Lead Developer

On behalf of The Electoral Commission, we are looking for a Lead Developer (Inside IR35) for a 24 month contract based remotely within the UK. We’re recruiting for a Lead Developer to play a pivotal role in delivering one of the UK’s most high-impact digital public services. This is a unique opportunity to take ownership of a major, high-traffic platform, bringing an existing voter information service in-house and shaping its future architecture, scalability and performance. The service supports millions of users during national and local elections, with significant spikes in demand during key events.

The Role

As Lead Developer, you’ll take end-to-end ownership of a critical digital service, working across the full software development lifecycle from early-stage design and discovery through to delivery, scaling and ongoing live support. This is a hands-on technical leadership role, with a genuine balance between engineering and collaboration. You’ll remain close to the code while also working with product, data and stakeholders to shape the long-term direction of the service. You’ll initially work closely with Democracy Club’s developers, the third-party organisation which currently provides postcode specific election information. The initial stage involves working with existing code and evaluating how best to transition it in-house. This role sits at the heart of one of the Commission’s most significant digital initiatives – the transfer and development of a voter information service used by millions of citizens.

You’ll be responsible for delivering scalable, secure and accessible solutions, applying strong engineering and architectural principles across technologies including Python, Django, PostgreSQL, ETL tooling and AWS. You’ll be supported in the role by the Head of Digital Communications, the wider digital communications team, and colleagues across the organisation working on digital and technology delivery, with the Product Manager as a key partner.

Responsibilities and Qualifications

• Own the end-to-end development and delivery of a high-scale digital service
• Contribute to and shape the technical architecture and overall design of the platform
• Develop and maintain backend services using Python and Django, managing deployments to AWS and taking ownership of scaling and security
• Lead the technical direction, supporting and mentoring other developers
• Collaborate with Product Managers, data specialists and external partners
• Ensure services meet accessibility (WCAG), security and performance standards
• Maintain technical responsibility across all stages of the software development lifecycle
• Support live service, including issue resolution, incident management and continuous improvement
• Design and deliver secure solutions, embedding appropriate controls to mitigate security risks
• Strong experience in backend software development, including Python and frameworks such as Django
• Experience building, scaling and owning high-traffic, high-availability systems
• Experience working with cloud platforms (e.g. AWS) and relational databases such as PostgreSQL
• Experience working with data-heavy systems, including data pipelines or ETL processes, integrating multiple datasets, with an understanding of data security and governance
• Ability to contribute to system design and architectural decisions
• Good understanding of modern web technologies and APIs
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to engage technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Experience working within the public sector or delivering services aligned to GDS standards
• Experience with geospatial data, spatial databases or GIS tools (e.g. PostGIS, QGIS, ESRI)
• Familiarity with large public or geospatial datasets (e.g. AddressBase, ONSPD, BoundaryLine)
• Experience working with or integrating third-party systems and services
• Experience building or evolving systems from early-stage or discovery phases

Please be aware that this role can only be worked within the UK and not Overseas.

Disability Confident

As a member of the Disability Confident Scheme, TEC guarantees to interview all candidates who have a disability and who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of candidates who have a disability who meet all the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group. This scheme encourages candidates with a disability and/or neurodivergence to apply.

Armed Forces commitment

TEC guarantees to interview veterans or spouses/partners of military personnel who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of ex-military candidates/military spouses or partners, who meet all of the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group. In exceptional circumstances, we may also need to apply the desirable criteria in our shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.

In applying for this role, you acknowledge the following: 'this role falls in scope of the Off Payroll Working in the Public Sector legislation. Any rates of payment quoted will reflect the gross rate per day for the assignment and will be subject to appropriate taxes and statutory costs. As such the payment to the intermediary and your income resulting from this contract will be different.'