Software Developer (Arches Platform)

Historic England; Swindon; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension scheme with 28.97% employer 1

28 days holiday

Corporate discounts

Free entry to English Heritage sites

Development opportunities

Job summary

Historic England is recruiting a Software Developer (Arches Platform) to join our heritage information systems team in Swindon on a 2-year fixed-term contract with hybrid working.

You will develop and support Arches-based applications, implement data models, and build import/export/migration pipelines, collaborating with data specialists and external partners. You will write code in public repositories from day one and contribute to secure, maintainable systems.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in developing secure enterprise web apps.
• Strong Python and Django or similar framework.
• Experience with relational DBs, SQL and ETL.
• Experience working in Agile teams and code reviews using Git.

Responsibilities

• Develop and support Historic England's heritage information systems built on the Arches platform.
• Write code in open-source repositories from day one.
• Develop new features and Arches applications for internal and external users, ensuring security, resilience and maintainability.

Skills

Python

Django

SQL

ETL

Agile

Git

Job description

Historic England is the public organisation that brings new life to heritage to build a better future for every place and everyone.

Historic England has a fantastic opportunity for you to join us as our Software Developer (Arches Platform).

This is a full time, 2 year fixed-term contract.

The location of this role is Swindon inclusive with hybrid working.

We offer a wide benefits package including a competitive defined benefit pension scheme to which we make 28.97% employer contributions, a generous 28 days holiday, corporate discounts, free entry into English Heritage sites across the country and development opportunities to ensure you achieve your goals.

To view our full range of benefits please follow the link here.

What you will be doing

You will be responsible for the development and support of Historic England's heritage information systems built on the Arches platform, an open-source data management system for cultural heritage. This includes our heritage inventory systems and the public facing services built on top of Arches. Our applications, extensions and code are themselves developed as open-source software in public repositories, so you will be writing code in the open from day one.

As Software Developer you will develop new features and Arches applications for internal and external customers that are secure, resilient and maintainable. You will support heritage data modelling, and build the import, export and migration pipelines that populate them, working with data specialists to translate business requirements into working data structures.

Who we are looking for:

• Proven experience of developing and maintaining secure enterprise web applications, including keeping them current through dependency and platform upgrades.
• Highly proficient in Python, and in Django or a comparable server-side web framework (views, models, ORM, middleware, authentication).
• Proven experience of building systems using enterprise relational databases, including writing SQL and migrating data using extract, transform and load (ETL) processes.
• Proven experience of working in an Agile team through all stages of the system life cycle, including breaking work down into deliverable items, estimating effort and keeping colleagues informed.
• Proficient in using Git based source control within a team, including peer reviewing the work of other developers and acting on review feedback.

Please note your application will be scored and assessed against the above criteria.

Historic England is a Disability Confident Leader and normally offers guaranteed interviews to disabled candidates who meet the minimum criteria for the role, where it is practical and appropriate to do so. We want all candidates to shine in the recruitment process, so please tell us what we can do to help you show us your very best self. For more information, please visit our Everyone is Welcome page, or contact us at [e-mail] if you have any recruitment queries.

We are an equal opportunity employer which values diversity and inclusion. If you have a disability or neurodiversity, we would be happy to discuss reasonable adjustments to the job with you. Having won the Gold Award from MIND for workplace wellbeing in seven consecutive years, we also recognise the importance of a healthy work-life balance.

We are an inclusive employer and believe that flexible working options are for everyone. We want to make sure our working arrangements don't prevent anyone from joining us because of their personal circumstances. We also want to provide you with the best balance in your home and work life that we can.

We are open to considering options including job sharing, part-time working, compressed hours working and different working locations, including hybrid working. Please visit our jobs pages or contact us to find out more.

Why work for Historic England

We are committed to promoting equality of opportunity for everyone. Diversity helps us to perform better and attract more people to support our work. We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds.

We particularly encourage applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates and candidates with disabilities as they are underrepresented within Historic England at this level.

Historic England wants all of our candidates to shine in the recruitment process. Please tell us what we can do to make sure you can show us your very best self. You can contact us by email at [e-mail] if you have any recruitment queries.

At Historic England we use a hiring system called Applied. Applied is a behavioural science-backed recruitment platform that reduces bias, improves quality of hire and increases diversity. We do not use CV application for the majority of our hiring processes. You will answer a selection of questions that allow our hiring teams to test your skills and suitability for the role.

At Historic England, we value the expertise and individuality each candidate brings and want to hear about this in your own words. If you require the use or AI tools or other resources to support your application, we ask that all information is factual, original, and reflects your own experience. To best represent yourself, we encourage you to write in your own words and use AI-generated content only as inspiration - not as direct input.

Provisional interview dates: 19th October 2026

Please follow the link for a full copy of the Job Description -