Junior Applications Developer

Closing date for applications is 5pm, Friday 31st March 2023. We do reserve the right to close this advertisement early or extend depending on the volume of suitable applications for this role, therefore if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.
Unfortunately we are unable to provide visa sponsorship at this time.
The company

FFT is an industry-leading education technology company (non-profit) with 120 staff working from home or at our offices in Cardiff or London. Using cutting edge technology, FFT provides an education analytics platform to 13,000 schools in the UK and schools in 40 countries around the world. We have a strong, trusted brand with schools and our analytics services helps school leaders and teachers to analyse pupil assessment data, benchmark school performance, support school improvement and ensure that every pupil achieves the very best education outcomes.

We also publish literacy resources for schools, including a systematic synthetic phonics programme (Success for All Phonics) which is fully validated by the Department for Education (DfE). In addition, we offer a Tutoring service to schools using an online Tutoring Platform (Tutoring with the Lightning Squad) and also an online assessment tool (Reading Assessment Programme) designed to assess pupils reading skills.

The opportunity Were looking for a talented, passionate and hard-working person to join the FFT Development team from a software development working environment and looking to build a long career. The role is within our Product Development team responsible for our Literacy applications and platforms.

This is an exciting time to work with FFT as we are continuing to invest in our offerings as we expand the range of features for schools, improving the platform with the latest technologies on a progressive cloud-based platform.

You will be self-motivated, passionate about technology with the ability to rapidly learn new and emerging technologies.
The role Reporting to the Development Manager with mentoring from the wider team, you will be involved in the full lifecycle of design, implementation and maintenance of product features and platform for both new products and the maintenance of existing products. The key responsibilities for this post are to:

• Build scalable, high performance, robust software solutions that meet business requirements as part of a team

• Liaise with product designers, solution architects, project managers, data analysts, testers and product management to ensure solutions are fit for purpose and developed on time and to a high-quality standard
• Maintain existing software modules and develop new, modular features using established processes, standards and integration methods
• Full training and professional development will be an integral part of the role and we are looking for someone that has a strong desire to increase their technical knowledge and development skills

Skills, knowledge & experience Essential

• Minimum 1-year, full stack, web application development including:
• Web application development (HTML CSS, JavaScript and JS frameworks)
• Mid-tier service development (Web Services, Web API, C#)
• Database development (SQL Server or PostgreSQL)
• Developing for Windows and Linux server platforms (but we will provide training)
• Rapidly build prototypes for new ideas and products to prove concepts and validate design concepts
• Some experience using Microsoft development tools including Visual Studio
• Good documentation skills
• Strong analysis, troubleshooting and communication skills

Desirable

• Any experience developing on cloud-hosted platforms (Preferably AWS)
• Any relevant IT, Computing or Programming qualifications or certifications
• Any AWS Certifications (or desire to gain)
• Experience of JS frameworks such as Angular (or desire to learn)
• Testing and QA processes

Bonus

• Any experience of Agile development processes

Hours of work This is a full time position, 37.5 hours per week, Monday to Friday. Salary The salary range for this role is £23,000 - £28,000 per annum, depending upon experience. In addition to the base salary you will also receive a generous benefits package, see the Perks section below for further details. Location Either office based working (from either our Cowbridge (South Wales) or London (Westminster) office), home based working* (within the UK) or a hybrid of both, please indicate your preference on your application.

• home-based employees may on occasions be required to travel to either our Cowbridge or London based offices to attend meetings, training and other office-based events, with reasonable prior notice.

We cannot accept applications for working remotely outside of the UK. The perks & benefits

• The chance to work alongside a team of hard-working, passionate people in a role where you'll see the impact of your work every day. We also offer:

  • 33 days annual leave (increasing with length of service), plus additional days off around Christmas and New Year
  • Birthday leave
  • Currently running a trial for a 4.5 day working week
  • A generous pension scheme with FFT contributions at 9%
  • Cycle to Work Scheme
  • Enhanced Maternity and Paternity Pay
  • Regular Social Events
  • Employee Assistance Programme system supporting employees wellbeing
  • Private Healthcare Insurance, including virtual GP access 24/7
  • Income Protection Scheme
  • Life Assurance Scheme
  • Flexible working, including term time only positions
  • Our 'Lunch and Learn' programme to provide insight into company hot topics with free pizza
  • Personal development opportunities with a dedicated training budget
  • Dog friendly offices
  • Table tennis*, pool table* and chill out areas to unwind (*Cowbridge office only)
  • Free office refreshments (fresh fruit, biscuits, tea & coffee)
  • Parking within walking distance of the office (excluding our London office)
  To apply for this position please click 'apply' above and upload a copy of your:
• 
  CV
• and Covering Letter (no more than 1 side of A4) demonstrating how your skills and experience match those required for this role

The successful applicant will be subject to a Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) check (this will be undertaken and paid for by FFT).


Refer a friend: If you are a current FFT employee and know someone who would be good for this role, you can refer a friend or family member and if they are offered a role with FFT, we will say thank you with a bonus up to £250! Ensure the applicant selects Refer a friend scheme and notes your FFT Employee ID when they apply.


Strictly no recruitment agencies to contact us in regards to this role as we have a PSL in place and do not wish to speak to any further agencies at this time.