Senior Developer
Job summary
Here at the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG), we work on things that make a real difference to people's lives. Whether it's through the homes we live in, the work of our local councils, or the communities we're all part of, our work is at the top of the political agenda. We have ambitious and far-reaching outcomes to achieve this year and, if you're thinking of joining us, there's never been a more exciting time.
This is an exciting opportunity to join the Elections Directorate, responsible for a challenging and dynamic policy landscape, always in the public eye, covering electoral policy and law and digital services. The Elections Digital division is a team of enthusiastic and highly skilled digital specialists, geographically dispersed across the UK. Our multidisciplinary in-house digital team is the driving force behind the development and delivery of excellent elections services for users, as well as the day-to-day operational running of those services.
The division has a portfolio of 8 products and services, including the flagship Register to vote service. Over recent years, we’ve rapidly expanded our portfolio, and electors can now apply online postal votes, proxy votes and photo identification. Find out more in this blog post.
As well as continuing to develop our existing products and services to better meet user needs, the Digital Division has a big part to play in delivering Government Manifesto commitments and other Ministerial priorities. Lowering the voting age to 16 requires changes to all our elector-facing services, making them the first interaction that many young people will have with the GOV.UK estate. We are also seeking to improve registration by using data and links between government services to increase the number of people correctly registered to vote.
As a Senior Developer in the Elections Digital Division you will be part of our new in-house development capability. You will be joining a large multidisciplinary team with a wide range of stakeholders. We need people who want to be involved in all aspects of our multidisciplinary team’s activity, from working with our user researcher to design, prototyping, and planning. You can find out more about how we work in the MHCLG Way
Find out more about our Digital teams through our MHCLG Digital blog. Please note that MHCLG do not offer visa sponsorship and applicants will need a valid visa for the duration of your employment.
Job description
As a Senior Developer, you will:
Develop high-quality software
Follow development best-practice, including regular pair programming and TDD
Build up a robust automated test suite to support our continuous deployment environment
Work collaboratively with a range of disciplines including product managers, designers and user researchers, as well as other developers, to meet the needs of users of the services
Coach and mentor more junior colleagues
Find ways to improve system robustness, resilience and stability
- Be open to learning new technologies
Person specification
As a Senior Developer you'll have;
Experience of developing web applications in at least one of TypeScript, Java, Kotlin or Scala
Experience of working on agile projects as part of a multidisciplinary team
Experience of full stack development of cloud-based web applications using cloud-native features
Experience of Infrastructure as Code e.g. Terraform
Experience building RESTful APIs
Experience of building accessible user interfaces
Experience using SQL to work with relational databases
Experience of working with a live production system, including monitoring for performance and potential security issues, and triaging problems
Benefits
Alongside your salary of £58,092, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £16,829 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).- Learning and development tailored to your role
- An environment with flexible working options
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
- A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
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
Application and Selection
The application process will be split into 3 stages, testing the following Success Profiles:
Ability , Behaviours , Experience , Technical
Please ensure your CV does not contain any personally identifiable information.
Note: We do not consider direct CV applications. All applications must be submitted via the provided application link.
Important: Your CV and Cover Letter must be merged into a single document before uploading.
Stage 1: Sift (CV)
Experience & Technical: Your CV will be tested against the experience and technical success profiles.
Most of our campaigns utilise multiple assessors and so it is possible that each of your answers would be viewed by different assessors.
Stage 2: Long List Interview
This interview will be tested against the technical success profile and a behaviour ("Working Together"). We expect this will last no longer than 30 minutes.
Stage 3: Short List Interview
This interview will be tested against the ability and technical success profiles.
30 minute interview testing the skills as described in the advert and technical test that will last approx. 45 minutes. Details of the test will be shared on invitation to your slot.
Sift and Interview Dates
Sifting is envisaged to take place from 8th July 2026.
Interviews are envisaged to take place the week commencing 20th July 2026 and are currently being held remotely via videocall. This could be subject to change.
Group 1 Digital & Data Roles
MHCLG has implemented the Digital and Data capability framework for Group 1 roles. Applicants that are successful and have been offered a position will be required to complete a capability assessment after the interview.
MHCLG will honour completed capability assessments for this role from other Government Departments for existing civil servants on level transfer only.Please provide a copy of your capability assessment to the Hiring Manager when applying. If you have any queries on pay, please contact the Hiring Manager.
Each experience or technical skill is assessed between 1-3, representing working towards, at or above the job level requirements. You are awarded a proficiency level accordingly, and you will be given opportunity to annually re assess your capability and potentially increase your overall remuneration, through payment of allowances, depending on level of assessed capability.
Candidates moving from another government department have the option to retain their current basic pay if this is within our pay band for the relevant grade.
GRADE 7 Group 1 Digital and Data salary
- The basic pay for this role will be between £63,483 - £72,287 (London), £58,092 - £66,742 (National). Candidates will usually be recruited to the median of the payscale.
- A digital allowance may also be payable depending on the level of assessed capability, in order to meet the MHCLG overall targeted remuneration rate for the specific grade, location and capability rating.
- For applicants in receipt of existing allowances, we will assess each case individually, but we would seek not to exceed the MHCLG overall targeted remuneration rate for the specific grade, location and capability rating for existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply, subject to the statements above.
How We Recruit
Find out everything you need to know before applying here..
- Applying
- Sifting
- Interview
- Interview Results & Feedback
- Reserve List
- Near Miss
- Civil Service Grades
- We are a DCS, RIS & GPTWV employer
- Reasonable Adjustments
How to Apply
What you need to know before applying.
You must review the following information from the MHCLG Career's Site before submitting your application. This step is essential to ensure your eligibility for the role and that your application is completed correctly.
- Security Clearance Requirements
- Civil Service Nationality Requirements
- Right to Work
- Civil Service Code and Recruitment Principles
- CV Declaration
- Sponsorships
- Salary and Grade
- Existing Civil Servants
- Conflict of Interest
- Location and Flexible Working
- Fixed Term Contracts
- Internal Fraud Database
- Appeals and Complaints
Security Clearance Requirements
National Office: + SC
London Office: + SC
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
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
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.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
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
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 : Digital Data Jobs
- Email : digitaldatajobs@communities.gov.uk
Recruitment team
Salary range
- £58,092 - £63,483 per year