Manchester Digital
Software Developer (Ruby Developer) - Cabinet Office - G7
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Location
Bristol, Glasgow, London
About The Job
Job summary
IMPORTANT: Security Vetting Requirements
This role requires SC (Security Check) which will be conducted by NSV (National Security vetting). You need to have been resident in the UK within the past five years in order to apply.
Here is a short video why this is required.
As a Ruby Developer on the GovWifi team, you'll help build and maintain the UK's government-wide WiFi authentication service, used by millions of people every month across the public sector.
You'll write clean, well-tested Ruby and Ruby on Rails code, working alongside experienced developers and Site Reliability Engineers to deliver features that make WiFi access simple and secure for citizens and civil servants.
You'll get hands-on experience across the stack — from Rails-based front-end views to backend services — and have the opportunity to broaden your skills with languages like Python, JavaScript, Go, and C, which are used elsewhere in our estate. You'll work in a small, collaborative agile team, contributing to code reviews, pairing with colleagues, and turning user stories into working software.
We are currently looking for someone with solid Ruby and Rails experience who is keen to develop further and enjoys working as part of a supportive team.
The ideal candidate should take pride in writing quality, maintainable code, possess strong development fundamentals, and bring a good-natured, collaborative approach to the role.
Job Description
As a Developer on the GovWifi team, you will contribute to the software components that form our mission-critical platform. You'll work closely with senior developers and Site Reliability Engineers (SREs), learning from the team while contributing your own ideas, to help maintain high service uptime and respond to incidents as part of a rota.
Your Day-to-day Responsibilities Will Include
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- Software Delivery: Design, code, test, and document Ruby and Ruby on Rails features, working from agreed specifications to meet user needs across the public sector.
- Full-Stack Contribution: Build front-end views and interactions using Rails alongside backend logic, with opportunities to work in Python, JavaScript, Go, or C where relevant.
- Security & Standards: Write secure code that follows information security good practice, and apply modern development standards (TDD, CI/CD) as part of the team.
- Operational Support: Help operate the services you build — identifying issues, fixing bugs, and supporting maintenance of infrastructure, with guidance from experienced colleagues.
- User-Centric Development: Work with user researchers and product colleagues to translate user stories into technical tasks, distinguishing user "wants" from true "needs".
- Systems Integration: Help build and test interfaces between GovWifi and external systems, under guidance from senior developers where complexity is high.
- Prototyping: Take part in team prototyping sessions, helping test new features and approaches (including AI-based enhancements) before full-scale deployment.
- Continuous Improvement: Suggest improvements to development processes and practices, and take part in retrospectives to help the team get better over time.
Person specification
Technical Skills
- Expert in Ruby development and Rails framework
- Experience with at least one other language such as Python, JavaScript, Go, or C
- Understanding of automated testing (unit/integration) and version control workflows
- Awareness of CI/CD pipelines and cloud deployment concepts (AWS desirable, not essential)
- Willingness to learn incident response and operational support practices as part of a team.
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Behaviours
- Collaborative, good-natured approach to working with others
- Focus on delivering good-quality code at a steady pace
- Clear communication when discussing technical work with the team.
Other
- Ability and willingness to adapt and learn.
- Commitment to GovWifi mission and public sector values.
Additional Information
Cabinet Office policy is that a minimum 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace. For some roles, due to their nature and the business need, this may be up to 100%. Requirements to attend other locations for official business will also count towards this level of attendance.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Delivering at Pace
- Working Together
- Communicating and Influencing
We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:
- Delivering at Pace
- Working Together
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- Ruby and Ruby on Rails Proficiency — solid understanding of Ruby/Rails; experience writing automated tests. Monitoring and Logging
- Front-End Development within Rails — experience building and styling user-facing views within a Rails app.
- Exposure to Adjacent Languages — hands-on experience with Python, Docker, JavaScript, Go, or C and ability to discuss trade-offs vs Ruby/Rails.
- Testing and Code Quality Practices — familiarity with TDD, code review, and writing maintainable code.
- Version Control and CI/CD Awareness — comfortable with Git workflows; awareness of CI/CD pipelines.
We only ask for evidence of these technical skills on your application form:
- Ruby and Ruby on Rails Proficiency — solid understanding of Ruby/Rails; experience writing automated tests. Monitoring and Logging
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