Requisition ID: 26076
Location:
Newcastle, GB
Contract Type: Open Ended
Working Pattern: Full Time
Posted Date: 1 Sep 2023
We are a world class research-intensive university. We deliver teaching and learning of the highest quality. We play a leading role in economic, social and cultural development of the North East of England. Attracting and retaining high-calibre people is fundamental to our continued success.
Salary: Salary in the region of £60,000 per annum.
Closing Date: This opportunity will close when we identify a suitable candidate. We will contact you within 5 working days of your application to advise you of the shortlisting outcome.
The Role
We have reimagined the way we deliver our University IT Services, building a world-class IT department responsive to the needs of our global community. We’re growing significantly and we’ve created new opportunities and made changes to how we work. Our people have been at the centre of this change, with a particular focus on development and opportunities to learn new skills.
This role is an opportunity to lead the Software Engineering team at Newcastle University. Reporting to the Head of Software Engineering and Enterprise Solutions you will be responsible for a team who develop and maintain several applications to support Learning, Research, and Administration. You will manage and deliver migration of the department to a “cloud first” stance through various transformational projects. You will also be involved in University wide strategic projects through our Digital Engagement Programme.
The team comprises of specialists in SAP, Open Source, Microsoft .NET, Dynamics 365, and Power Platform development, and supports integral systems across all of these environments. It is also in a process of standardisation and adoption of best practice with approaches such as CI/CD, DevOps, and Agile project delivery. A familiarity with all three approaches is a definite advantage. You will provide expertise in specification and delivery of software solutions and work with partner IT teams to provide software to specification as required, be it developed internally, or working with external partners.
You will be encouraged to participate in local and national networking activities to ensure the University continues to follow industry best practice and to support your continued professional development.
The University is an exciting and dynamic place to work, dedicated to world-leading education and research. Benefits include excellent pension; flexible working options; a minimum of 37 days holiday (including public holidays); discounted travel for the Metro and local bus services; and discounts for national retailers. You can find out more on our benefits web page.
We are committed to building and maintaining a fair and inclusive working environment and we would be happy to discuss arrangements for flexible and/or blended working.
Informal enquiries may be made to Dave Sharples, Head of Software Engineering and Enterprise Solutions at Dave.Sharples@newcastle.ac.uk
Key Accountabilities
- Lead engagement with stakeholders and steering groups to understand development requirements, manage priorities and expectations so the team can be deployed to projects according to business need
- Act as service owner for key corporate systems (such as MOFS, NESS) with responsibility for coordination of development, escalation point, and change management
- Engage with stakeholders and developers to clarify, validate and document functional and non-functional requirements on projects where there is no dedicated analyst resource available
- Embed agile working practices and tooling within the software development team and wider community by acting as subject matter expert to ensure the entire life cycle is efficient and responsive
- Manage team’s adoption of emergent best practices and processes such as TDD, CI/CD, cloud technologies etc, through use of objectives, team goals, knowledge sharing sessions, documentation and our Software MOT process
- Take responsibility for all service provision within this team, ensure there are systems and processes to deliver the required level of support and to recover from support issues as quickly as possible. Ensure cost-effective delivery of services to meet University needs and respond with the agility required to address changing business priorities
- To work with principal developers and architects to establish appropriate technologies and approaches for new system developments to ensure that solutions delivered are robust and fit for purpose
- Lead NUITs application development brokerage service by working with customers, suppliers and procurement to ensure projects are delivered by an appropriate source where NUIT doesn’t have capacity to work on a funded project
- Create and maintain a Technology Roadmap for the Software Development team to clearly indicate areas of risk, show upgrade paths and timelines and feed into overall NUIT planning processes. Own the technology landscape within the scope of this area, be a subject matter expert (SME), and have a deep understanding of current and future technologies
- Lead the team to ensure they are motivated, engaged and have personal development plans, carry out annual appraisals and ensure there is a people plan for the whole team. Ensure that the work of the team is properly prioritised, resourced, managed and executed efficiently and effectively
- Engage with stakeholders across NUIT and the University to build and maintain good working relationships and ensure there is a clear understanding of University requirements within the team
- Act as a trusted advisor, building robust and collaborative relationships with other IT and University leaders to develop a clear understanding of business needs
- Lead on any project or change related activity as part of wider NUIT or NU project teams
- Manage the budget (people and third party spend) assigned to this area
- Manage the university App store presence as required
- Champion the team’s involvement in the IT organisation’s innovation efforts and its role in experimenting with new solutions to take advantage of business opportunities
- Be responsible for developing best practice policies, standards, procedures and guidelines for management of this area, guided by NUIT standards and other stakeholders
- Any other reasonable duties that fall within the scope of the post, as allocated by the line manager.
The Person
Knowledge, Skills and Experience
- Substantial experience of running software development and support team in a similar size and complexity organisation
- Technical background in some of the software development technologies used by NUIT for example, PHP, NodeJS, Vue, JavaScript, C#, SAP BW, ABAP.
- Substantial experience in collection, clarification, documentation and sharing of requirements of software development projects.
- Substantial experience of multiple development methodologies including Agile and waterfall and their successful implementation
- Substantial experience of delivering software development and support services to a dispersed customer base in multiple locations
- Substantial experience of working with third party vendors and delivering an effective service using their services
- Substantial experience of working with Information Security teams and other governance groups to ensure that University assets are protected from internal and external attacks. A working knowledge of Cybersecurity processes and practices is essential
- Exposure to provision of software via the Cloud, particularly Micosoft Azure.
Attributes and Behaviour
- Develops plans that meet the architecture/technology needs of the organisation
- Incorporates business priorities, strategies, goals, emerging technologies, industry trends and economic viability
- Solicits advice, support, championship, sponsorship and commitment from key stakeholders for the success of their team and work
- Communicates ideas or positions in a persuasive manner that builds support, agreement or commitment
- Builds both formal and informal professional networks, and extends these networks within, across and external to organisational boundaries
- Encourages and facilitates collaboration, cooperation and results
- Inspires, motivates and guides team members
- Acts as the organisational change agent for improving maturity and practices, in support of University goals and strategy
- Mobilises others within and outside of their team to support and enable change efforts
- Sets and accomplishes challenging goals
- Defines standards in terms of doing what is appropriate and doing it well
- Leads by example in delivering high quality outcomes which they take responsibility for
Newcastle University is committed to being a fully inclusive Global University which actively recruits, supports and retains staff from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from everybody, regardless of race, sex, ethnicity, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital status/civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, as well as being open to flexible working practices.
The University holds a silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. The University also holds the HR Excellence in Research award for our work to support the career development of our researchers, and is a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.
Requisition ID: 9624