Software Engineering

How would you like to build an app that keeps people safe by reporting suspected modern slavery? Or create digital services that change the lives of refugees by making it easier for them to access support? Or transform national security by developing the systems that catch criminals at our borders?

These are just some of the projects that our Software Engineers (including Software Developers and DevOps) work on at the Home Office. Our Software Engineering team is currently building and iterating more than 500 services across policing, borders, immigration, security and passports. It’s a massive scale operation, with a massive impact on the everyday lives of millions of people. And it’s why we can say with some confidence that at the Home Office your work will matter more.

Software Engineers in the Home Office work in Agile, product-focused teams to maintain focus on the end-to end service or the users of their services through the Cloud. This way of working enables flexibility, but also supports interdisciplinary teams who drive that focus for completeness.

A big element of the team’s work is about building in-house capability for software engineering and DevOps services, both for existing applications and for the new services we develop. In terms of DevOps platforms, our goal is to converge the Home Office’s existing 10 platforms (currently developed and managed independently) into one platform. You can learn more about this work here hodigital

What you could be doing

Engineer: Engineers drive the technical delivery of their teams, managing their workload and ensuring the right skills are available. They are responsible for the work undertaken by their Developers and DevOps staff, ensuring the services produced are best practice.

DevOps: DevOps are responsible for the reliable use of our platforms. They maintain and update them, design and build elements of them, and consider and monitor their security.

Developer: Developers are key for delivering our products, developing core components of our solutions, selecting appropriate technologies. Developers work to our technical standards, writing clean, secure code following a test-driven approach, ensuring code is open as far as possible and can be re-used.

You can learn more about the different roles and career paths here.

The benefits of working in Software Engineering at the Home Office

As a growing community, we offer plenty of opportunities for skilled and motivated individuals to progress. And if your passion lies in building teams or embedding new approaches, there’s room to focus on that too.

The scale of our work also means access to a tech stack that includes:

Backend: Java, Node.js, Java Spring, Python, C#

Frontend: React, Typescript, Angular, JavaScript

Data: PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Mongodb, Apache Cassandra

DevOps: Aws, Kubernetes, Azure, Jenkins, Docker, Ansible, Terraform

We offer a range of Learning and Development opportunities relevant to your role which could include: AWS training and certification, Azure training and certification, O’Reilly Books and high quality management training, for example.

We also offer allocated study leave and support when you’re studying for a relevant qualification or other accredited development. This may include BCS Membership, or study towards a degree or masters qualification.

Along with our outstanding pension offer ­– with employer contribution rates of at least 26.6% ­– we can also consider allowances over and above the advertised starting salaries for candidates with exceptional skills and experience. It’s always worth talking to our recruiters about what arrangements might be possible for roles you’re interested in.