Job Description

Post Title: Application Developer

Team: Digital and Data Solutions

Ref No: 202325

Grade: H (HEO)

Type of appointment: Permanent

Location: Peterborough or Aberdeen

Salary: £28,958 + £10,000 depending on experience

An additional Recruitment and Retention Allowance (RRA) up to £10,000 per annum, pro rata, may be agreed. This allowance is discretionary and will depend on candidate's qualifications and experience.

This post will have a base in either Peterborough or Aberdeen.

JNCC has adopted a hybrid working approach, allowing colleagues to benefit from time in the office, with the flexibility also to work from home. Employees are expected to work from our office base for 1 – 2 days a month as a minimum, this will vary by team and the exact balance will depend on the nature of your role. We can provide more details at the interview and offer stages.

Who are JNCC?

Established in 1991, we’re the UK’s statutory advisor on issues affecting the natural environment across the UK and internationally. Our primary role is advising all four Governments of the UK. We also work with private sector organisations to support decision making on the sustainable use of marine waters and natural resources around the UK. JNCC is led by the Joint Committee, which brings together members from the nature conservation bodies for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and independent members appointed by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs under an independent Chair. Support is provided to the Committee by approx. 270 people who bring together scientific and technical expertise, extensive knowledge of policy at global, European and national levels, and skills in working with other organisations. Staff are based in two main offices in Peterborough and Aberdeen.

Why JNCC?

We’re small enough (c.270 staff) that your voice is heard by everyone including the CEO, but big enough that we have all the skills, resources and people you’ll need to get the job done. All our staff are passionate about conservation and making a difference to the world we live in. We have a very flexible, inclusive and welcoming organisational culture. Our Executive Management provides employees with the freedom and tools you will need, and our friendly team will assist you in your role. 

JNCC is committed to maintaining employee health and wellbeing, whether it is physically, emotionally, financially or socially, and offers a range of benefits to support employees in this. Such benefits include the option to join the Civil Service Pension Scheme, professional and personal development opportunities as well as an exciting job in a unique environment. 

Hours of work:                     Full-time

Normal minimum hours of attendance for the post are 36 hours per week over a 5-day period, Monday to Friday.

Flexi time is available. This post may also be suitable for job share.

Annual Leave:

The annual leave allowance is 25 days per year, rising to 30 days per year after 5 years service.  There are also 12 days public and privilege leave.  Part-time staff will receive this on a pro rata basis.The annual leave allowance is 25 days per year, rising to 30 days per year after 5 years’ service. There are also 12 days public and privilege leave. Part-time staff will receive this on a pro rata basis.                  

Short Summary: Post background

We’re a small team trying to make a real difference to nature conservation in the UK. We have significant freedom to choose the right technologies and own personal specialisms.

We work across the full application stack, from web UI’s to infrastructure provisioning and scientific data processing. We are heavily invested in AWS - everyone in the team uses Terraform to provision a wide range of cloud services.

Our day-to-day technologies include Typescript, React, Javascript, Python, Node and Docker but we also get involved in C#, Postgres, Geoserver, QGIS and ArcGIS. We’re open source by default at https://github.com/jncc. We develop on Ubuntu and Windows.

As part of the Future Data programme at JNCC, we work with a broad range of other bodies across the UK such as Defra, the Devolved Administrations, the statutory nature conservation bodies, Earth Observation Centre of Excellence, Government Digital Service as well as internal colleagues to make and support software and digital services to support the aims of JNCC.

We are involved in a wide range of work including web application development, analytical (statistical) processing of data (especially spatial / georeferenced data), scalable workflows and automation in the cloud and developing data management working practices. Lots of what we do involves biological records, surveys and satellite maps. Much of this is geospatial data, so we use tools like Geoserver and OGC web services. Our recent work includes:

• Detecting change in UK habitats using satellite data and presenting this in an intuitive front-end interface, based on a leaflet map and dynamic graphs.

• Building a website to allow users to explore and access a catalogue of Scottish remote sensing data (https://remotesensingdata.gov.scot)

• Building an open source, cloud-based workflow to automate the acquisition of raw satellite data, process it to an ‘analysis ready’ standard and distribute it on the web and via an API

• Building an internal data asset register to catalogue our data holdings and allow us to publish them as Open Data

• Collation and on-line dissemination of marine habitat mapping and protected areas through JNCC Marine Protected Areas webGIS (https://jncc.gov.uk/our-work/marine-protected-area-mapper/) and EMODNET (emodnet-seabedhabitats.eu)

The successful candidate must be a good communicator with strong programming and technical skills. A proficiency in front end technologies, UX design and knowledge of working to W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) standards would be an advantage. An interest in nature conservation would help to put your work in context, but it’s not a necessity.

Job Description: Post Duties

We need a full stack developer / engineer experienced in making backend web based, data-focussed services.

The following duties cover the full range of ways in which the Application Developer can assist with the delivery of targets across JNCC. The focus of work will be narrower in any year governed by the specific priorities for that year and the skills of the post holder.  It should be noted that the post holder will be working within a team and they are not expected to have knowledge across all of these areas from the outset. However, there is the opportunity to expand skills to cover these areas through time. You will:  

•             Develop and pilot applications to deliver biodiversity, earth observation and other geographical data to the web and beyond:  You will contribute to the delivery and use of biodiversity data by undertaking technical reviews, helping gather and analyse user requirements and developing pilot applications to test concepts or needs.

•             Advise and plan:  Apply your technical knowledge and experience to help shape and plan work within the team. This can include translating information needs into costed options for delivery, estimating the work and breaking it down into manageable phases.  Help managers in JNCC and its partners decide which option to implement, based on best value for money / return for effort and the skills available within the organisation.

•             Lead development/implementation: You will lead, or assist with, the implementation of the chosen option.  This could involve developing database systems, applications including web or GIS, negotiating and organising recruitment of data from other organisations, or data manipulation and analysis.  Where the skills or time are not available in-house, projects can be carried out under contract under your management.

•             Work within an agile distributed team: You will work with other developers situated in locations across the country. This involves holding online teleconferences and utilising a wider range of remote working technologies and practices.

•             Apply technical expertise to develop reporting solutions so that staff within JNCC can make best use of the information available.

Technical & Experience (Responsibilities)

To be a successful candidate you will have:

•              Knowledge of, and at least 2 years' practical experience with, software development methodologies and the full software lifecycle.

•              Knowledge of, and at least 2 years' practical experience in, at least two of the following:

o   Object-orientated or functional programming

o   Working with spatial data, Geographic information systems (GIS)

o   Development of data-driven web-based applications

o   Development of cloud-based applications / systems and containerisation

•              Experience of design, development and implementation of databases (e.g. Postgres, SQL Server) would be an advantage.

Behaviours

•   Seeing the Big Picture
•   Changing and improving
•   Working Together
•   Managing a Quality Service

In the event that we receive a large volume of applications we reserve the right to conduct the sift based on the Lead Behaviour of Seeing the Big Picture

Please see the CS Behaviours framework for more details at this grade:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/717275/CS_Behaviours_2018.pdf

Nationality requirements 

This job is broadly open to the following groups: 

• UK nationals 
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK 
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland 
• nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with settled or pre-settled status or who apply for either status by the deadline of the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) 
• relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service 
• relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service 
• certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals 

Closing date and interview date

The closing date for this post is 23:55 on Wednesday, 31 May 2023

The anticipated interview date is week commencing Monday, 12 June 2023

Apply Here

To apply for this position, you will need to upload your CV and fill out a covering letter (maximum 750 works) explaining how your skills and experience match this role.