Lead Software Engineer

Sopra Steria Ltd; Farnborough; Hybrid; GBP 58,500 - 71,500; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

£5,400 car allowance

25 days annual leave

Private medical

Life assurance

Pension

Job summary

Sopra Steria Ltd in the United Kingdom is seeking a Lead Software Engineer to lead the development and support of Oracle-based applications within a mission-critical pensions and compensation environment. This role combines hands-on engineering with DevOps practices, delivering stable, high-availability systems and guiding a team through releases and improvements.

You will own design, implementation, and maintenance of CI/CD pipelines in Azure DevOps, drive automation, and mentor engineers while

Qualifications

• Proven Oracle Applications experience in enterprise settings.
• Strong SQL/RDBMS skills for data analysis and reporting.
• Hands-on Azure DevOps CI/CD with YAML and Classic pipelines.
• Experience in production support and change management.
• Security clearance eligibility (SC/DV) is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development, support and maintenance of Oracle-based business applications.
• Drive production support, incident resolution and root cause analysis.
• Manage application releases, deployments and change activities.
• Design and maintain Azure DevOps CI/CD pipelines (YAML and Classic).
• Automate build, test and deployment processes.
• Support application patching, upgrades and environment management.
• Work with complex datasets to deliver reporting, analysis and data fixes.
• Enhance monitoring, logging and automation capabilities.
• Ensure system stability, availability and performance across environments.
• Provide technical leadership and mentoring within the engineering team.

Skills

Oracle Applications

SQL/Data analysis

Production support

Azure DevOps CI/CD

Release management

PowerShell

T-SQL

DevOps practices

High availability

Troubleshooting

Tools

Azure DevOps

SQL Server

PowerShell

T-SQL

ServiceNow

Dimensions

DIP File Share

Compendia

Job description

Lead the Engineering Behind Critical Public Sector Pension Systems.

Are you an experienced Software Engineer with strong Oracle Applications expertise and a passion for building resilient, business‑critical systems?

We're looking for a Lead Software Engineer to play a key role in the delivery and ongoing support of the Pensions Compensation Programme (DBS). You'll lead the development, support, and enhancement of the Equiniti application suite, ensuring stability, performance, and continuous improvement across a complex, high‑availability environment. This is an opportunity to combine hands‑on technical leadership with modern DevOps practices while making a real impact on systems that support vital pension and compensation services.

You’ll be joining a team responsible for delivering and supporting mission‑critical applications within a secure and technically challenging environment. You’ll have the opportunity to shape engineering best practice, drive automation, and influence the future direction of key services while working with modern tooling and technologies.

Hybrid: Gosport.

Must be Eligible for DV Security Clearance.

Key responsibilities:

• Leading the development, support and maintenance of Oracle‑based business applications.
• Driving production support, incident resolution and root cause analysis.
• Managing application releases, deployments and change activities.
• Designing and maintaining Azure DevOps CI/CD pipelines (YAML and Classic).
• Automating build, test and deployment processes.
• Supporting application patching, upgrades and environment management.
• Working with complex datasets to deliver reporting, analysis and data fixes.
• Enhancing monitoring, logging and automation capabilities.
• Ensuring system stability, availability and performance across multiple environments.
• Providing technical leadership and mentoring within the engineering team.

Essential Skills & Experience:

• Strong Oracle Applications experience.
• Extensive knowledge of RDBMS and SQL for data analysis and reporting.
• Proven experience supporting and maintaining production applications.
• Hands‑on Azure DevOps CI/CD experience (YAML and Classic pipelines).
• Experience with release management, deployments and application patching.
• Strong scripting and automation skills (PowerShell and T‑SQL).
• Knowledge of DevOps practices, SDLC and version control.
• Experience working in high‑availability, business‑critical environments.
• Strong troubleshooting, analytical and problem‑solving skills.

It would be great if you had:

• Knowledge of WPS Pensions and Compensation systems.
• Experience with ServiceNow, Dimensions and DIP File Share.
• Familiarity with Compendia, Touch and Compose.
• Understanding of Privileged Access Management (PAM) and security controls.
• Existing DV or SC clearance.

Employment Type: Permanent

Location: Hybrid: Gosport

Security Clearance Level: Eligible for SC and DV Clearance

Internal Recruiter: Jane

Salary: Up to £65,000.00

Benefits: £5,400 car allowance, 25 days annual leave with the option to buy additional days, private medical, life assurance, and pension.