Senior Developer (£44,241 - £58,997)

Join DVSA’s mission to make roads safer and more efficient by shaping the future of digital public services. As a Senior Developer, you’ll play a pivotal role in designing, building, and evolving high-impact digital platforms and services that serve millions across the UK.

This will be a key role in the design, build, support, implementation and improvement of digital services, products, and platforms across DVSA. You will work within a multi-disciplinary team using Agile delivery methodologies, delivering solutions that meet user needs.

You will be committed to quality and will promote quality software engineering techniques within the team, such as code review, design review, reusability of code, refactoring, automated testing, and use of standards.

Joining our department comes with many benefits, including:

• Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here
• 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave), plus 8 bank holidays a privilege day for the King’s birthday
• Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.

Read more in the Benefits section below!

Find out more about what it's like working at Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency - Department for Transport Careers

You will be expected to work from requirements or high-level design without the need for direct supervision and will be responsible for the development and delivery of well-designed and executed software and data management solutions, using Agile methodologies. You will coach, support and mentor individual and Junior/Apprentice developers.

Your responsibilities will include, but aren’t limited to:

• Building digital services and software solutions to serve a variety of user’s needs and complying with the Digital by Default service standard.
• Implementing APIs for internal and external use.
• Developing solutions that put the user and user experience first.
• Fostering continuous improvement of services through identification and implementation of strategic end to end system improvements.
• Demonstrate leadership by providing influence, direction, and guidance to Developers, Junior/Apprentice Developers to support the delivery of objectives.

For further information on the role, please read the attached role profile. Please note that the role profile is for information purposes only - whilst all elements are relevant to the role, they may not all be assessed during the recruitment process. This job advert will detail exactly what will be assessed during the recruitment process.

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)

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

Our selection process ensures a comprehensive assessment of each applicant's qualifications, skills, and potential fit within our organisation.

The selection process for this role will be:

Stage 1: Sift of Personal Statement (750 words max) & CV

Stage 2: Interview & Assessment

You must be successful at each stage to progress to the next stage.

Stage 1: Sift of CV & Personal Statement

You will be asked to provide a CV (unlimited wordcount) and personal statement (750-word count). Please structure your Personal Statement to provide detailed evidence of each of the following:

• Proven track record in successful agile development of digital services.
• Proficiency in front-end and/or back-end development, with expertise in PHP, TypeScript or JavaScript.
• Effective negotiation and communication with senior stakeholders on technical matters.

To apply please click 'Apply at advertiser's site' at the bottom of the page.

The sift will take place week commencing 14th September.

If successful at this stage, you will then be invited for interview & assessment.

Stage 2: Interview & Assessment

At interview stage, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements:

Behaviours:

• Delivering at Pace
• Developing Self and Others

Technical skills: Software developer - Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework

• Information security - Level: practitioner
• Development process optimisation - Level: working

You will also be required to participate in a technical challenge and coding exercise at interview which will assess the following technical skills:

• Programming and build (software engineering) - Level: practitioner
• Modern development standards - Level: practitioner
• Systems design - Level: practitioner
• Systems integration - Level: practitioner

The interviews will take place week commencing 28th September

This interview will be conducted online via Microsoft Teams. Further details will be provided to you should you be selected for interview.

You can find out more about our hiring process, how to apply, and application and interview guidance on our careers site (opens in a new window).

Please note that we will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates will change.

Further information on the selection process

Feedback on your application can only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

We will also hold a 12 reserve list for this role, which may lead to potential opportunities beyond the role you applied for.

Should we receive a large number of applications, we may invite a shortlist of the highest performing candidates to interview. This means that some applications that meet the required standard could be placed ‘on hold’ after the sift and invited to interview if the vacant position(s) remain unfilled. You will be notified if your application is being put ‘on hold’ once the sift has been completed.

Appointments for this position will be made in order of merit. If you are successful in the selection process but there are no further available posts for the advertised role, you may be contacted to discuss an offer for a lower graded role (with similar experience and responsibility requirements).

If you are unsuccessful in the selection process, your application may be considered for a lower graded position if your demonstrated skills and experience meet the requirements of the alternative position. Candidates will be considered in order of merit.

If your application is successful but you have been dismissed from the Civil Service, your application could be removed at the pre-employment checking stage depending on the nature of the dismissal.

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.

All external applicants and current employees of accredited non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) will be required to undergo a Social Media Check. A Social Media Check is a review of your publicly available online activity, typically across platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and others. The purpose is to identify any public posts or content that could raise concerns for employers, such as:

• Hate speech or discriminatory behaviour
• Threats or acts of violence
• Illegal activity or substance misuse
• Sexually explicit material
• Extremist views or affiliations

Importantly, this check does not involve hacking into your accounts or accessing private messages. It only considers content you have chosen to make public. Employers use this kind of screening to help ensure their workplace remains safe, inclusive, and aligned with company values. It’s not about judging your personality or lifestyle - it’s about checking for potential red flags that might affect the role or company culture. If you have questions or concerns about the social media check, we would be happy to explain in more detail what’s being looked at and how your data is handled securely and fairly.

Feedback

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