Software Developer

Job summary

Pleasenote: Applicants should review all aspects of this advert to ensure a thorough understanding. If reviewing via a screen reader, please note that the Job summary, Where you will be working and Things you need to know sections have been emphasised.

We are looking for Software Developers with Java (with Spring) and/or NodeJS (Typescript with Express) experience.

Our current technology stack is below:

AWS, Docker, Go, Java, Kafka, Spring, Node.js, TypeScript, MongoDB, Oracle/SQL

Watch this video to find out more about working in Digital at Companies House

Companies House offers a flexible and welcoming culture that promotes a healthy work life balance as well as a proactive approach to wellbeing that allows us to be our best at work. We recognise that people are the key to our success so offer a fantastic benefits package including flexible working with no core hours, 30 days annual leave, 8 bank holidays and 1 privilege day as well as enrolment into the Civil Service Pension scheme with a contribution rate averaging 28%.

Find out more about what a great place Companies House is to work

lease note:

• Companies House cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign.
• Security Clearance is an essential requirement for this campaign. You'll need to have been in the UK for at least 3 out of the last 5 years to be eligible to apply for SC.
• The team for this role is based in our Cardiff office, and a hybrid employment contract will be provided as the standard offering. However, remote contracts may be considered as an exception whereby commuting to the office location of your team is not reasonably practicable.

Job description

As a Software Developer you'll join one of our many Agile Software Development teams. A typical team is made up of an agile delivery manager, developers, testers, user researchers, analysts and a product owner.

You’ll be responsible for:

• Designing efficient and maintainable solutions
• Contributing and adhering to our technical standards
• Maximising the automated test coverage to help move to continuous delivery
• Ensuring code quality through code reviews

What it is like to work in Companies House

Inclusive and diverse teams are important to us. Wherever possible we offer flexible working arrangements. We'll support you to meet other commitments and help you strike a better work-life balance. We’re keen to create an environment that works for everyone, and we particularly encourage applications from different underrepresented demographics.

Half a day a week is devoted to Innovation time where everyone in digital can work on whatever they choose, be that building new applications, trying new technologies or working towards certifications, it’s up to you. In addition to this we offer lots of opportunities to have training as and when it is needed. We trust and empower our staff to work in a way which best suits them.

Companies House is an award-winning employer, with an Investors in People Platinum Award we are at the forefront in ensuring our staff reach their full potential in building brilliant services on cutting-edge technology. You’ll be joining our Software Engineering Profession at a time of transformation, and you will be a part of shaping the future of our department. We use Agile Methodologies and promote a culture of continuous improvement.

You can read more about a career in Digital and Data within the Civil Service in the Government Digital and Data Candidate Information Pack.

Person specification

We're looking for the following experience, which will be assessed at sift, at technical assessment and at interview.

• Working knowledge of programming tools, frameworks, and techniques in at least one of the following ecosystems: Java – Spring/Spring Boot or Node - Typescript with ExpressJs (you will be expected to learn to become proficient in the other once in post as required according to business needs).
• Experience of developing software throughout the delivery lifecycle.
• Knowledge of Modern APIs.
• A passion for high quality, well-crafted code, and associated tooling.
• A degree in computing or similar would be an advantage.
• You embrace continuous integration and have a continuous delivery mindset.
• You are patient and can help support and mentor others with different degrees of expertise to maximise their potential.
• You have excellent communication skills and can help explain complicated technical issues to individuals who don’t share the same technical experience.
• Knowledge of any of the following technologies/approaches: Concourse CI, Kafka, MongoDB, Oracle SQL, Docker, Terraform.
• Knowledge of microservice driven architecture.
• Knowledge of developing in the Cloud (particularly AWS or Azure).

This role is aligned to the Software developer - Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework where you can find more about the skills and capabilities you will possess and develop further at Companies House.

Behaviours

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

• Changing and Improving
• Making Effective Decisions
• Developing Self and Others

Technical skills

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

• Systems Integration
• Development Process Optimisation
• User Focus
• Programming and Build
• System Design

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £41,509, Companies House contributes £12,025 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

We believe that our success is driven by the well-being and satisfaction of our team members at all levels of the organisation. At Companies House we’re committed to providing a comprehensive benefits package that goes beyond the ordinary, ensuring your career journey with us is not only fulfilling, but also rewarding. We pride ourselves on offering a quality work-life balance with our employee wellbeing being central to our working practices.

Head to Our benefits - Working for us - Recruitment (companieshouse.gov.uk) to find out more about the fantastic benefits package we have at Companies House.

We celebrate diversity...

As an equal opportunity employer, we celebrate diversity, being committed to ensuring we’re representative of the citizens we serve and creating an inclusive environment. Everyone in Companies House brings something different, and so will you. To fulfil our commitment to recruiting and attracting diverse talent we welcome applications from underrepresented groups. We also welcome applications from Welsh speakers.

