Lead Developer - Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency - G7

Location

Bristol, Swansea, Leeds, Nottingham, Newcastle, Oldham (Chadderton), Birmingham (Garretts Green) or Uxbridge.

You can be based at any of the above locations, however if your chosen location is Yeading/Uxbridge please note:

This role is advertised as being based in Uxbridge; however, the contractual base will be Yeading.

While estate works are being carried out at the Yeading site, all roles will be temporarily located in Uxbridge. Successful applicants will therefore begin their employment at the Uxbridge location.

Please be aware that all employees will be required to work from the Yeading site once it reopens in 2028.

Employees based at Uxbridge will receive a London Weighting allowance of £4,000. This allowance will continue when the location moves to Yeading.

About the job

Job summary

The successful candidate will lead the Digital Delivery Software Development and Quality Assurance technical capability for the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA).   

They will provide technical leadership, direction, and inspiration to their team of software developers and software quality assurance engineers and will be focused on delivering value to the respective digital services. 

They will assist the principal developer with team organisation, motivation, and assessment. This will include recruitment, development, and performance management of team members. 

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 

Job description

As part of the technical steering team the role holder will also manage the definition and implementation of departmental technical development and test strategy to drive Digital plans across all DVSA customer facing services. 

Responsibilities include but are not limited to: 

• Act as Technical Lead for high-value initiatives driving development and test standards and continuous improvement through Scrum. 
• Use industry best practice and knowledge to make agency policy decisions relating to technical tool selection based on analysis of requirements. 
• Create a culture that proactively manages the risks of technical debt by ensuring continual software improvement. 
• Lead technical teams in relation to problem solving and technical optioneering, driving and supporting teams to make technical recommendations based on sound analysis and knowledge. 
• Work closely with Delivery Leads and Lead Developer management to ensure appropriately skilled technical expertise is in place across Digital Services, owning a resource requirement pipeline against skillset is managed. 

Great line management is important to us as an organisation, and we will equip and support line managers to develop the skills they need. We aim to empower line managers to create teams where people can flourish and deliver excellent outcomes for the public.

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. 

Person specification

Qualifications

Agile certification in either a general or development specific genre, or a willingness to work towards it.  

The post holder will be able to demonstrate the following knowledge, skills, and experience: 

• Proficient in Open-source technologies such as TypeScript, JavaScript, Java, PHP, HTML, and CSS within Open-source environments. 
• A sound understanding of value-based delivery and planning and ability to drive solutions through the development lifecycle. 
• A working understanding of Test-Driven Development (TDD) and quality software development in an enterprise-level environment. 
• Experience in Agile methodology as part of technical job families. 
• An awareness of Data and Security best practice and how this relates to software development and quality assurance. 
• An appreciation of the requirements of software delivery within a government context.