Skip to main contentSenior Developer
HM Revenue and Customs
Apply before 11:55 pm on Wednesday 27th September 2023
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About the job
Job summary
At HMRC, we are already one of the most digital organisations in the UK. With 50 million customers to serve, over 60 thousand colleagues to support, and £600 billion to collect to fund UK Plc, our IT operation is huge!
This is an excellent opportunity to join HMRC’s IT function Chief Digital Information Office (CDIO) which sets the technology direction for HMRC and delivers the high-level design for all IT solutions across the organisation. CDIO are responsible for building and running HMRC IT services along with providing IT change and operational support.
See what it’s like to work at HMRC: find out more about us or ask our colleagues a question. Questions relating to an individual application must be emailed as detailed later in this advert.
Job description
Are you a passionate Java Developer ready to take your career to the next level?
Are you looking to work for an organisation that makes a real world impact?
We are recruiting for a Senior Developer (Java) to join the CDIO, Borders & Trade (B&T) Group, who are responsible for developing, delivering, and supporting IT solutions for those business areas which manage HMRC’s Customs, Excise and International Trade activities. CDIO B&T look after the end-to-end service management and development of over 100 services - from the generation of Trade Statistics to the administration of Customs and Excise duties.
This is an exciting role as a key member of the Java Development Guild, leading in collaborating with partners throughout the full delivery lifecycle to ensure delivery and support of highest-quality software products.
Following best practices, the teams work mainly with Agile delivery methods, Test Driven Development (TDD) and Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) approaches, seeking innovative solutions to the challenges encountered when working on high risk, sensitive, projects.
The role
As an experienced developer you will act as a source of technical leadership across one or more projects and support requests. You will keep up with modern technology trends and emerging best practices, contributing to maintaining the Guild’s overall standards and processes.
Additionally, you will be an integral part of a managerial team overseeing the daily operations of your team, which includes tasks such as resource allocation, providing line management, mentoring junior staff, identifying training requirements, and participating in recruitment activities.
As part of a project, you will be responsible for the designing, planning, and development of Java based services. You’ll work with other disciplines to understand the most appropriate design for the service and ensure best practices are followed during development. You should continuously be finding ways to improve system robustness, resilience, and stability.
You will already have a strong appreciation of information security and be confident designing solutions and services with security controls embedded.
You will demonstrate a proactive, rational, and organised approach to problem solving and technical delivery. This is alongside an awareness of the need to deliver a high-quality product under challenging timescales.
Your comprehensive understanding of testing procedures and the development lifecycle will be essential to your success in this role.
Responsibilities
As a Senior Java Developer, you will;
- Be responsible for writing clean, secure, code following a test-driven approach. You should create code that is open by default and easy for others to reuse.
- Be expected to design, plan, and lead development of complex services, and act as a technical representative of the system under delivery. All while handling conflicting priorities and documenting all work in accordance with agreed standards.
- Be a key part of the delivery team, collaborating and working closely with business analysts, testers, and product owners throughout the full delivery lifecycle to ensure delivery of highest-quality software products.
- Continuously be finding ways to improve system robustness, resilience, and stability.
- Maintain the security, confidentiality, and integrity of information systems through compliance with relevant legislation and regulations. Designing, implementing, and operating controls and management strategies to allow this.
- Be responsible for line managing a number of resources, whilst also coaching and mentoring more junior colleagues.
Person specification
Essential Criteria:
- Educated to degree level, or, can demonstrate work-based experience of designing and building complex programs using agreed standards and tools, to achieve a well-engineered result.
- Experience of leading full stack software development using Java and Java based technologies in a team.
- Experience of conducting code audits and code reviews.
- Knowledge of online security and security solutions.
- Experience in writing and using standard database functions for complex systems. E.g., SQL, PL/SQL, Triggers, Stored Procedures.
- Proficiency in modern development tools. E.g., Java IDE, Maven, Git, Jenkins.
- Experience or understanding of Test-Driven Development (TDD), including Working knowledge of unit tests tools and best practices for automation. E.g., Mockito, Junit.
- Understanding of different development methodologies. E.g., Waterfall, Agile.
- Understanding of user experience analysis and its principles.
- Knowledge of system integration, and the challenges of designing and testing interfaces.
- A logical, analytical approach to problem solving with a close attention to detail. Ability to fix faults following agreed procedures.
- Ability to learn new and old technologies rapidly and embrace change.
- An ability to communicate technical concepts to a non-technical audience.
- Can demonstrate leadership and mentoring skills including experience working with trainees and providing knowledge transfers.
Desirable criteria:
- Cloud knowledge; developing for cloud environments, IaaS/PaaS/SaaS solutions, Azure & AWS services
- Working knowledge of unix-like operating systems such as Linux.
