Developer role – help design future student experiences with us
We’re looking for an experienced software developer who can work collaboratively across disciplines and contribute to the future of our Drupal-based CMS platform. Could you be a good fit for our challenge and our working culture?
It’s easy to say this is an “exciting opportunity” and any number of other superlatives like you see in many job ads. But as this is a user-centred team, I’m going to say it depends.
If your skills and outlook are a good match for ours, and you’re up for a challenge, this really is an exciting opportunity. If they’re not, then this isn’t for you.
If I didn’t think the team and service being established wasn’t something different and a bit special, I wouldn’t have taken the role as Head a few months ago. I’m hoping you’ll explore this opportunity and feel the same.
Cut to the chase – the job ad…
You can read the full detail on the University’s jobs website, so this isn’t simply a repeat of all that stuff.
In a nutshell:
- University Grade 7, so we pay £33,797- £40,322 per annum
- University benefits including holidays and pension are pretty much as good as it gets anywhere
- This is an open ended role
- Closing Date is 5pm on 17th January 2020
So if you want to cut to the chase, here it is:
Software Developer vacancy details on the University jobs website
This post is about why I might want to work with you: to give you a flavour of how we’re setting up to operate and see if that appeals.
Are we the right fit for you?
We’re all based in a single workspace, so it’s important that you feel ready to muck in and collaborate. If you’re happiest being left alone to write code, and feel people just complicate things, then this may not be your thing…
Working agile means that members of the team self organise to solve problems.
Agile development means shared responsibility, shared learning and mutual support. So while you’ll be the software development expert in our team, you’ll definitely be pulled into any number of other problem solving activities. Read Cameron’s post about our agile process.
We’re user-centred. So that means you’ll be involved in user research. Definitely observing people interacting with stuff, and definitely involved in collaborative design activities. Occasionally you’ll need to execute user research too (with the right support from our UX Specialist of course). Read my post about a recent team experience conducting usability testing.
We’re committed to working in the open. So that means you’ll need to be comfortable communicating. That means blogging about your work and experiences right here on this blog, engaging with our communities of practice and presenting to groups of colleagues. (Again, don’t be intimidated by this. We have a lot of experienced people here who will help you become excellent at all this.)
Collaboration with other developers is critical to this role. I’ve talked a lot about other disciplines, and stuff beyond writing great code and developing usable interfaces, but obviously this is the core reason we need you on board. And while you’ll be the only person with these skills on our team, you’ll be part of a wider technical community. Your ‘other home’ will be with the Applications Services Division of Information Services where you’ll get a tremendous amount of technical support and peer review. And you’ll be working hand-in-hand with our colleagues in Website and Communications (also part of Information Services) who manage the EdWeb Content Management System.
Still think this might be for you?
By all means, dive in and make an application. We’d love to hear from you.
But do please explore our work via this blog, and also the work of our colleagues in Website and Communications. Their blog is a great window into their work (you’ll even get a few more techincal posts over there). And they’re recruiting for a developer too. They’re nearly (but not quite) as great as us. 🙂
Website and Communications blog
And get in touch if you have any questions at all. We don’t need you to be an all round superstar. We just need you to be on your game in your specialist discipline and be ready to expand your range in the ‘softer’ skills I mentioned. You’ll have our support all the way with this.
Neil Allison’s contact details
Apply for the job
If you’ve got any technical questions, or want to find out more about the work of Applications Services Division in Information Services, you can get Stew Wilson’s contact details from the ad:
Software Developer vacancy details on the University jobs website
