and to integrate different IT systems used within the Trust. To provide technical expertise to inform the directorate on current IT solutions.

About us

Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the busiest, largest and most successful teaching NHS foundation trusts in the country, with over 16,000 staff and an annual income of �1 billion.

We have a long history of providing high quality care, clinical excellence, and innovation in medical research regionally, nationally and internationally.

We're also proud to be the second largest provider of specialised services in the country. This means we support people with a range of rare and complex medical, surgical and neurological conditions, cancers and genetic orders.

Our staff oversee around 2 million patients 'contacts' each year, delivering high standards of healthcare.

Please see attached information on what Staff Benefits we have to offer at our Trust.

We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and recognise the benefit in providing an inclusive environment. We value and respect the diversity of our employees and aim to recruit a workforce which reflects the communities we serve, and is equipped to deliver the best service to our patients. We welcome all applications irrespective of people's race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion or belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity and in particular those from under- represented groups.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Job Purpose Band 7

The post holder will support the IT Development Manager and:

Provide specialist advice across a range of IM& T areas including software design, Maintenance and information governance.
Investigate specialist and complex issues to determine the cause of software problems, arrive at solution and implement appropriate actions to correct.
Responsible for strategic planning of specific software development projects
Design, develop and adapt complex software.
To assist in the planning of the development programme plan via timely production and maintenance of individual development project plans.
Cover for the IT Development Manager in absence.
Responsible for coaching and guiding non-senior members of the IT Development team.
Work with the IT Development Manager to improve processes and procedures internally within the department.
Regularly research and investigate new technologies and methods that would be of benefit to the department.
Participate in design and discovery sessions for enterprise solutions and complex projects.
Monitor quality of systems and processes to identify areas of improvement. Work with other members of the department to implement these improvements.
Capable of providing project management and can serve as an IT lead for new and existing solutions design.
Liaise directly with clients in order to gather information for systems development.
Specify, develop and implement highly complex information systems to enable the Trust to improve working processes.
Work to tight deadlines to achieve agreed objectives using ones own skill and judgement.
Carry out tasks with minimal supervision to a high standard.
Manage tasks that have competing and conflicting priorities.
Ensure that assigned projects are completed to time and budget constraints.
Research and identify the best methods/solutions to overcome issues be them development or Trust related.
To provide application software that protects the data of patients, staff and the Trust in line with the legal requirements of British and European Law and in line with NHS and Department of Health Policy.
To ensure that all bespoke application development is carried out in a safe and professional manner, tested and with all documentation (including software code, test plans and data, training and system manuals, planning) of sufficient quality and detail to allow for on-going support and redevelopment of the application.
To ensure that all code produced complies with departmental coding standards, policies and procedures.
The post holder will assist the IT Development Manager in the development of Policy in relation to Legislation, NHS Guidelines and the Department of Health which is fundamental to the securing of Trust data assets relating not only to patient care but to staff and the Trust itself.
Assist in the development of continuity and disaster recovery plans in the event of loss of service.
Take a primary role in the education and training of key staff in the care and use of Trust bespoke applications.
Provide a software support service to identify and rectify software bugs and faults logged on the IT Service desk (for supported in-house developed applications or as specified by the manager).
Is responsible for implementing Cerner Millennium interfaces to downstream systems.
Is responsible for managing and monitoring connectivity and investigation of issues with Cerner Millennium interfaces.
To ensure that all Requests for Change (specifications and requirements) are captured and fully documented.
Perform other duties and undertake special projects as requested by the IT Development Manager.
Work with Trust staff, partners and vendors to deploy production applications.
Formally document, present and organise necessary design documentation for a complex IT architecture.
Document, trouble-shoot and correct intermittent problems. Offer support solutions where necessary as systems or business processes are upgraded and/or replaced.
Produce Technical documentation for IT support personnel.
Provide on-going troubleshooting, support and maintenance of product applications, including potential 24/7 on call coverage

Job Purpose Band 6

This challenging post will require the post holder, under limited direction, to analyse business requirements, create technical design documents, develop code test and provide on-going application support. The post holder will be an integral member of the team responsible in providing services to meet the Trusts IT and business requirements.

