Lead Software Engineers

UK Hydrographic Office; United States; Hybrid; USD 79,000 - 112,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Civil Service Pension

Job summary

UK Hydrographic Office in Taunton is seeking a Lead Software Engineer to lead a delivery team of 6-8 software and test engineers, ensuring critical systems are maintained, stable, and secure. The role involves technical leadership within the Engineering department and collaboration with the Head of Engineering.

This hybrid role offers development opportunities, a formal pension, and the chance to work on systems used for safety at sea and environmental management.

Qualifications

• Broad range of software engineering experience, including developing high-quality .NET applications.
• Experience providing technical leadership, coaching and supporting engineering teams.
• Familiarity with automated testing and continuous delivery practices.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership to an agile team designing and crafting software solutions, focusing on core services and reliability.
• Coach and mentor the delivery team.
• Ensure effective use of automated testing and deployment tools to support a continuous delivery environment.
• Collaborate with the development community to share best practices.
• Share knowledge of tools and techniques with the wider team.
• Continual professional development.

Skills

Technical leadership

.NET development

Agile team leadership

Unit testing

Pair programming

Tools

Microsoft certifications

Job description

As one of our Lead Software Engineers, you will be leading a delivery team of between 6-8 Software and Test Engineers. You will have responsibility for leading the team supporting Critical Business Systems keeping the mariner safe at sea. This role, alongside the delivery manager and product owner, is key to the success of ensuring the systems are maintained, stable and secure. The work we do really matters to the safety of lives at sea, climate change, environmental management and the ecology of the sea. As a lead you will be involved in technically leading an Application Support team that owns a number of business critical systems , the work will include dealing with any live incidents, dealing with any security issues, continuous improvement work, and working with other teams/applications that interact with the teams services. As one of the Lead Engineers, you will also be part of the Technical Leadership group of Engineering, working with the Head of Engineering, helping shape policies and standards and driving the Engineering profession forward. We encourage and facilitate involvement in wider government, looking at how other Software Engineering depts work and what we can learn from them. On a personal development level, we have a well‑developed framework, access to a whole range of certifications (e.g. we offer all the Microsoft certifications), as well as wider range of other technical and leadership development. Hybrid working This job role can be worked on a hybrid basis, which is an informal, non-contractual and voluntary arrangement, working between the office in Taunton and remotely within the UK. The contractual location for the roles will be our office in Taunton, those individuals who live beyond a reasonable travelling distance from Taunton will be able to work from home unless required to attend the office for in‑person events. For those individuals who live within a reasonable commuting distance of the office, how often individuals attend the office will be agreed on a case by case basis. Please note there may be occasions when staff are required to travel into the office in Taunton for meetings, however this will be agreed on an individual basis. On these rare occasions the travel and any accommodation would need to be at their own expense. Part‑time hours of 30 hours might be considered for this role.

• Provide technical leadership to an agile team designing and crafting software solutions, utilising methodologies such as unit testing and pair programming. The team will be focussed on developing and enhancing a set of core services, as well as building in resiliency and maintainability.
• Coaching and mentoring the delivery team.
• Ensure effective use of automated testing and deployment tools to build and support a continuous delivery environment.
• Collaborate with others in the development community, identifying good practices we can adopt and sharing our experiences.
• Share knowledge of tools and techniques with the wider team.
• Continually develop your own skills as part of a programme of continuous professional development., We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates change. You will be provided with sufficient notice of the confirmed dates.
• Benefits Alongside your salary of £63,558, UK Hydrographic Office contributes £18,412 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.

Lead Criteria: We have identified a lead criterion for this role, which we may use to differentiate between applications in the following scenarios:

• To conduct an initial‑sift in a high volume of applicants (over 20 applications).
• To establish a merit‑order in the event of a tie.

Sift/Shortlist Criteria: All applications are processed anonymously.

• A broad range of software engineering experience, including developing high‑quality .NET applications
• Experience in providing technical leadership, coaching and supporting engineering teams (lead criteria).

Interview Criteria, Process:

• Single Stage Interview via TEAMS. You will be contacted to book a suitable slot if you are shortlisted (see our Candidate Pack for further information)
• Interview will be with a panel of no more than 3 people and will last approximately 60 minutes.
• During the interview, a scenario based question will be asked. More details will be given in the invitation to interview.

Onboarding Checks:

In the event you are offered a role with us, you will be required to go through Basic Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks which will include Employment and Right to Work Checks. You will also need to apply for SC (Security Clearance), but you may be able to start your role before gaining this. Please see our attached Candidate Pack for further details and Terms. Please note, we are unable to offer visa sponsorship.

Residency Requirements: SC - non reserved

This is a Ministry of Defence non-reserved post and although open to UK, British Commonwealth and European Economic Area nationals, successful applicants will require a security clearance (SC) and therefore need to have resided in the UK for a minimum of 12 consecutive months within the last 5 years.

Eligibility Due to the secure nature of our work, there may be eligibility restrictions if you hold dual nationality or are not a British Citizen.

We will consider each application on a case‑by‑case basis. We will ask you in our application form to confirm your place of birth and details of any dual or previous nationalities. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is . .People working with government assets must complete checks.

Nationality requirements

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre‑settled status under the
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre‑settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

At the UK Hydrographic Office, it's very important to us that our people feel valued. We offer a huge range