Lead Software Developer - Contract

Rate: £572 per day (Inside IR35)
Start Date: ASAP
Location: Manchester - 1 day per week onsite
Clearance: Active SC required
Contract: 6-12 months (likely extension)

Overview

A senior-level Lead Software Developer is required to support a major public sector programme within an FDS environment. You'll lead Back End engineering efforts, guide technical decisions, and work closely with architects, analysts, and delivery teams to build secure, scalable digital services.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead development of Back End services, APIs, and integration components.
• Own technical direction across Java and Azure-based platforms.
• Design and implement microservices aligned to best practices and security standards.
• Collaborate with architects to develop robust integration patterns and cloud-native solutions.
• Provide technical leadership, mentoring, and code reviews for development teams.
• Ensure solutions meet public sector security, performance, and compliance requirements.
• Troubleshoot complex issues across distributed systems.
• Contribute to continuous improvement, automation, and engineering excellence.

Essential Skills

• Strong Java Back End engineering experience.
• Azure cloud experience (App Services, Functions, API Management, Integration tools, etc.)
• Integration & API development (RESTful services, messaging, event-driven patterns).
• Microservices architecture and containerisation (Docker/Kubernetes ideal).
• Experience working in secure environments with Active SC clearance.
• Strong understanding of CI/CD pipelines and modern DevOps practices.
• Ability to lead development teams and influence technical strategy.

Desirable Skills

• Experience working on government or public sector digital projects.
• Knowledge of FDS delivery frameworks or similar enterprise-scale platforms.
• Understanding of Terraform, ARM templates, or cloud automation.
• Exposure to monitoring/observability tools (ELK, Grafana, App Insights).
• Previous work with Legacy system integrations.

Soft Skills

• Strong communication and stakeholder engagement.
• Ability to collaborate across multidisciplinary teams.
• Problem-solving mindset with a hands-on approach.
• Leadership experience in agile delivery environments.