We are proud to be a disability confident leader. Our recruitment process is fully inclusive and we can make adjustments as needed through our process. These could include having an interview buddy, extra time at interviews/assessments and receiving interview questions in advance, to name a few.

If you require any reasonable adjustments at application stage, or if you'd like to discuss any person-centred adjustments, please contact us by emailing recruitmentCH@companieshouse.gov.uk.

Read our 'Applying under the Disability Confidence Scheme (DCS)' guide to find out how to successfully complete an application under the Disability Confidence Scheme (DCS).

Where will you be working?

• We are currently using a hybrid approach to the way we work which provides opportunities for you to be adaptable in the way you work so that you can achieve a healthy balance between your work and home life. The degree of choice you have will depend on your role and your day-to-day work activities.
• Your manager will agree regular patterns of attendance with you; however, you may be required to make yourself available to attend the office more frequently when required to meet business needs.
• The team for this role is based in our Cardiff office, and a hybrid employment contract will be provided as the standard offering. However, remote contracts may be considered as an exception whereby commuting to the office location of your team is not reasonably practicable.

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, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.

What will the process look like?

Stage 1 – Sift

An initial sift of applications will be carried out to create a shortlist.

In your application form we’d like you to:

Write a CV - tell us about your employment history, including key responsibilities, projects worked on and achievements specifically relevant to the role responsibilities and experience required as detailed above.

Write a Personal Statement - please write 500 words telling us, using examples, how you meet the following experience criteria from the personal specification:

• Working knowledge of programming tools, frameworks, and techniques in at least one of the following ecosystems: Java or Node (you will be expected to learn to become proficient in the other once in post as required according to business needs).

• Experience of developing software throughout the delivery lifecycle.

• Knowledge of RESTful APIs.

We have provided prompts to support you in writing your personal statement.

We'd encourage you to use the full word count, and to give us clear examples and evidence of the different elements of the essential minimum criteria. We’d advise that you divide your answer equally across the requirements listed above.

Once the advert has closed, we will sift applications - this involves reading through them all, please bear with us as this can take some time.

We may raise the score required if we receive a high number of applications.

We’re committed to being diverse and inclusive, so please make your application anonymous by removing all identifying personal information (such as your name and age) from your personal statement.

At sift we may choose to take through the highest performing candidates to the next stage. If, after the final stage is completed and roles are unfilled, we may proceed to invite lower scoring candidates to interview.

Please note: In the case of a large number of applications, before conducting a full sift as described above, the panel will conduct a pre-sift assessing all applications against the following Experience criteria: Working knowledge of programming tools, frameworks, and techniques in at least one of the following ecosystems: Java or Node.

Stage 2 – Technical Assessment

Candidates successful at sift will progress to the assessment stage, where you will be asked to complete a technical activity to demonstrate the technical skills and experience listed in the job description.

Full details will be emailed across to candidates, including information about submission deadlines. Please note: the Assessment will show as Interview 1 in your Civil Service Jobs account.

The technical assessment stage will be assessing the following Technical Skills:

• Programming and Build
• System Design

Stage 3 – Interview

Companies House uses a blended interview technique, allowing us to find out more about you. We use the Success Profile framework and at interview we will use Success Profiles assessing the Behaviours and Technical skills listed in the advert, and Strengths.

• Successful candidates from the Technical Assessment stage will be invited to a virtual interview.
• The lead criteria to distinguish between tied candidates will be: Behaviour: Making Effective Decisions.
• A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles.
• All offers will be made in merit order.

Our recruitment process is underpinned by the principle of recruitment based on fair and open competition with decisions made on the basis of merit, as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles.

Key Dates (dates are indicative only and could be subject to change)

• Closing date: 22nd February 2026
• Sifting: w/c 23rd February 2026
• Technical assessment: w/c 9th March 2026
• Interview: w/c 16th March 2026

Sponsorship

Companies House cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign. Companies House holds a Visa sponsorship licence, but this can only be used for certain roles and this campaign does not qualify. Should you apply for this role and require sponsorship, your application may be rejected, and any provisional offers of employment withdrawn.

Security Check (SC) Clearance

Successful candidates must also meet the security requirements for Security Check (SC) before they can be appointed.

The requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for at least 3 of the last 5 years. Failure to meet the residency requirements will result in your security clearance application being rejected.

Further information on National Security Vetting.

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.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

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 : Teodora Arnold
• Email : tarnold@companieshouse.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitmentch@companieshouse.gov.uk

Further information

We welcome applications in Welsh / Rydym yn croesawi ceisiadau yn y Gymraeg. Selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit, on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. In accordance with the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles, our recruitment and selection processes are underpinned by the requirement of appointment on the basis of merit by fair and open competition. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact infopoint@companieshouse.gov.uk in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive you can contact the Civil Service Commission .

info@csc.gov.uk

Civil Service Commission, Room G/8, 1 Horse Guards Road SW1A 2HQ