The post holder will support the Applications and Development Manager with the following activities: Ensures specialist or complex IM& T information is processed in accordance with policies & procedures. Investigate specialist or complex IM& T issues Provide in-house bespoke software analysis, design, development, testing and software support services to the Trust. Support legacy .NET applications. In some cases this will involve re-engineering into the latest .NET technology. Provide a support service to identify and rectify bugs and faults logged on the IT Service desk (for supported in-house developments or as specified by the manager). Develop or adapt complex software / web pages / information reports Provide support to the Project Management team relating to any third party products / solutions which are brought into the Trust. Work with the Server / Infrastructure team to ensure that all applications / servers are resilient providing maximum availability to the Trust. Monitor quality and processes to identify areas of improvement. Work with other members of the department to implement these improvements. Regularly research and investigate new technologies and methods that would be of benefit to the department. To assist in the planning of the development programme plan via timely production and maintenance of individual development project plans. Be responsible for the management of multiple projects. Liaise directly with clients in order to gather information. Specify, develop and implement bespoke applications to enable the Trust to improve working processes. Work to deadlines to achieve agreed objectives using ones own skill andjudgement. Carry out tasks with minimal supervision to a high standard. Ensure that assigned projects are completed to time and budget constraints. Research and identify the best methods/solutions to overcome issues be they development or Trust related. To ensure that all bespoke development is carried out in a safe and professional manner, tested and with all documentation (including software code, test plans and data, training and system manuals, planning) of sufficient quality and detail to allow for on-going support and redevelopment. To ensure that all code produced complies with departmental coding standards, policies and procedures. Assist in the development of continuity and disaster recovery plans in the event of loss of service. Take a primary role in the education and training of key staff in the care and use of Trust bespoke applications. To ensure that all Requests for Change (specifications and requirements) are captured and fully documented. Perform other duties and undertake special p

As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement. If it works for the service, we will do our best to make it work for you.

Please note it is a requirement of The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust that all successful candidates who require a DBS for the post they have been offered pay for their DBS certificate. The method of payment is a salary deduction from your first months pay.

Person Specification

All criteria for Band 7

Essential

A degree or equivalent qualification / experience including courses in computer programming, systems analysis, system development, or systems engineering and have extensive experience as a Software Developer.
Advanced technical knowledge and experience of the .NET Core and .NET framework.
Extensive knowledge and skilled in the use of C#.NET programming language.
Knowledge of software architecture and design patterns and good object- oriented programming concepts with practical and advanced experience of MVC/ MVC Core in a .NET environment.
Knowledge and experience of Entity Framework and having proven LINQ skills.
Extensive knowledge and skilled in web development (HTML/HTML5, CSS/CSS3) and web application development using Microsoft .Net technologies
Extensive knowledge and experience of JavaScript and mainstream libraries such as jQuery and Angular js
Considerable experience in the design and development of software solutions
Experience of working with relational databases in particular Microsoft SQL server with extensive experience writing SQL stored procedures, functions & T-SQL.
Extensive experience and knowledge of IIS configuration
Knowledge of Active Directory integration
Knowledge of coding to OWAP's security recommendations
Extensive experience and knowledge of Visual studio
Experience in using and configuring version control software, ideally Team Foundation Server
Good understanding of system analysis and application development methodologies.
Experience in project management techniques, ideally holding a recognized project management qualification
Experience in software testing and ideally test-driven development.
Experience of working in an AGILE and PRINCE 2 development environment.
Knowledge of the Data Protection Act and Ideally Understanding of Caldicott Guardianship rules.
Experience of working collaboratively to deliver results.
Detailed knowledge of Change management and its implications on delivery of critical care systems
Serve as a lead resource for dealing with assigned projects, challenging technical or business issues relating to Clinical and nonclinical applications
Apply advanced knowledge in a primary discipline and build a working knowledge in multiple relevant disciplines to create solutions for highly complex service delivery departments.
Experience of realising business benefits derived from project deliverables
Experience of coaching and guiding non senior developers
Knowledge and experience of business analysis with appropriate documentation with the skills to translate these into technical requirements and documentation.
Excellent prioritisation and coordination skills, combined with ability to work to deadlines under pressure.
Excellent decision-making ability
Highly skilled in managing multiple demanding requirements.
Excellent problem-solving skills.
Excellent time management skills.
Excellent interpersonal and customer facing skills.
Ability to work individually and part of a team.
Proven ability to acquire new skills and adapt existing skills effectively.
Ability to design, document and deliver application system training to staff at all levels.
Ability to converse fluently, logically and confidently with a wide range of levels of staff.
Analytical skills including the ability to handle numerical data and statistics.

Desirable

Knowledge of PAS systems (McKesson, Cerner Millennium).
Experience of HL7 messaging and Mirth message router.
Experience of FHIR messaging
Experience of working within the NHS.
SharePoint Administration experience.
Experience using project management tools such ideally JIRA
Skilled in DTS/SSIS development.