JOB SUMMARY

The Planning Inspectorate is recruiting for an Associate Developer to join our growing Digital Services team as we expand to meet growing demands from our colleagues, government, and our customers.
You will be a member of a multidisciplinary team, writing code, and providing technical expertise, within one of our services including our casework management system, public facing websites and internal tools, as well as supporting our ongoing digital transformation work to create a more modern Inspectorate.
You will work with a smart and talented group of user researchers, product managers, DevOps engineers, testers, business analysts and delivery managers to deliver better public services for communities where they live; whether that is considering an appeal for housing, supporting Local Authorities to develop sound Local Plans or examining applications and providing recommendations to the Secretary of State for major infrastructure projects such as power stations, airport expansions or major roads.
The Planning Inspectorate has a long and proud history in ensuring a fair planning system for England. The work we do has a significant impact on people’s lives, the communities where they live and the economy.
We want our colleagues to be able to work more flexibly and more collaboratively, exploring new and innovative ways to improve the way we provide services.
For further information on the Planning Inspectorate, please see the information pack attached. You can also view our careers page at Civil Service Careers

JOB DESCRIPTION

You will be responsible for working collaboratively as part of a multidisciplinary team, focussed on delivering high quality code in line with project goals and delivery cycles.

A typical week in this role will consist of a blend of responsibilities, including:

• Performing code review.
• Prioritisation of work in line with deliverables and project goals.
• Writing code.
• Writing unit tests.
• Identifying and fixing faults.

As a Developer, you will work with others within the team to utilise practices such as TDD, continuous integration, continuous delivery, and DevOps.
You will also keep up to date with the latest technologies and trends, whilst delivering working software early and often, learning new languages and frameworks and picking the right solutions.
Our Tech Stack

We rely on:

• NodeJS for our digital transformation work.
• HTML/CSS/JavaScript for both digital transformation and other services.
• Azure for our infrastructure and deployment.
• MSSQL for data storage.
• Docker and Azure App Services to host our digital transformation services.
• GOV.UK Design System for our web interfaces
• Vue.js for some of our internal systems

We’re happy to help you learn our tech stack once you are part of our team.
Check out GitHub (Planning-Inspectorate)) for a closer look at the technology we use.
For full information on the role and assessment process please refer to the candidate pack attached.

TECHNICAL SKILLS

We’ll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Some experience of developing and working with RESTful APIs.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £28,927, Planning Inspectorate contributes £8,380 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Flexible working options, including flexi-time, part-time, compressed hours and home working if suitable for the role.
• A working culture which encourages inclusion and diversity.
• 25 days annual leave increasing by 1 day per year up to 30 days after 5 years, plus 1 privilege day to mark the King’s birthday. In addition to the normal bank holidays.
• Generous family friendly policies.
• Fast and modern IT kit which utilises Windows 10 and Microsoft 365, enabling seamless working from home and collaboration across teams.

For full information see our Benefits information pack.
Things you need to know

DISABILITY CONFIDENT INTERVIEW SCHEME

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. We run a Disability Confident Interview scheme for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria for the job.

To be considered for an interview under the scheme you must:

• have a disability defined by the Equality Act 2010
• provide evidence in your application that you meet the minimum criteria in the job description
• meet all of the qualifications, skills or experience defined as essential

While we will endeavour to provide you with all the appropriate information, you are the expert on your specific requirements so if you require any adjustments, you should consider the information provided about the assessment process in the candidate pack and then:

• Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. The earlier and more clearly you tell us what you need and why you need it, the more likely we are to be able to accommodate you in a timely fashion.

NATIONALITY REQUIREMENTS

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

A typical week in this role will consist of a blend of responsibilities, including:

• Performing code review.
• Prioritisation of work in line with deliverables and project goals.
• Writing code.
• Writing unit tests.
• Identifying and fixing faults