Senior Application Developer

What if you could work with remarkable people on extraordinary things? What if the end result was something a little bit special? What if your role was mission critical?

For nearly 70 years, AWE has been at the forefront of nuclear weapons research and development. We have a critical mission: to provide the warheads for the UK’s ultimate deterrent – Trident. We also use our unique skills to provide wider UK government with counter-terrorism and nuclear threat reduction solutions.

It takes a special sort of person to work at AWE. What if that person was you?

We are currently seeking a a Senior Microsoft Applications Developer to help support and deliver our portfolio of business applications and integrations using .NET, Azure and Vue.

The successful candidate will have a strong desire and aspiration to advance within Software Development.

The Application Development team are responsible for delivering and maintaining high quality bespoke applications and data integrations that support the business needs of the company.  These requirements are highly diverse and require innovative solutions to be delivered through up-to-date technologies - primarily leveraged through Azure Cloud. Successful candidates would be joining a small but highly dedicated team.

Information Services and Security have a vital role to play in a crucial national mission.  We enable the organisation to deliver through the use of technology.  As AWE transforms to meet the UK’s nuclear security demands, we need to adapt to deliver data-driven decision making solutions, flexible and future-proofed IT services, adaptable cyber security, support to a multi-billion pound building programme, and much more. 

Location – Reading area.

Salary - up to £70,000 per annum DOE

As part of our People Promise, AWE (one of the best 25 big companies to work for in the UK) has a range of benefits to suit you. These include:

• Time to recharge your batteries with 270 hours of annual leave (including bank holidays), plus a nine-day working fortnight.
• Consideration for flexible working arrangements so that your work can fit in with your lifestyle.
• Opportunities for Professional Career Development that include funding for the annual membership of a relevant professional body, access to mentors and training
• Employee Assistance Programme and Occupational Health Services
• A generous defined contribution Group Personal Pension (we will pay between 9% and 13% of your pensionable pay depending on your own contribution)
• Life Assurance
• Discounts – access to savings on a wide range of everyday spending
• Special Leave Policy including paid time off for volunteering, public service (including reserve forces) and caring for your family
• A host of voluntary & core benefits to suit your health and wellbeing – more information available on our careers site
• Remote working (within the UK) is available for this role; however attendance on site will be required, sometimes at short notice.  Site attendance may be for individual days, or for a longer period of consecutive days.

The Role:

• Lead developer on key projects, ensuring the team delivers to meet requirements.
• Design and build software and software modifications to meet business requirements using agreed standards and tools to achieve a well-engineered result.
• Identify key development design patterns for re-use to save time and cost and reduce re-work.
• Ensure adherence to appropriate delivery methodologies such as Waterfall, Scrum and Agile, and work as a leader within the project team.
• Undertake analysis of business requirements, working with customers to prepare solution designs and specifications for self and others to meet customer requirements.
• Provide technical support for supported applications, integrations and services.
• Ensure configuration and change is managed and controlled throughout software development lifecycle.
• Produce required documentation to support all phases of the system development process.
• Carry out code reviews across all development deliveries to ensure high quality first time.
• Provide timely updates to task managers on the status of assigned deliverables.
• Retain knowledge of latest programming and design techniques.

The Candidate:

The successful candidate will have experience in the following areas: 

• .Net Development
  • Expertise in .NET5+ with proficiency in building applications using the .NET ecosystem, including ASP.NET Core 5+ (MVC, Razor, WebAPI, MinimalAPI), Entity Framework with some exposure to .NET MAUI.
  • C# Proficiency with a strong command of C# for back-end development, including experience with object-orientated programming and design patterns.
  • RESTful API Development with experience in designing, building, and consuming RESTful APIs.
• Front-End Development (Vue.js 2+ or suitable alternative [React/Angular])
  • Proficiency in Javascript/Typescript along with ES6+ standards.
  • Familiarity with state management libraries like Pinia (or similar, e.g., Redux for React)
  • HTML/CSS/SASS with strong skills in front-end technologies including HTML5, CSS3 and responsive design principles.
• Cloud Development (Azure)
  • Extensive experience with Azure services such as Azure App Services, Azure Functions, Azure DevOps, Azure Storage, Azure SQL Database, and Logic Apps.
  • Experience setting up and maintaining CI/CD pipelines (both YAML and classic) using Azure DevOps or suitable alternative (GitHub Actions).
  • Understanding of OAuth2, JWT, and Azure Active Directory for securing applications.
• Database Skills
  • Strong experience with Microsoft SQL Server and Azure SQL, including writing complex queries, stored procedures, triggers, and optimization.
  • Knowledge of database schema design, data modelling, and handling large-scale datasets.
  • Expertise in performance tuning, such as query optimization, indexing, and other techniques to improve database performance.
• Automation & Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
  • Proficient in PowerShell and either ARM, Bicep, or Azure CLI
• Monitoring & Logging
  • Experience of implementing Azure Monitor, Application Insights, and Dashboards / alerting for monitoring applications and integrations.
• Software Architecture and Best Practices
  • Understanding of software engineering best practices like SOLID, DRY and KISS.
  • Experience applying common design patterns where necessary (e.g., Repository, Factory, Dependency Injection)
  • Proficiency in writing and executing unit and integration tests, using tools like xUnit/NUnit/Moq with experience in Playwright an advantage.
  • Proficiency in Git for version control, including experience with branching strategies and pull request workflows.
• Soft Skills
  • Ability to lead and mentor project development teams, providing technical mentorship and performing code and pull request reviews.
  • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills for diagnosing and fixing complex issues.
  • Excellent communication skills for collaborating with cross functional teams including product owners and stakeholders.
  • Experience Creating and Maintaining SOPs.
  • Staying updated with the latest Azure and DevOps tools/features, adapting to new technologies and processes with a growth mindset.
  • Experience working in Agile/Scrum environments and using tools like Azure Boards in Azure DevOps (or suitable alternative, e.g., Jira).

All Candidates must be willing and able to obtain and maintain the necessary security clearance for the role.

Please note that you must be a British Citizen to apply for a role with us.

Our ambition is to create workplaces where we recognise and celebrate differences, encourage diverse contributions and our employees feel able to be themselves at work. We strive to create a genuine culture of openness and inclusion and encourage diverse applicants. Any inclusion information you provide us will be used to encourage and support you through the application process and will be held only for this purpose in accordance with GDPR.