- Knowledge of working with Microservices using Spring Boot. Including the principles of containerisation (Docker/Kubernetes), as well as understanding Infrastructure as Code
- Understanding of Behavioural Driven Development (BDD)
For the first nine months after taking up duty, you will work normal office hours though will be required to occasionally attend the office outside of normal working hours (for example to support software releases). For the next three months, in addition to normal office hours, on an ad-hoc basis it may be required to shadow a colleague providing on-call support. On completion of 12 months in post, the post holder will then be required to provide part of a 24/7 on-call Rota.
Benefits
- Learning and development tailored to your role
- An environment with flexible working options
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
- A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
Find more about HMRC benefits in 'Your little extras and big benefits handbook' for further information or visit Thinking of joining the Civil Service.
Things you need to know
Selection process details
As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV and Personal Statement.
Please ensure that your Personal Statement is no more than 500 words. Please provide details on how you meet the essential criteria for this role, by stating what you have done and how you went about it, to demonstrate your suitability for this role.
Sift will be carried out on CV and personal statement.
Interviews will be based on experience and suitability for the role. You will also be assessed against the essential criteria and on how your CV and Personal Statement meet this.
The interview will also include an assessment to ensure suitability against the minimum technical requirements of the role and an opportunity to demonstrate greater understanding of the subject matter where applicable.
Interviews will take place via Teams.
We reserve the right to raise the score required at any stage of the process in order to manage numbers.
Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
A reserve list may be held for a period of up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles – if this applies to you, we’ll let you know via your Civil Service Jobs account.
Eligibility
To check that you are eligible to apply, review this eligibility information
Important information for existing HMRC contractual homeworkers:
Please note that this role is unsuitable for contractual homeworkers due to the nature and/or requirements of the role.
Reasonable Adjustments
We want to make sure no one is put at a disadvantage during our recruitment process because of a disability, condition, or impairment. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate.
If you need a reasonable adjustment or a change to be made so that you can make your application, review this information on reasonable adjustments, and contact hmrcrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible.
Diversity and Inclusion
At HMRC we are committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues and creating an inclusive and respectful environment that reflects the diversity of the society we serve.
Diverse perspectives and experiences are critical to our success and we welcome applications from all people from all backgrounds with the experience and skills needed to perform this role. We’re committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues here at HMRC. We want everyone to feel valued and supported to achieve their potential at HMRC.
For more information on how we make this happen, review this information on our culture and values
Applications received from candidates with a criminal record are considered fairly in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice and the Recruitment of ex-offenders Policy.
We welcome applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible after considering operational and customer service needs. We can’t guarantee that we can meet all requests to work flexibly, as agreement will be subject to business ability to accommodate, and any request to work a more flexible arrangement should be made prior to your acceptance of the provisional offer.
Customer facing roles in HMRC require the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English and/or Welsh where required. Where this is an essential requirement, this will be tested as part of the selection process.
The Civil Service runs a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
Locations
HMRC has a presence in every region of the UK. For more information on where you might be working, review this information on our locations.
Security Update
For more information on the level of security checks we will carry out, review this information on security checks
Please note: in addition to the standard pre-employment checks for appointment into the Civil Service, all candidates must also obtain National Security Vetting at Security Check (SC) clearance level for this vacancy. You will normally need to meet the minimum UK residency period as determined by the level of vetting being undertaken, which for SC is 5 years UK residency prior to your vetting application. If you have any questions about this residency requirement, please speak to the vacancy holder for this post.
Further Information
The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. The evidence you provide in your application must relate to your own experiences.
Any instances of plagiarism or other forms of cheating will be investigated and, if proven, the relevant application/s will be withdrawn from the process.
Duplicate applications for the same vacancy will also be withdrawn.
Transferring into HMRC from Civil Service If you are currently working for an ‘Other Government Department’ (OGD) and would like to consider the impact on your pay when joining HMRC, please see the attached document "Combined T&C and OGD Pay English”, found at the bottom of this advert. Further information on staff transfers can be found on gov.uk
Problems during the application process
If you experience accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.
If you think you’ve made a mistake on a short application form (e.g. you’ve ticked the incorrect eligibility box), please contact hmrcrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk at least two working days before the vacancy closes. After this, we won’t be able to reopen your application.
Please use the subject line to insert appropriate wording e.g. Please re-open my application - 313352 & vacancy closing date 27th September 2023. Please note that we cannot amend or re-open your application if you have submitted your full application in the interests of fair and open recruitment.
For reasonable adjustments queries or requests, please see details within reasonable adjustments section above.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Nationality requirements
Working for the Civil Service
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
Apply and further information
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name : Alice Ramsay
- Email : alice.ramsay@hmrc.gov.uk
Recruitment team
- Email : hmrcrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Further information
