Lead Developer (Front-End)

NICE; Manchester; On-site; GBP 58,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

NHS Pension

Flexible working

27 days annual leave

Blue Light Card discounts

Job summary

NICE is seeking a Lead Front-End Developer in Manchester to drive the design and delivery of secure, accessible front-end applications used by NHS and wider health services. You will lead a multidisciplinary team, mentor staff, and shape technical decisions, with a focus on modern JavaScript technologies.

Role includes leadership, code reviews, and collaboration with designers, testers and back-end developers, plus a 12.5% recruitment incentive and in-person interviews in Manchester.

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading a technical team through the SDLC.
• Experience building accessible interfaces for diverse users.
• Strong command of modern JavaScript and frontend frameworks (React, Next.js, Vite).
• Experience with testing frameworks to validate software solutions.
• Proven ability to build robust, cross-browser, cross-device UIs.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and build of robust, secure, front end web applications.
• Line-manage engineering team members and mentor juniors.
• Collaborate with an Agile delivery team.
• Ensure services meet WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility standards.
• Conduct code reviews and uphold engineering standards.
• Share knowledge and mentor colleagues within the team.
• Support live services and resolve technical issues.
• Prototype and evaluate emerging technologies (e.g., AI) for front-end components.

Skills

Front-end leadership

React

Next.js

Vite

Nuqs

Job description

Lead Developer (Front-End)

Location: Manchester

Salary: £57,528 to £64,750 a year per annum (plus R&R 12.5%)

Vacancy Type: Permanent

The closing date is 02 September 2026

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is looking for a Lead Front-End Developer to play a key part in the improvement of digital services that support the NHS and wider health and care system.

You will have significant software development experience, balanced with strong leadership capability and expertise in modern software delivery practices.

As an expert practitioner of front-end development technologies, you will be a contributor to an agile, multidisciplinary engineering team, leading the development of accessible, secure, and performant applications used by millions of users. You will work closely with designers, technical testers and back-end developers, contributing to technical decisions and supporting the professional development of other colleagues within the engineering team.

Leadership, mentoring and line-management are a significant part of this role.

This role qualifies for a 12.5% per annum recruitment and retention payment on top of the band 8A base salary. Interviews will be held in-person, in NICE's Manchester office, during week beginning the 14thSeptember 2026, and will include an assessment of technical capabilities.

Please note that this role may not be eligible for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route, please refer to the Direct Gov website for more information with regards to eligibility.

We reserve the right to close adverts early should we receive sufficient applications so please don't delay your submission

Main duties of the job

• Lead the design and build of robust, secure, front end web applications.
• Line-manage engineering team colleagues.Writing maintainable, and well tested code using modern front end technologies such as React, NextJs, Vite, Nuqs
• Work collaboratively as part of an Agile, multidisciplinary delivery team.
• Ensuring services meet accessibility standards (WCAG 2.2 AA) and follow NICE and GDS best practice.
• Participating in code reviews, ensuring that engineering standards are unheld.
• Play an active part in knowledge sharing and mentoring activities.
• Supporting live services and helping identify and resolve technical issues.
• Working with the wider engineering team to prototype, evaluate and integrate emerging technologies such as generative AI into secure, reusable and production ready front end components.

About us

The Digital, Information and Technology (DIT) directorate is an 80-strong team of digital, information and technology professionals. Our digital teams adopt a user-centric agile methodology and work in multi-disciplinary teams. We develop and maintain NICE's suite of digital and technology services, including NICE's website which attracts more than 2 million users a month.

We are passionate and proud of the work we do and the impact we make. NICE offer:

• Generous NHS Pension - Secure your future with one of the most rewarding pension schemes in the UK
• Flexible working - Enjoy a healthy work-life balance with options like remote working, compressed hours and flexible start/finish times
• Exclusive discounts - Save on shopping, dining and more with a Blue Light CardTime to recharge - Start with 27 days' annual leave plus bank holidays
• Inclusive staff networks - Join supportive communities like Women in NICE, Race Equality Network, Disability Advocacy and NICE and Proud - we celebrate diversity
• Tailored development - Grow your career with personalised learning and development opportunities

Person Specification

• Proven and demonstrated experience leading a technical team through all phases of the software development lifecycle.
• Proven and demonstrated experience in building accessible interfaces that work for as many users as possible, regardless of their needs.
• Proven and demonstrated expereince of modern JavaScript, including libraries and frameworks such as ReactJS, NextJs, Vite, Nuqs.
• Proven and demonstrated experience of using testing frameworks to validate software solutions.
• Proven and demonstrated experience building robust, cross-browser and cross-device user interfaces.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.