Principal Digital Systems Developer

Job content

We are a world class research-intensive university. We deliver teaching and learning of the highest quality. We play a leading role in economic, social and cultural development of the North East of England. Attracting and retaining high-calibre people is fundamental to our continued success.

Salary: £41,526.00 - £44,045.00 per annum
Closing Date: 27 July 2021

Over the last 18 months, we have reimagined the way we deliver our University IT Services, forming a world-class IT department responsive to the needs of our global community. We’re growing significantly and we’ve created new opportunities and made changes to how we work. Our people have been at the centre of this change, with a particular focus on development and opportunities to learn new skills.

The University is an exciting and dynamic place to work, dedicated to learning and research. You will be based on campus in the centre of Newcastle and have access to fantastic resources on-site and the opportunity to attend relevant conferences and training courses. Benefits include excellent pension; 30 days holiday, 8 bank holidays plus an additional 4 discretionary closure days over the Christmas and New Year; discounted travel for the Metro and local bus services; and discounts for national retailers.

The Role

An opportunity has arisen for a Principal Developer to become part of our software engineering team within the IT Service at Newcastle University. You will act as the subject matter expert across a number of technologies including Mobile App Development, Web Development Technologies and Web Publishing. You will also provide senior technical leadership to the rest of the team in these areas.

Working alongside the other Principal Developers you will create and ensure development standards are met while continuing to promote current best practises and striving to work towards a DevOps culture. A key part of the role will be embracing cloud technologies and methodologies as we aim to move our applications to being cloud native. You will be given the opportunity to participate in local and national networking events to continue and support your professional development.

For informal enquiries please contact Dave Sharples, Head of Software Engineering and Enterprise Solutions at Dave.Sharples@newcastle.ac.uk .

Key Accountabilities

Lead the design and development of new applications and of new functionality to enhance and augment existing applications using a mixture of development tools and methodologies
Continuously update applications to: Identify and fix defects , Maintain support for dependent software components , Ensure adherence to security standards and best practices , Ensure compatibility with underlying infrastructure provision
Collaborate effectively with business representatives from across the university to promote business ownership into the development process and to build positive relationships with stakeholders.
Lead the automation of application lifecycle processes like testing, deployment and monitoring to increase quality, robustness and return-on-investment of applications using DevOps techniques.
Lead the code review/peer review process to drive up quality and to encourage the sharing of best practices across the team
Act as the principal software development subject matter expert (SME) and use this knowledge to deliver excellence in operational support, project and change delivery and help in defining the future strategy and assist the team manager in delivering the overall service
Act as a deputy to the team manager if so required and take responsibility for management of tasks and activities allocated to them by their manager.
Act as a coach and mentor to other members of the team, share their knowledge and help to build up the capability of the team overall
Engage with stakeholders across NUIT and the University to build and maintain good working relationships and ensure there is a clear understanding of University requirements within the team
Manage the team and stakeholders through change facilitation using the standard university tools and processes (e.g. Azure DevOps, Service Desk, CAB) to ensure adherence to University strategy
Act as a trusted advisor, building robust and collaborative relationships with other IT and University leaders to develop a clear understanding of business needs.
Lead on any project or change related activity as part of wider NUIT or NU project teams
Be responsible for developing best-practise policies, standards, procedures and guidelines, guided by NUIT standards and other stakeholders
Any other reasonable duties that fall within the scope of the post, as allocated by the line manager

The Person (Essential)

Knowledge, Skills and Experience
Substantial experience of working in software development and support team in a similar size and complexity organisation
Extensive technical background in the software development technologies used by NUIT
Substantial experience of delivering software development and support services to a dispersed customer base in multiple locations
Experience of working with third party vendors and delivering an effective service using their services
Demonstrate the ability to identify and implement new and innovative technologies to support customer needs, drive up quality and improve value
Able to demonstrate focus on customer needs
A working knowledge of Cyber-security processes and practices

Attributes and Behaviour
Builds both formal and informal professional networks, and extends these networks within, across and external to organizational boundaries
Encourages and facilitates collaboration, cooperation and results
Inspires, motivates and guides more junior team members
Supports organizational change agents to improve maturity and practices, in support of University goals and strategy
Mobilizes others within and outside of their team to support and enable change efforts
Analyses situations quickly and effectively to determine the best way to deliver the required result
Keeps their technical knowledge up to date and has a wider understanding of the technology landscape inside and outside their area
Sets and accomplishes challenging goals
Defines standards in terms of doing what is appropriate and doing it well
Leads by example in delivering high quality outcomes that they take responsibility for

Qualifications
A bachelor’s degree in computing science or related subject or equivalent experience
A relevant technical qualification or equivalent technical experience

Newcastle University is committed to being a fully inclusive Global University which actively recruits, supports and retains staff from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from everybody, regardless of race, sex, ethnicity, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital status/civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, as well as being open to flexible working practices.

The University holds a silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. The University also holds the HR Excellence in Research award for our work to support the career development of our researchers, and is a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.

Requisition ID: 9641