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Payroll Software Developer - Ministry of Defence - HEO

Government Digital & Data -

Full-time (Permanent)
£37,720 plus Digital Skill allowance of up to £11,400
Published on
28 September 2026
Deadline
18 October 2026

Location

Abbey Wood North, Stoke Gifford, Bristol, South West

About the job

Job summary

Defence Business Services (DBS) - Digital, Information and Technology (DIT) -

Digital, Information, Technology - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)>  

Are you a dedicated person who is passionate about making a difference?

Would you like to work for the Ministry of Defence?

Defence Business Services (DBS) is one of the largest shared service organisations in Europe that provides a wide range of corporate services, to over 1.2 million end users, including serving and past military and families, as well as MoD civil servants and industry. DBS delivers large scale administration and smaller specialist services to enable the wider MOD to focus on its core aims, maintaining the UK’s Defence and Security. Services include Human Resources, Pay, Veterans, Finance and Procurement.

  • Our Vision - To support UK defence customers with outstanding service every time.
  • Our Mission - Together we will proudly support Defence, continuously improving and delivering flexible, timely, sustainable and value for money services that underpin the whole force and enhance operational capability.

DBS is committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues. We are building an inclusive culture and respectful environment that reflects the diversity of the society.

We want to maximise the potential of everyone who chooses to work for us through opportunities to develop your skills and experience. We also offer a range of flexible working patterns and support to make a fulfilling career accessible to you and offer a Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%. Where your role permits, we support a blended working approach alternatively known as hybrid working.

Come and join the DBS community today!

DBS is part of The National Armaments Directorate (NAD) Group which is at the heart of delivering and sustaining the UK’s defence capability. Bringing together organisations responsible for developing, procuring, supporting and modernising Defence equipment, infrastructure and services, the Directorate works closely with industry, international partners and academia to ensure the Armed Forces have the capabilities they need to deter threats, protect the nation and succeed on operations. NAD drives innovation, operational readiness and value for money while supporting economic growth and strengthening the UK’s defence industrial base. 

Job description

DBS Digital & Information Technology (DIT) delivers the digital capability that underpins critical corporate services across the Ministry of Defence, including Payroll, Human Resources, Finance and Commercial services for Military Personnel, Civilian Personnel, Veterans and Arm's Length Bodies.

Our digital services utilise modern cloud and enterprise technologies, including Oracle Fusion Cloud, Microsoft platforms, Cognos, automation solutions and low-code technologies. These services support some of the largest and most complex HR and payroll operations in government, delivering accurate and timely pay for tens of thousands of employees.

The DIT Payroll and Expenses team provides the digital capability that underpins one of the largest and most complex payroll environments in UK government. Supporting approximately 63,000 employees across multiple Defence organisations, the team combines payroll expertise with software development, assurance, reporting and application engineering capabilities to provide secure, resilient and compliant payroll and expenses services. Responsible for both change delivery and live service operations, the team delivers statutory and legislative changes, pay awards, business-critical fixes, service improvements and major transformation programmes, while operating the payroll engine and expenses processes for multiple pay groups. The team plays a vital role in ensuring Defence civilian personnel are paid accurately and on time.

As a Functional Payroll Software Developer, you will play a pivotal role in designing, developing, testing and supporting payroll solutions within Oracle Fusion HCM Cloud. You will work closely with business stakeholders, payroll specialists, test teams and technical colleagues to deliver enhancements, statutory changes, defect resolutions and major transformation initiatives.

This role combines software development principles with functional Oracle HCM Payroll configuration and business process expertise. You will develop robust, scalable and maintainable payroll solutions that underpin the accurate and timely payment of tens of thousands of Defence personnel and employees.

What You'll Do

You will:

  • Design, develop and maintain Oracle Fusion HCM Payroll solutions that meet business and user needs.
  • Configure payroll elements, balances, calculations and related payroll components within Oracle Cloud.
  • Develop and maintain Fast Formula, payroll configuration and supporting system functionality.
  • Develop clean, secure and well-tested payroll solutions in accordance with departmental standards and best practice.
  • Analyse legislative, policy and business requirements and translate them into effective payroll system solutions.
  • Deliver solutions for both live service support and change programmes, including legislative updates, pay awards and business transformation initiatives.
  • Investigate, troubleshoot and resolve complex payroll and system issues in test and production environments.
  • Ensure all solutions are peer reviewed, appropriately tested and documented before implementation.
  • Support payroll assurance activities, ensuring solutions are compliant, auditable and fit for production deployment.
  • Collaborate with payroll operations, assurance, reporting and integration teams to deliver end-to-end solutions.
  • Support unit testing and quality assurance activities, including system, integration, user acceptance and payroll parallel run testing.
  • Monitor and support the services you build, identifying opportunities to improve performance, reliability and user experience. Contribute to the development and continuous improvement of development, configuration and assurance standards.
  • Follow software development and configuration best practice, contributing to continuous improvement of standards and processes.
  • Produce clear technical and functional documentation to support supportability and knowledge sharing.
  • You will be expected to have or develop understanding of some or all of the following functionality: SQL/PLSQL, HCM Extract, HCM Data Loader (HDL), FastFormula, HCM Spreadsheet Loader (HSDL/AD).

Why Join Us?

This is an opportunity to work on one of the UK Government’s largest and most complex payroll environments. Your work will directly support the delivery of pay and HR services to Ministry of Defence employees and partners, while contributing to major digital transformation programmes that modernise how government services are delivered.

You'll join a diverse, multidisciplinary team of developers, payroll specialists, application engineers and assurance professionals, working together to deliver reliable services that make a real difference to thousands of users across Defence.

You'll have the opportunity to develop specialist expertise in Oracle Fusion Payroll while helping deliver secure, resilient and high-performing services that support critical Defence operations every day.

Person specification

Essential Skills and Experience

We are looking for someone with:

  • Experience developing, configuring or supporting software solutions within an enterprise application environment.
  • Understanding of Oracle HCM Cloud Payroll.
  • Understanding of payroll processes and payroll legislation, or the ability to rapidly develop this knowledge.
  • Ability to analyse business requirements and translate them into effective system solutions.
  • Experience investigating and resolving complex functional issues.
  • Knowledge of software development lifecycle practices, including documentation, testing and change control.
  • Experience working within agile or structured delivery environments.
  • Strong stakeholder engagement and communication skills.
  • Ability to work collaboratively across multidisciplinary teams.
  • A commitment to producing high-quality, secure and maintainable solutions.

Desirable Skills and Experience

Experience of:

  • Configuring and developing Oracle HCM Cloud Payroll solutions.
  • Developing and troubleshooting Oracle Fast Formula.
  • Understanding payroll processes and payroll legislation.
  • MOD payroll processes and practices.
  • Working within a government shared services environment or public sector payroll environment.
  • Oracle HCM Core HR, Absence Management or Compensation.
  • Oracle Integration Cloud (OIC), payroll integrations and data interfaces.
  • Oracle Transactional Business Intelligence (OTBI) and reporting solutions.
  • End-to-end payroll delivery and operational payroll support.
  • Large-scale transformation or cloud migration programmes.


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