Lead Software Engineer

Job summary

The Insolvency Service is a leading Government agency which plays a crucial role in providing essential services to the public and to business. The work we do is important to the proper functioning of markets, the economy in general and support for thousands of people each year who are in financial difficulty.

Inclusive and diverse teams are important to us. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including groups underrepresented in our workforce. The Insolvency Service strives to ensure that the agency is a safe, inclusive, and welcoming place for everybody to bring their true self to work and to help the agency to achieve its diversity objectives. We have 9 active employee network groups available to join or become an ally, these include, Carers Network, Disability network group, Employee Assistance, Representatives, FACES Network Group, LGBT+, Mind Matters, Part Time Workers, The Shed - Men’s Network Group and Women’s Network Group.

We have an exciting opportunity for a talented, enthusiastic Lead Software Engineer within our Digital Services team. We are responsible for delivering and maintaining digital services for the agency.

Job description

Digital Services is compromised of an in-house team made up of a blend of QAT, development and delivery capabilities. We are currently consolidating our technology stack and moving away from legacy services, so this is a fantastic opportunity to help shape our digital services and the way we work for a sustainable and user centric future. We would love to for you to be part of that new team.

Digital services is part of Change and Technology Services (CTS). CTS provide key services including digital services, cyber security and information governance, service architecture and governance and digital programme delivery.

Responsibilities

As a Lead Software Engineer you will:

• support the design and lead the implementation of digital services using C#, HTML, CSS, JavaScript (client-side, express.js, hapi) and the Azure stack, i.e. Azure SQL, Cosmos DB, AI Search, Azure app services, Function apps, meeting the requirements of the Technology Code of Practice and Gov.UK Service manual
• work with a multi-disciplinary team and business stakeholders, fostering good relationships and responding to views and challenges from others
• provide technical direction for the team of engineers across our digital services
• ensure that we build digital products that are interoperable, share components and are sustainable, i.e. perform well and share infrastructure as much as possible to keep energy use and costs as low as possible
• work with the wider agency leadership team, promoting the work of digital services, helping build and maintain a diverse inclusive culture across the agency
• develop and sustain modern development standards, practices and techniques in our development team
• support, coach and mentor the development team
• advocate user-centric, agile approaches which focus on efficient delivery of high-quality digital services
• aid in agile development centre user centred design, Test-Driven Development and continuous deployment

Person specification

The ideal candidate will:

• proven ability to lead the delivery of complex software solutions across all project phases in a multi-disciplinary agile team, utilising C#, JavaScript and the Azure stack
• experience of IaaS and PaaS solutions and ability to analyse legacy services to upgrade to PaaS
• understand the importance of good documentation, contribute to design, and support architectural decision making for our digital services
• enthusiasm for sharing knowledge and mentoring others, supporting the team and nurturing its growth
• knowledge and experience of modern development practices such as BDD and TDD, CI/CD, and DevOps, modern development workflows, ideally using GitHub, as well as an understanding of modern design principles such as clean architecture, OOP, SOLID, RESTful APIs
• a good understanding of web application security and awareness of the OWASP Top 10 security vulnerabilities
• understanding of the GDS Service Manual and Technology Code of Practise

Behaviours

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

• Working Together
• Leadership

Technical skills

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

• During the interview the candidate will be given a hypothetical technical scenario that will assess their technical knowledge and approach. The candidates will be not be required to create a presentation beforehand.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £57,367, Insolvency Service contributes £16,619 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

We want you to have a good work-life balance and want to support you in all that you do, so we offer a great benefits package including:

• flexible working arrangements and flexi-time
• full time new entrants to the Civil Service and those Civil Servants on modernised terms and conditions will be entitled to 25 days leave increasing on a sliding scale to 30 days after 5 years’ service
• in addition to this you are entitled to 8 public/bank holidays plus an additional day of privilege leave
• competitive maternity, paternity and parental leave
• 5 days paid leave for learning and development
• 5 days paid for volunteering
• a Cycle to work scheme
• staff have access to an employee assistance programme, Workplace Wellness, for confidential, independent support and advice during difficult times in either their professional or personal life

Your pension is a valuable part of your total reward package where the employer makes a significant contribution to the cost of your pension. Your contributions come out of your salary before any tax is taken. This means, if you pay tax, your take-home pay will not be reduced by the full amount of your contribution; and your pension will continue to provide valuable benefits for you and your family if you are too ill to continue to work or die before you retire. For more information, visit www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk

Things you need to know

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 (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

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 sift process, you will be asked to complete:

• CV
• Personal Statement

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the CV and Personal Statement, assessing candidates against the essential criteria. Only those who meet the essential criteria at this stage will proceed to a full assessment of their application. If a candidate does not meet the minimum requirements during the initial sift, the remainder of their application will not be reviewed. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to interview.

CV Guidance

Your CV should provide a clear overview of your employment history, key responsibilities, relevant qualifications, and the skills and experience you’ve gained throughout your career including any notable achievements.

Note: Your CV will be scored as part of the assessment process and will be assessed against the criteria outlined in the job advert.

Personal Statement Guidance

Your personal statement should be no more than 500 words and must describe key projects and achievements that showcase your expertise in C# development, highlighting your experiences as a full stack developer. You need to detail the technologies and frameworks you have used that highlight your proficiency in frontend, backend API/Webservices and database technologies using the .NET stack. Where appropriate you should include your use of Cloud Technologies, preferably Microsoft Azure. In addition, you will need to detail your experiences in leading and mentoring technical teams.

If successful at the sift stage, at interview, you will be assessed on the following:

• Experience
• Behaviours - assessed through:
• Behaviour 1 - Working Together
• Behaviour 2 - Leadership
• Technical Skills
• During the interview the candidate will be given a hypothetical technical scenario that will assess their technical knowledge and approach. The candidates will be not be required to create a presentation beforehand or prepare anything ahead of the interview

Expected timeline (subject to change)

Sift – week commencing 19th January 2026

Interview – week commencing 26th January 2026

Location - MS Teams

Your interview will either be conducted face to face or by video. You will be notified of this if you are selected for interview. Candidates are asked to note the above timetable, exercising flexibility through the recruitment and selection process.

Visa Applicants

To sponsor a candidate under the Skilled Worker visa, a sponsorship licence is required. The Insolvency Service does not currently hold this licence and therefore, cannot legally sponsor Skilled Worker visa applicants.

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.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil 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 : Michael Crowe
• Email : corporatesupportteam@insolvency.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : hr.recruitment@insolvency.gov.uk

Further information

A candidate can raise a complaint to the Insolvency Service by emailing the contact point for applicants (as listed on the vacancy advert), if they think that: They have been discriminated against under the Equality Act 2010 there have been procedural irregularities at any stage of the recruitment process All complaints must be received by the contact point for applicants within 24 hours from the date the applicant is advised of their non-success at sift, assessment or interview. Complaints will be considered by an independent third-party outside of recruitment campaign. The decision will be conveyed to the applicant, in writing, within 5 working days of receipt of the complaint. The recruitment process will usually be put on hold until the complaint has been resolved. Complaints may also be made to the Civil Service Commission at any time if the individual believes their application has not been treated in accordance with the recruitment principles (appointment on merit through fair and open competition). However, complaints must first have been raised to the Insolvency Service

Follow link to apply

amspsr.avature.net/careersmarketplace/JobDetail/6899

Attachments

Applying for a Job - A Candidate Guide (7) Opens in new window (pdf, 3061kB)Insolvency Service Candidate Information Pack (Sept 2025) (7) Opens in new window (pdf, 6459kB)

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