Lead Software Developer

Job Summary

The Integrated Corporate Services (ICS) is a new shared corporate service, launched in July 2023. It provides corporate services (HR, Finance, Digital, Commercial, Security and Estates) across the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero (DESNZ) and the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT).

Our team of just over 300 professionals will be leading the way in how these functions will be delivered in the future. Our ambition is to be the leading provider of integrated corporate services for government and set the standard for quality, efficiency, and innovation in our field.

We offer great working benefits including a world-class pension, flexible working options and a career where your learning and development is taken seriously. We are enormously proud to be a Disability Confident Leader employer. We support candidates with adjustments throughout our recruitment process. Information about disability confidence and just some examples of the adjustments that you can request can be found in the reasonable adjustment section below.

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.

Find Out More

You can also follow our LinkedIn Careers Page: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/desnz-careers/

Job Description

Join ICS Digital, where innovation meets expertise to create digital solutions. We are a cohesive digital community who work in the open, solving problems together and fostering a culture of transparency and collaboration. Our commitment to user-focused design and data-driven decision-making ensures that we deliver accessible services tailored to the needs of our customers.

As Lead Software Developer, you will be responsible for the design, configuration, and development and maintenance of digital workplace technologies within ICS.

You will lead technical projects and collaborate closely with stakeholders to deliver high-quality, scalable, and efficient solutions that meet the needs of our customers in the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero (DESNZ) and the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT). With a hybrid working environment and offices across the UK, our multi-disciplinary team focus on solutions to improve productivity, collaboration and compliance for the organisations we support.

You will be working with a primarily Microsoft based technology stack, including cloud technologies such as PowerBI, PowerPlatform, Microsoft Purview, SharePoint Advanced Management, M365 Co-Pilot, and Microsoft Graph.

You will work alongside Civil Servants and Contractors in a multidisciplinary team which embraces agile ways of working. This environment offers the opportunity to apply and expand your technical expertise while contributing to the delivery of robust, secure, and innovative digital services.

Visit our blog to learn more about us and our work: https://icsdigital.blog.gov.uk/

Person specification

Key responsibilities:

Spearhead the design and implementation of automation and AI-driven solutions to enhance content classification, discovery, and management within Microsoft 365, enabling smarter and more efficient handling of digital assets.

Oversee the development of workflows, forms, and automation using Power Platform (Power Automate, Power Apps).

Monitor the Microsoft roadmap for the latest features and relevant releases.

Own technical planning and delivery, ensuring alignment with architectural standards and coding best practices.

Collaborate with stakeholders and technical teams to gather requirements, translate them into specifications, high level and low-level designs, and provide strategic guidance throughout the

development lifecycle.

Oversee data modelling, migration, and integration, ensuring seamless interoperability between systems and services.

Mentor developers and conduct code reviews, promoting technical excellence, continuous learning, and collaborative problem-solving.

Resolve complex technical issues and support robust deployment.

Monitor live service and ensure system reliability, performance, and maintainability.

The above responsibilities are not exhaustive, and the post holders may be required to undertake some additional tasks not listed above, within the remit of their grade, to support the team.

As a line manager, you will be responsible for working with your members of staff to define their objectives, as well as managing their development and performance.

Essential criteria:

Extensive experience in data governance, migration, and integration within Microsoft 365 environments.

Experience with SharePoint Framework (SPFx), PowerShell, Power Platform, and PnP provisioning

Advanced software development capabilities, with proficiency in programming languages such as C#, PowerShell, or Python.

Proven track record in developing reusable components and APIs to enable scalable service integration across Microsoft cloud and enterprise platforms.

Expertise in utilising Microsoft Power BI and PowerApps for business intelligence and process automation.

Demonstrated ability to lead technical planning and delivery while maintaining adherence to architectural standards and coding best practices.

Strong collaboration skills with stakeholders and technical teams to define requirements and deliver solutions aligned with business objectives.

Experience mentoring developers, performing code reviews, and fostering a culture of continuous learning and technical excellence.

Practical expertise in deployment pipelines, including Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, or similar tools, to automate build, test, and release processes.

Desirable criteria:

Knowledge of Microsoft Purview for data governance and compliance.

Familiarity with SharePoint administration, SharePoint Advanced Management and 365 Archive.

Hands-on experience with Microsoft Co-pilot configuration and integration.

Working knowledge of Microsoft Graph for advanced integrations and automation.

Understanding of accessibility standards (such as WCAG 2.2 AA) and government digital service delivery best practices

It is unusual that all candidates will meet all the desirable criteria. If your skills and experience look slightly different from what we have identified and you think you can bring value to the Lead Software Developer role and the team, we strongly encourage you to apply. We'd love to hear from you!

Please, no recruitment agencies.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

Making Effective Decisions

Developing Self and Others

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

Service support – Practitioner

Modern development standards - Expert

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £55,105, Department for Energy Security & Net Zero contributes £15,963 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero offers a competitive mix of benefits including:

A culture of flexible working, such as job sharing, homeworking and compressed hours.

Automatic enrolment into the Civil Service Pension Scheme, with an employer contribution of 28.97%.

A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 30.

An extensive range of learning & professional development opportunities, which all staff are actively encouraged to pursue.

Access to a range of retail, travel and lifestyle employee discounts.

A hybrid office/home based working model where staff will spend a norm of 40-60% of their time in the office (minimum of 40%) over a month with flex dependent on balancing business and individual need.

Office attendance

The Department operates a discretionary hybrid working policy, which provides for a combination of working hours from your place of work and from your home in the UK. The current expectation for staff is to attend the office or non-home-based location for 40-60% of the time over the accounting period.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete a CV and personal statement.

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Please use your personal statement (in no more than 500 words) to describe how your past experience relate to the essential criteria outlined in this job description, focusing on your most recent career history.

Applications will be sifted on CV and personal statement.

In the event of a large number of applicants, applications will be sifted on the personal statement.

Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview.

The interview will consist of behaviour and technical-based questions.

Interviewees will be asked to deliver a presentation; further details will be provided nearer the time.

Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Further Information

Reasonable Adjustment

We are proud to be a disability confident leader and we welcome applications from disabled candidates and candidates with long-term conditions.

Information about the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) and some examples of adjustments that we offer to disabled candidates and candidates with long-term health conditions during our recruitment process can be found in our DESNZ Candidate Guidance. A DESNZ Plain Text Version of the guidance is also available.

We encourage candidates to discuss their adjustment needs by emailing the job contact which can be found under the contact point for applicants' section.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

A location-based reserve list of successful candidates will be kept for 12 months. Should another role become available within that period you may be offered this position.

Please note terms and conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.

Any move to the Department for Energy, Security and Net Zero from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website.

DESNZ does not normally offer full home working (i.e. working at home); but we do offer a variety of flexible working options (including occasionally working from home).

DESNZ cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign.

DESNZ holds a Visa sponsorship licence but this can only be used for certain roles and this campaign does not qualify.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service /Disclosure Scotland on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

For further information on the Disclosure Scotland confidential checking service telephone: the Disclosure Scotland Helpline on 0870 609 6006 and ask to speak to the operations manager in confidence, or email Info@disclosurescotland.co.uk

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5-year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the Demystifying Vetting website.

Feedback

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

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 European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)

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

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

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).

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run 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.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

Name : People and Development Team

Email : peopleanddevelopment@ics.gov.uk

Recruitment team

Email : desnzresourcing.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the recruitment principles, and wish to make a complaint, then you should contact in the first instance DESNZrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: Click here to visit Civil Service Commission/Complaints

Show more Show less