Lead Developer (Engineer)

Manpower have an exciting opportunity to join our client, the UK's largest university, a world leader in flexible part-time education as a Lead Developer (Engineer) based at their prestigious site in Milton Keynes (this is a hybrid role and will require working from the office when required).

This is a full-time, permanent role.

Depending on experience, this role is paying between £45,585 - £54,395 per annum, pro rata.

Key Accountabilities

• Creation of high-quality RESTful APIs and web applications to specification that complies with The OU's quality standards.
• Leverage Azure Functions and Azure API Management to develop REST APIs conforming to The OU's API standards.
• Drive and implement continuous integration and continuous deployment pipelines to automate software delivery and streamline the development process.
• Develop systems ready for adoption, collaborating with the Business and IT to transition systems and services effectively.
• Produce and/or review designs for systems which are feasible and cost effective and meet requirements.
• Conduct research on emerging technologies and approaches in support of The OU's goals and commitments and recommend technologies that will increase cost effectiveness and flexibility.
• Provide technical expertise and guidance within a collaborative application development and infrastructure environment, thus contributing to feasible and cost-effective system solutions. Coach team members in best practice and skills improvement.
• Produce outputs that adheres to industry standards and quality requirements
• Review and authorise solutions produced by team and other providers to ensure quality and adherence to standards.
• Own project solutions across teams to ensure that integration points and technical dependencies are managed effectively. Assist the project manager in removing blockers by collaborating across project stakeholders and providers.
• Participation within continuous improvement of services and methods.
• Provide technical input to the analysis of business partner requirements.
• Coach less experienced colleagues within your own area of specialist expertise.
• Develop, document, communicate, and enforce technology standards policies.
• Act as an advisor for technical feasibility in new solutions.
• Liaise with IT teams to resolve any cross-function design issues and escalate, if necessary, to the Solution Architect. Act as the technical translation point between Architects, Solution Designers and Service and Support teams.
• Liaise with Delivery Managers and Senior Management, responsible for project status and escalation.
• Provide expertise, direction, and assistance to all of the IT Technical staff.
• Assist in the definition of suitable resources to carry out project work.
• Provide project estimates as part of the estimation process and within project activities.
• Participate in breaking project requirements into delivery iterations.
• Work with onshore and offshore capabilities, defining working practices, implementation approach and appropriate standards and patterns as applicable.
• Provide technical leadership in incident and problem resolution.
• Work with IT Solution Architects to ensure cross-team collaboration and common goals, including managing appropriate levels of technical debt and technology roadmap complexity.
• Manage opportunities for innovation, including through small proof-of-concept projects, to inform future direction and promote the university's student-first vision.
• Line management of applicable staff.

Key Skills Required

• Substantial experience in C# development, .NET framework, and building RESTful APIs using web API technologies for systems of high-volume use
• Strong expertise in Entity Framework for database design and data interaction.
• Solid understanding of version control using GIT and experience of creating CI/CD pipelines.
• Familiarity with Azure Functions and Azure API Management for developing serverless applications and managing APIs.
• Experience with Test-Driven Development and Behaviour-Driven Development, including automated unit testing and integration testing.
• Understanding of OAuth for securing APIs and Swagger for API documentation.
• Familiarity with OData standards to enable consistent and efficient data access.
• Prior experience in leading a C# development team is a plus, with demonstrated leadership skills and the ability to mentor junior developers
• Degree level in a Computing and IT related subject or equivalent
• Knowledge and experience of software engineering tools, practises, methods and standards including some of but not limited to Cloud IaaS, PaaS and SaaS Services, infrastructure as code, continuous integration, continuous delivery.
• Platform development and systems architecture leadership experience in large IT department, including substantial design experience of large or complex systems.
• Able to demonstrate the full range of system engineering skills from research and design to post-implementation support.
• Knowledge and experience of creating and applying standards and best practice in IT delivery.
• Knowledge of systems reliability and performance engineering especially in a cloud context
• Proven understanding of Azure DevOps

Our client promotes diversity in employment and welcome applications from all sections of the community.