At a Glance
- Tasks: Design and develop impactful software for public services using cutting-edge technologies.
- Company: Join the Office for National Statistics, a key player in delivering statistics for the public good.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, generous pension contributions, and unique Civil Service benefits.
- Other info: Dynamic team environment with opportunities for professional growth and development.
- Why this job: Make a real difference while working on innovative projects like Census 2031 and the new website.
- Qualifications: Experience in software development, collaboration, and a passion for user-focused design.
The predicted salary is between 44050 - 44050 € per year.
Are you an accomplished Software Engineer looking for a role where you can make a real impact, using your technical experience to enable us to deliver our Statistics for the Public Good strategy for the UK? We are looking for an experienced Software Engineer to join us. We are looking for forward-thinking people with a passion for Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery working on the latest cloud and software applications. You will have an eye for detail and stakeholder management skills to provide technical and procedural expertise working within our Digital Services (DS) Directorate.
This campaign is for external candidates who wish to be based at either our Newport or Tichfield site.
A Software Engineer designs, develops, runs, tests and improves software that meets the user’s needs. They are responsible for writing clean, secure code following a test‑driven approach. They create a code that is open by default and easy for others to use. A senior developer delivers and integrates complicated or higher risk software to form a complete service. The ONS Design System has been developed to help teams deliver digital services that are consistent, accessible, and user‑centred, while reducing duplication of effort and speeding up delivery. Components developed within the Design System are used for all public‑facing ONS sites including Census 2031, Survey Data Collection, and the new Website which is launching in 2026.
Responsibilities:
- Maintaining the Design System, triaging and prioritising fixes and improvements in collaboration with the Product and Delivery Manager.
- Collaborating with User Research, Interaction Design, and stakeholders to understand the context for improvements to the Design System.
- Support web accessibility and web page performance.
- Contributing to improvements in related products, and in the team's ways of working.
Technologies used within the team include: CSS, JavaScript, Nunjucks, Node, GitHub, some full stack development (terraform, config), HTML, WCAG and web standards, Craft CMS.
Essential Skills Criteria:
- Software Engineer (Practitioner): Collaborates with others when necessary to review specifications. Uses these agreed specifications to design, code, test and document programs or scripts of medium to high complexity, using the right standards and tools. Contributes to code reviews and gives constructive feedback to others.
- Test engineering (Practitioner): Able to design, implement and execute a wide range of functional and non‑functional testing techniques and to standardise their application across team. Able to make decisions on running types of test cases, and environments for testing. Able to raise defects with the business and help prioritise them based on defect severity. Develops, extends and maintains reusable test frameworks and tooling; maintains and adapts CI/CD pipelines to ensure effective test integration and quality gates. Guides and coaches others to create and maintain comprehensive standards and compliant automated tests, while researching future tools, methodologies and techniques.
- Service support (Practitioner): Identifies, locates, and competently fixes faults. Able to investigate undocumented issues and develop fixes. Can triage issues and build stories for more involved issues, document processes and support colleagues.
- User focus (Practitioner): Able to collaborate with user researchers and can represent users internally. Understands the difference between user needs and desires of the user. Able to champion user research to focus on all users. Can prioritise and defines approaches to understand the user story, guiding others in doing so. Can offer recommendations on the best tools and methods to be used.
Behaviours:
- Working Together
- Managing a Quality Service
- Delivering at Pace
Technical skills:
- Programming and Build (Practitioner)
- Test Engineering (Practitioner)
- Service Support (Practitioner)
- Communication between technical and non‑technical (Practitioner)
Benefits: Alongside your salary of £44,050, Office for National Statistics contributes £12,761 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides. The Office for National Statistics is part of the Civil Service, and as such we share a number of key benefits with other departments, whilst also having our own unique offerings to support our valued colleagues across the organisation.
Senior Software Engineer - Front End - EXT employer: TargetJobs UK
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is an exceptional employer, offering a collaborative work culture that values innovation and user-centric design. With competitive salaries and generous pension contributions, employees benefit from a supportive environment that fosters professional growth and development, particularly in the dynamic fields of software engineering and digital services. Located in Newport or Tichfield, ONS provides a unique opportunity to contribute to impactful projects like Census 2031 while enjoying the advantages of working within the Civil Service framework.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Senior Software Engineer - Front End - EXT
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to current employees at ONS on LinkedIn or other platforms. Ask them about their experiences and any tips they might have for the interview process. It’s all about making connections!
✨Tip Number 2
Prepare for those technical interviews! Brush up on your coding skills, especially in CSS, JavaScript, and Node. Practice common algorithms and data structures, and don’t forget to review test-driven development principles.
✨Tip Number 3
Showcase your projects! Have a portfolio ready that highlights your best work, especially anything related to web accessibility or user-centred design. This will give you an edge and demonstrate your hands-on experience.
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t just apply anywhere—apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen by the right people. Plus, it shows you’re genuinely interested in being part of the ONS team.
We think you need these skills to ace Senior Software Engineer - Front End - EXT
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your Application:Make sure to customise your CV and cover letter to highlight your experience with Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery. We want to see how your skills align with our mission to deliver Statistics for the Public Good!
Showcase Your Technical Skills:Don’t hold back on detailing your expertise in CSS, JavaScript, and other relevant technologies. We’re looking for someone who can write clean, secure code, so give us examples of your best work!
Highlight Collaboration Experience:Since we value teamwork, share instances where you’ve collaborated with others, especially in user research or design. Show us how you’ve worked with stakeholders to improve systems or processes.
Apply Through Our Website:We encourage you to apply directly through our website. It’s the best way to ensure your application gets the attention it deserves, and we can’t wait to see what you bring to the table!
How to prepare for a job interview at TargetJobs UK
✨Know Your Tech Stack
Make sure you’re familiar with the technologies mentioned in the job description, like CSS, JavaScript, and Node. Brush up on your knowledge of CI/CD pipelines and web accessibility standards, as these will likely come up during the interview.
✨Showcase Your Collaboration Skills
Since this role involves working closely with stakeholders and user researchers, be prepared to discuss examples of how you've successfully collaborated in the past. Highlight any experiences where you’ve contributed to code reviews or worked on team projects.
✨Prepare for Problem-Solving Questions
Expect questions that assess your ability to troubleshoot and fix faults. Think of specific instances where you identified issues and how you approached resolving them. This will demonstrate your service support skills and your proactive attitude.
✨Emphasise User-Centric Design
Be ready to talk about how you prioritise user needs in your work. Share examples of how you’ve incorporated user feedback into your projects or how you’ve championed user research within your team. This shows you understand the importance of user-centred design.
