Apprentice Software Engineer
About the role
Tasks are organised into larger projects, with the successful candidate working alongside a project manager and one or more developers or engineers.
A typical day would consist of one or more of the following tasks:
- Writing code or markup (PHP, JavaScript, HTML, CSS etc)
- Testing code (own or someone else’s)
- Using source control (Git)
- Handling first-line and second-line support requests
- Communicating directly with clients and/or other team members
- Analysing problems or evaluating solutions
During the day, one can expect multiple video/phone calls with clients or other team members, as well as regular contact via business instant messaging tools (ie Slack, Teams etc).
Working week
Flexible working hours. Typically, Monday - Friday, 9.00am - 5.00pm. Very occasionally, out-of-hours work will be required (international work or time-sensitive deployments, etc).
Skills
Training & development
Software Developer Level 4 Apprenticeship Standard: The successful candidate will undertake a 24 month, nationally recognised qualification through TDM.
This is a work-based learning programme which will require commitment to block weeks in an online training room once every quarter, working towards the qualification along with weekly off-the-job training and monthly coaching sessions.
You will be required to demonstrate through the standard that you meet all competencies and behaviours, which will lead to the achievement of the qualification. You will have a designated mentor in the workplace to support your learning, and at the end of the programme will be assessed via an external assessment body.
This is a Level 4 qualification. Knowledge modules will include:
- Software Development Methodologies and Testing
- Systems Analysis and Design
- Algorithms, Data Structures and User Interfaces
- OOP and Design Patterns
- Potential for progression into full-time role or Degree Apprenticeship
Company benefits
- Open to providing online training resources (Udemy etc) if requested
- Free co.uk domain name registered for employee’s personal projects and complementary web hosting for the duration of employment
Things to consider
Must be a commutable distance to the office. The position is mostly office based, however working from home is permitted in certain circumstances.
The usual hours of working will be decided during on-boarding, and any deviations to be planned at least one week in advance.
Occasionally it will be necessary to meet at a client’s location. These could be anywhere in the UK and depending on the location transport will be arranged through the company either by car or public transport.
It is not expected that this position will require any international
travel.
About LIFE DEVELOPMENT SOLUTIONS LTD
Life Development Solutions (or just Life Dev) is an IT consulting company based in the West Midlands. We provide software development and devops consultancy to a broad range of business clients. We have over 26 years of experience in the industry and are looking to expand our team in order to better support our growing client base.
We offer a full spectrum of software development and devops services. Typically we get involved when clients have problems that cannot be solved with existing resources - identifying performance issues or complex bugs in website infrastructure is a speciality.
We often work with other software or design agencies as an enhancement to their existing team. Providing advice and support where required. This work can be anything from coding to managing cloud services to building complex deployment pipelines.
Our regular work also includes long term development projects, such as Customer Relationship Management systems (CRM) or Web App development.
Core company values include: diligence, respect, curiosity and ethical conduct.
We pride ourselves on meeting and exceeding the expectations of our clients, while also being courteous and approachable to in-house development, project management or design teams. This makes LifeDev a pleasant company to work with for our clients, and a happy
working environment for our employees.
The technologies, services and frameworks in use by Life Dev are always evolving, and we never shy away from a potential project due to an unfamiliar language or framework alone. However some of the current mainstays are listed below:
● PHP (Laravel, Yii2, WordPress, etc)
● HTML & CSS (SASS)
● JavaScript (some React DOM, Node.js - too many frameworks to list)
● Databases (MySQL, Firebase, Redis etc)
● Containerisation (Docker, DDEV, etc)
● Website optimisation (speed, security, responsiveness, and accessibility)
● Generative AI automations (APIs, services etc)
● Debugging and testing of any system.
● Integration and Automation - using 3rd party APIs and bespoke APIs (Microsoft,
Google, Facebook, LinkedIn etc).
● Data processing, complex imports, and export routines.
● Cloud platform management (AWS & Digital Ocean, some Azure)
● Scalability, redundancy, and security
Personal projects are actively encouraged at Life Dev. While time is not provided within working hours for these projects, the company will support any personal project that is beneficial to the personal professional development of the employee - personal web projects, apis, building games etc are all good examples of this.