Senior Software Developer - Common Platform Data EngineeringMinistry of Justice

Introduction

HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is responsible for the administration of criminal, civil and family courts and tribunals in England and Wales. Our roles support our service users and colleagues, where people and businesses access potentially life-changing justice.  We’re looking for individuals who are committed to public service and want to make a difference in people’s lives in delivering justice. If you’re interested in developing a career with a real purpose, please apply.

Job Description

As a Senior Software Developer at HMCTS you will work with a wide range of stakeholders such as user researchers, product managers, designers, business analysts, delivery managers and digital architects, all of whom share a vision for making better government through smarter use of technology. You will innovate to radically transform public services for the better.

The development squad you are placed on will be agreed closer to your start date, but examples of products can be found in our GitHub repository:

https://github.com/hmcts

You can find more information about our ways of working in the HMCTS Way: https://hmcts.github.io

Technologies we rely heavily on:

Java and Spring Boot to write our backend services

Node.js to write our frontend services

Power Platform for low-code development

Jenkins for CI/CD

Dynatrace for application monitoring

Kubernetes and Docker to run our services

Azure for most of our infrastructure

Terraform for infrastructure as code

Postgres and Redis as our databases.

GOV.UK Design System for our web interfaces

Macs to do all the above

In addition, we use a range of other technologies and continue to evolve by employing new technologies that help us deliver better services to our users

As a Senior Developer in HMCTS you will:

Develop, improve and document code, following best practices and internal standards.

Continuously learn and stay up to date with relevant technologies, identifying potential issues.

Ensure product security, data confidentiality, and integrity, raising risks as needed.

Support and maintain software, including limited out-of-hours work when required.

Plan development, coordinate integration, and contribute to process improvement.

Manage service availability effectively and cost-efficiently.

Build and test system interfaces.

Use test-driven development, write automation scripts, and participate in code reviews.

Mentor junior colleagues and share technical expertise.

Take ownership of the technical roadmap and promote best practice across the development lifecycle.

Influence product strategy by providing technical insight to stakeholders

Design and develop software based on user stories.

Participate in recruitment and procurement.

Essential skills

We’re seeking a full stack developer with the ability to develop and deploy high-quality code. The ideal candidate will have:

Experience in building scalable enterprise applications using Java.

Strong frontend proficiency with modern JavaScript frameworks (e.g., Angular, React, or Vue).

A solid grasp of RESTful API design and relational database architecture (e.g., PostgreSQL).

Proficiency in cloud-native architecture including infrastructure as code (e.g., Microsoft Azure, Terraform)

Knowledge of the full development lifecycle, including CI/CD, authentication (OAuth2/OIDC), and system monitoring.

Leadership capabilities, with a proven track record of mentoring junior engineers and driving technical standards.

Experience utilising DevOps practices and containerisation tools (Docker/Kubernetes).

A security-first mindset, with the ability to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities (OWASP top 10) during the design phase.

Application process:

This role will be recruited using a combination of  Government Digital and Data (GDD) Profession Capability Framework and Success Profiles Frameworks during the sift and interview process. Using GDD we will then determine if you will be paid an additional allowance, on top of your basic salary. This role is aligned to the Technical Job Family, is a Software Developer role at Developer level, but carries the title Software Developer within DTS.

Stage 1 - Sift:

To apply for this position, you must submit the following as part of your application:

An anonymised CV, setting out your career history, key responsibilities and achievements. Your CV will be assessed against the essential criteria outlined within the Essential Skills section of this advert.

A Statement of Suitability- 750 words which should give us real life examples of how your skills and experience match those needed for this role. We recommend following the STAR format.

Coding Challenge - HMCTS Case Management Coding Challenge. Please complete the coding task below and provide the link to your code repository in your Statement of Suitability: https://github.com/hmcts/dts-developer-challenge

Please access the following link for guidance on how to apply - Application Guidance

Stage 2 - Interviews:

Successful candidates who passed the sift will be invited to interview via Microsoft Teams. At interview stage, you will be assessed against the following - Technical and Behaviours. Details can be found under the interview stage assessment section on the advert.

Technical:

Capability Skill 1 - Programming and Build

Capability Skill 2 - Systems integration

Capability Skill 3 - Service support

Capability Skill 4 - Information security

Capability Skill 5 - Systems design

Behaviours – You will be required to provide evidence of the following key behaviours at G7 Level.

Leadership

Delivering at Pace

Coding task/Presentation - You will be required to present your solution during the interview and there will be an extension exercise you will also be asked to do.

For further guidance on the interview process please click here

Important information

Level of Clearance

To apply for this role, you will be required to successfully complete Security Clearance (SC) level as a condition of appointment. To meet these requirements, you will normally need to have been resident in the UK for at least:

SC - 5 years

For further information please click here

Salary details

New recruits to the Civil Service joining MoJ are expected to join at the band minimum.

Existing Civil Servants applying on promotion, will usually be appointed on the salary minimum of the new pay band, or receive an increase of 10 percent on the current base salary, whichever is higher (This is restricted to the pay maximum of the new band).

Proud to Serve. Proud to keep justice going.