Senior Software Engineer (Oracle Technologies)

Test Engineering (Practitioner)

• Able to design, implement, and execute a wide range of functional and non-functional testing techniques and to standardise their application across the team. Able to make decisions on running types of test cases, and environments for testing. Able to raise defects with the business and help prioritise them based on defect severity. Develops, extends, and maintains reusable test frameworks and tooling; maintains and adapts CI/CD pipelines to ensure effective test integration and quality gates. Guides and coaches others to create and maintain comprehensive standards and compliant automated tests, while researching future tools, methodologies, and techniques.

Modern Development Standards (Expert)

• Has a strong understanding of modern development standards to support complex projects and programmes. Takes responsibility for developing and refining standards and leads others in applying modern development standards.

Service Support (Practitioner)

• Identifies, locates, and competently fixes faults. Able to investigate undocumented issues and develop fixes. Can triage issues and build stories for more involved issues, document processes, and support colleagues.

Technology Stack

• Oracle DB
• Oracle SQL
• PL/SQL
• Oracle APEX
• MS SQL Server DB
• T-SQL

You may have deeper expertise in some areas than others, but you must demonstrate a willingness to learn and develop across the full technical stack. Experience working collaboratively in agile teams and delivering reliable, production-grade services is essential.

We expect that you will have experience of using these technologies, accepting that experience of some might be more limited but you must be keen to learn all the technical stack above. Please ensure that your CV fully reflects those that you have used before. Your desire to learn and develop in a collaborative software environment will also be what we are looking for.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Changing and Improving
• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace

Technical Skills

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

• Programming and Build (Practitioner)
• Test Engineering (Practitioner)
• Service Support (Practitioner)
• Communication between technical and non-technical (Practitioner)

Salary and Benefits

Alongside your salary of £44,050, Office for National Statistics contributes £12,761 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Inclusion & Accessibility

At ONS we are always looking to attract the very best people from the widest possible talent pool, and we are proud to be an inclusive, equal opportunities employer. As a Disability Confident Leader we’re committed to ensuring that all candidates are treated fairly throughout the recruitment process.

As part of our application process, you will be prompted to provide details of any reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process that you need. If you would like to discuss any reasonable adjustments before applying, please contact the recruitment team in the first instance.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate, and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection Process Details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours, Experience, and Technical skills.

Security Clearance

For ONS the requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for 3 consecutive years immediately prior to applying and the department will consider eligibility by exception on a case-by-case basis. You will be asked to provide information regarding your UK residency during your application, and failure to provide this will result in your application being rejected.

If you are unsure that you meet the eligibility above, please read the information available on Gov.uk on this link, or contact the recruitment email on the advert before applying to discuss, as failure to meet the residency requirements will result in your security clearance application being rejected and any offer of employment being withdrawn.

At the point of SC application, you will need to provide or give access to the following evidence:

• Departmental or company records (personnel files, staff reports, sick leave reports, and security records)
• UK criminal records covering both spent and unspent criminal records
• Your credit and financial history with a credit reference agency
• Security Services records

ONS are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role. Applicants are expected to hold a valid right to work in the UK when employment commences. If you are applying on a time-limited visa, this will need to be valid for at least 18 months at point of application.

To work at the ONS, candidates must meet both UK right to work and security clearance requirements (where applicable).

If you are unsure whether you meet the appropriate right to work or security clearance eligibility criteria, please refer to the guidance on Gov.uk or contact the recruitment email provided in the advert before applying. Failure to meet these requirements will result in your application being rejected and employment offers being withdrawn.

Application Process

Number of Stages: 2 stage process

Stage 1: Application

Stage 2: Interview

Stage 1 – Application

The assessment process at the application stage will be based on your work history, skills, experience, CV, and personal statement. It is important that your application is tailored to highlight the skills, knowledge, and experience relevant to the role.

A personal statement is required at application stage, the maximum word count allowed is 1250 words, which should not be exceeded. You should provide evidence for each essential skill criterion listed in the person specification. As these criteria are scored, it is advisable to give clear examples for each one, including the impact of your actions, ideally utilising the STAR technique (Situation, Task, Action, Result).

Please note that Success Profiles Behaviour examples are not required at this stage of the application process.

When a high volume of applications are received, the sift pass mark may be adjusted. Candidates will be invited to interview based on their merit order, with those achieving the highest scores being prioritised. Applicants who score below the adjusted pass mark but still pass will be placed on hold and may be invited to interview at a later date.

Stage 2 – Interview