Prospective officers and staff must be held to a higher standard of behaviour and accountability than members of the public, and that therefore their right to privacy can be fettered in certain circumstances. This is to ensure that members of the police are fully aware and accountable for the unique powers entrusted to them and the standards of professional behaviour they swear to uphold.
This role is part of the IT&D 2‑Year Graduate Programme. We encourage applications from graduates who may not yet demonstrate all of the necessary skills or experience required for the role. All we request is that you hold a relevant degree with foundational technology skills and have an ambition to learn and grow as a technologist within IT&D at West Midlands Police.
The graduate programme provides review points, access to industry skilled professionals, leading enterprise technology exposure alongside hands‑on training to help you be the best technologist possible.
About the IT & Digital Department
The IT & Digital department is responsible for the force’s adoption and use of information and digital technology.
- Architecture Management – responsible for identifying and selecting the right technologies for the force
- Delivery Management – responsible for delivering and implementing the right technologies for the force
- Service Management – responsible for managing and maintaining all live, operational technology for the force
Delivery Management function ensures the implementation/delivery of all new and enhanced IT or Digital Technology solutions in line with Force requirements, delivering fit‑for‑purpose technology, at an appropriate cost, within agreed timescales and with an acceptable level of risk.
Continuous Improvement Team
- Meeting the Force requirements for new / enhanced IT capabilities.
- Developing software and hardware solutions across a variety of platforms including within the field of M365 development.
- Ensuring that technology developed internally and externally meets force requirements.
- Ensuring new solutions have appropriate and effective low‑level designs that adhere to the force’s architectural and design principles.
- Ensuring IT developments are secure by design by working closely with other teams within the IT and Digital department.
- Having the ability to use a number of development process techniques such as Agile and Waterfall.
- Reporting to the Continuous Improvement Manager, the role of the Software Developer is to lead and participate in the development of software solutions. The post‑holder is responsible for the low‑level design and development of software solutions and providing specialist software development expertise in one or more of the following areas – M365 (SharePoint, PowerApps, Graph API, Power Platform) and application enhancement and development.
Eligibility
To be eligible to apply for this role you need to be residing in the United Kingdom for 5 years consecutively.
Application
All applications must be submitted via the WMP website – WMP Jobs | West Midlands Police.
Key Responsibilities
- Assist with the production of low‑level software designs for IT solutions.
- Assist with software development for new IT solutions in line with low‑level designs and force requirements.
- Provide specialist software development expertise.
- Provide technical guidance and advice to technical delivery projects on all software matters from design to delivery.
- Provide specialist information and/or advice to assist and influence senior colleagues/customers to make software choices.
- Provide and disseminate specialist software advice on issues relating to the use of ‘dev’ and ‘test’ environments.
- Advise projects on matters relating to the maintenance and development of policy, systems and procedures, together with the efficient and effective use of physical resources.
- Provide specialist software skills and knowledge to ensure the security and integrity of the force’s software used in the ‘dev’ and ‘test’ environments are maintained to the required standards.
- Work closely with teams within Service Management to transition new services into the ‘live’ environment, ensuring end‑to‑end support documentation.
- Assist with the monitoring and management of the performance of third‑party suppliers.
- Maintain an up‑to‑date knowledge of software development languages, tools and techniques.
- Manage incidents and service requests to meet the needs of the force.
- Resolve complex problems and issues within the team – liaising with different departments or third‑party suppliers where necessary.
- Assess and recommend software products.
- Provide reports and comprehensive working papers including making recommendations for improvements or amendments to systems.
- Must demonstrate proven experience and ability to:
- Develop, maintain and integrate a variety of software solutions.
- Translate business requirements into software designs.
- Support the development of the knowledge and skills of team members.
- Create and maintain technical documentation to high standards.
- Research new and emerging software development tools and techniques.
- Directly communicate with senior managers from a customer service perspective using written and oral methods.
- Participate in meetings.
- Maintain standards for security of information.
- The post holder must be able to work from alternate locations in line with business need.
Essential Skills
- Good skills in software development.
- Good interpersonal skills with the ability to confidently interact and empathise with all levels of staff.
- Good presentation skills.
- Flexibility to use a variety of supporting technologies and to be innovative.
- Ability to work under pressure and balance competing demands and priorities.
- Ability to learn and adapt.
- Proven track record in understanding the needs of customers/users.
- Good communication skills to work effectively throughout the organisation and with external contractors and suppliers.
- Understanding of ITIL processes as they apply to the team and to the department.
- Ability to produce management reports, policy documents and comprehensive working papers with recommendations and implementation documents.
- Good knowledge of software development and methodology.
- Knowledge of national standards and legislation regarding infrastructure technology.
- Understanding of ITIL, in particular Change and Release Management.
- Knowledge of Health and Safety issues relevant to the post.
- Positive and optimistic outlook.
- Motivated to see the Force succeed.
- Open and honest.
- Problem solver.
- Able to delegate where appropriate and target that delegation to develop other team members.
- Strong team player with a ‘can do’ attitude.
- ‑motivated with the ability to multitask and work well under pressure.
Technology Requirements – Essential
- SharePoint Architecture / Framework
- Microsoft Graph API
- Microsoft Power Platform – Power Apps, Power Automate (flows), and Power BI
- Angular JS
- Database development (Oracle and/or SQL Server)
- HTML
- Javascript
- C#, .NET
- PowerShell Scripting
- Azure Integration
- Deployment to load balanced and mirrored cloud infrastructure
- Apache Tomcat
- REST API Development
- Automated build, deployment, performance and test processes
- MySQL
Hours and Flexibility
- Flexibility is required where rota management is required and/or extended hours are proposed. It is suggested that this role requires a flexibility of approach to working hours.
- The post holder may be required to provide ‘out of hours’ availability for which the appropriate allowance will be paid.
Benefit Statement
- Fair remuneration with progression opportunities and access to a very competitive pension scheme.
- Enhanced annual leave in addition to public holiday entitlements.
- Discounts across travel, parking, daily costs of living and leisure activities.
- A comprehensive wellbeing package including 24/7 support, free eye tests and flu jabs.
Vetting & Medical
Successful applicants will be required to pass Management Vetting and Security Clearancescrutiny prior to commencing their role, this will include a full background & financial disclosure as part of the vetting process.
Appointment to this role may be dependent upon successfully completing medical checks, which may include a drugs test and if required a fitness test.
Interview & Contact
Interview: TBC
Contact: For further information email careers@westmidlands.police.uk
Diversity & Inclusion
West Midlands Police is a Disability Confident Leader – the highest level an organisation can achieve under the scheme run by the Department of Work and Pensions. All candidates who declare a disability and meet the essential criteria for the role will be offered an interview.
It is important to note that there may be occasions where it is not practicable or appropriate to interview all disabled people who meet the essential criteria for the job. In certain recruitment situations such as high‑volume, seasonal and high‑peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non‑disabled people. In these circumstances, the employer could select the candidates who best meet the essential criteria for the job, as they would do for non‑disabled applicants.
Diversity and Inclusion Vision: Maximise the potential of people from all backgrounds through a culture of fairness and inclusion to deliver the best service for our communities.
IT&D‑Improve
IT&D‑Improve