Senior Software Engineer - Legacy

Take ownership of the technology behind essential national services, maintaining and improving systems relied upon by millions across the UK.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), in partnership with Inspire People, is seeking experienced Senior Software Engineers to maintain and enhance business-critical systems supporting the UK's national motoring services. You'll bring software development experience, ideally within legacy environments, resolving complex technical issues and working with relational databases. Permanent role, hybrid working from Swansea (60% office-based), salary up to £57,400 (inc. allowances, based on skills and experience), plus a 29% employer pension contribution and excellent Civil Service benefits.

OPEN SESSION If you would like to find out more about the role, the team and what it's like to work in DVLA's Engineering department, DVLA are organising a virtual 'Meet the Team' session on 25th November at 12:00pm. Follow the application link for instructions to book on.

About the Role We are looking for a Senior Legacy Software Engineer to join the team responsible for Vehicle System Software (VSS), the UK's vehicle system of record containing information on more than 48 million vehicles.

VSS underpins many of DVLA's critical services and includes client/server applications, overnight batch processing and web services integrated with numerous internal and external systems.

As a senior engineer, you will take ownership of technical challenges across the VSS estate, supporting the stability and performance of existing services whilst helping to deliver enhancements and improvements. You'll work closely with architects, engineers and delivery teams to develop solutions that meet user and business needs.

Alongside hands-on engineering, you'll mentor colleagues, share knowledge and promote engineering best practice. You'll also contribute to improving the resilience and sustainability of our legacy systems, with access to training in cloud technologies and modern software engineering practices.

As a Senior Software Engineer, you will:

• Lead investigations into complex application and service issues, undertaking root cause analysis and implementing effective solutions.
• Develop, maintain and support business-critical applications, batch processes, integrated services and relational databases.
• Deliver technical changes and enhancements, working closely with architects, engineers and operational teams.
• Identify opportunities to improve system performance, resilience, maintainability and engineering practices.
• Mentor engineers, share technical knowledge and support team development.

Essential skills:

• Experience developing and supporting business-critical applications in a live environment, including delivering technical changes and enhancements.
• Analytical and problem-solving skills, with experience investigating and resolving complex technical issues.
• Experience working with relational databases to interrogate, maintain and analyse data.
• Experience collaborating with technical and non-technical stakeholders to deliver successful outcomes.
• Experience mentoring colleagues, sharing technical knowledge and contributing to service improvements.

Desirable skills: DVLA uses a highly specialised technology stack and recognises that candidates may not have experience of every technology. If you've worked with any of the technologies below, or similar alternatives, we'd be interested to hear about your experience:

• On-premise, non-cloud systems.
• CA Gen, or other model-driven/4GL development tooling.
• PL/SQL development.
• C and/or Pro*C development.
• Unix shell scripting, or other scripting skills.
• The AIX platform, or another Unix/Linux environment.
• Oracle databases.
• Java and application/web servers, such as Oracle WebLogic.
• Crystal Reports, or other reporting tools.
• Client/server applications, batch-processing systems and legacy integrations.

Benefits In return, you can expect a flexible working culture, including:

• Flexible working arrangements designed to support work-life balance.
• Civil Service Pension with employer contributions of 28.97%.
• 25 days annual leave, increasing to 30 days with service.
• Bank holidays plus an additional privilege day for the King's Birthday.
• Industry-leading learning and development opportunities.
• Clear career frameworks and progression pathways within DVLA Digital.
• Access to on-site gym facilities, nursery, restaurants and coffee bar.
• Free parking at the Swansea site.
• Inclusive employee networks and communities.

Additional Requirements

• This role requires SC clearance, a condition of which is at least 5 years' continuous UK residency.
• DVLA does not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker Sponsor Licence and is unable to provide Skilled Worker sponsorship.
• 60% Swansea office attendance, typically 3 days per week.
• Salary up to £57,400 based upon interview assessment, made up of base salary of £45,900 plus an £11,500 Digital and Data allowance.

Why Join? This is an opportunity to take on a senior technical role working with systems that underpin essential national services and support millions of people across the UK. You'll have responsibility for resolving complex engineering challenges, improving the resilience of critical applications and supporting the development of other engineers. Alongside working with specialist technologies, you'll collaborate with modern cloud engineering teams and have access to ongoing training and development, with opportunities to contribute to DVLA's longer-term technology modernisation plans.

Apply now or contact Inspire People in complete confidence.