Department of Geography

Grade 7: - £33,797 - £40,322 per annum
Fixed Term - Full Time
Contract Duration: 24 months
Contracted Hours per Week: 35
Closing Date: 26-Mar-2021, 7:59:00 AM

Durham University

Durham University is one of the world's top universities with strengths across the Arts and Humanities, Business, Sciences and Social Sciences. We are home to some of the most talented scholars and researchers from around the world who are tackling global issues and making a difference to people's lives.

The University sits in a beautiful historic city where it shares ownership of a UNESCO World Heritage Site with Durham Cathedral, the greatest Romanesque building in Western Europe. A collegiate University, Durham recruits outstanding students from across the world and offers an unmatched wider student experience.

Durham University seeks to promote and maintain an inclusive and supportive environment for work and study that assists all members of our University community to reach their full potential. Diversity brings strength and we welcome applications from across the international, national and regional communities that we work with and serve.

The Department and role purpose

Nomis (https://www.nomisweb.co.uk) is a web service delivered by Durham University in partnership with the Office for National Statistics. It provides free access to official UK labour market and demographic statistics including Census results. Established in 1978, the service is now used widely by central and local government, academics and the commercial sector.

The Geography Department at Durham University seeks to appoint a Web Developer to support the Nomis software development team.

The main purpose of the role is to re-develop the Nomis website using the latest technologies, frameworks and open-source software with the goals of improving portability and creating a testable and maintainable codebase across a series of microservices.

Joining a small and agile team, you will design, review and implement key web site functionality, feeding requirements into our new API that is currently in development.

This role brings opportunity for you to propose UI designs and features to enhance and shape customer experience. You will assist in managing the phased transition from our legacy site as new features you create enter production.

The role will involve producing a variety of mostly API-driven website features and functionality. These include migration of existing user authentication to OAUTH, account management (both administrative and customer facing), content management and re-developing our highly functional data query tool.

During the redevelopment of the website, you will acquire knowledge of the existing service and functionality, and perform maintenance and smaller-scale feature development tasks on the existing code.

Core responsibilities:

• Recognised professional practitioner and service specialist, with experience in web technologies including .NET Core and others.
• Implement changes to the design and development of service processes, techniques and deliverables for one or more service strands or project streams.
• Provide specialist expertise and support with complexity of data and information sources, interpretation and analysis.
• Contribute to development of operational service activities to ensure excellence in the stakeholder experience.
• Collect and analyse stakeholder feedback to help define needs and requirements and the design and planning of services.
• Internal and external relationship development and partnership working, networking and participation to engage and influence future services and the University reputation.
• Identify and design activities to meet learning objectives and outcomes.
• Deliver training, teaching and/or development delivery for stakeholders.
• Maintain an awareness of current policy for University business goals such as widening participation and access, and provision of advice using specialist knowledge.
• Contribute to and lead business meetings, working groups and sub-committees at departmental and operational service levels.
• Responsible for managing small budgets for consumables and some capital items, keeping records and processing invoices. 

Role responsibilities:

• Provide high-level technical management, guidance and advice for the delivery of high-quality estates and infrastructure support services relating to the development of the Nomis website and associated services.
• Promote and foster positive and highly collaborative approaches to problem solving and project implementation, helping to motivate, mentor and coach project team members.
• Act as a point of contact for Nomis colleagues and stakeholders to interpret and resolve complex infrastructure, architecture and technical problems.
• Make decisions about the nature and level of problem solving, physical and analytical tools, techniques and protocols to deliver project and service objectives, providing advice and making recommendations for resolution as appropriate.
• Collaborate with other specialists within the Nomis Team and across the University, regarding the use of software development tools, methods and standards to deliver integrity and consistency with service delivery.
• Schedule, monitor and perform maintenance and installation works, projects and work streams taking actions to respond to vulnerability issues and security incidents; including creating and performing testing procedures to identify and resolve issues prior to the release of updates.
• Plan, review, monitor and investigate mechanisms to ensure all organisational stakeholder and external customer requirements have been met, ensuring the security of web applications in accordance with established security standards and principles.
• Liaise with internal and external agencies, local authorities, industries and visitors where appropriate.
• Plan and manage projects, ensuring the delivery of objectives in order to maintain and improve service provision.
• Take responsibility for monitoring and updating website risk assessments and safety procedures, and mitigation plans, providing guidance and regular status reports and contingency planning to other service staff, specialists, users, managers, and others where necessary.
• Develop, modify and optimise protocols and methodologies.
• Any other reasonable duties.

Specific role requirements

The successful candidate will be required to pass a basic security check.

Recruiting to this post

In order to be considered for interview, candidates must evidence each of the essential criteria required for the role in the person specification above (including those listed in the section ‘Realising Your Potential Approach’).

In some cases, the recruiting panel may also consider the desirable criteria, so we recommend you evidence all criteria in your application.

Please note that some criteria will only be considered at interview stage.

How to apply 

We prefer to receive applications online.

Please note that in submitting your application Durham University will be processing your data. We would ask you to consider the relevant University Privacy Statement https://www.dur.ac.uk/ig/dp/privacy/pnjobapplicants/ which provides information on the collation, storing and use of data.

What you are required to submit

1. A CV; 
2. A covering letter which details your experience, strengths and potential in the requirements set out above;
3. Examples of how you satisfy both the person specification and the Realising Your Potential Approach criteria. This may require completion of the 'Supporting Evidence' application section if specified by the recruiting manager. Please ensure you give detailed examples of how you meet these criteria if requested.

Contact details 

For further information please contact; Nomis Director - Sinclair Sutherland, sinclair.sutherland@durham.ac.uk 

At Durham University, our aim is to create an open and inclusive environment where everyone can reach their full potential and believe our staff should reflect the diversity of the global community in which we work.  We welcome and encourage applications from members of groups who are under-represented in our work force including people with disabilities, women and black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.

We will notify you on the status of your application at various points throughout the selection process, via automated emails from our e-recruitment system. Please check your spam/junk folder periodically to ensure you receive all emails.

Person specification - skills, knowledge, qualifications and experience required

Essential Criteria

1. Excellent oral and written communication skills and the ability to develop excellent working relationships both internally and externally. 
2. Proven IT skills, including use of Microsoft Office.
3. Educated to degree level (or equivalent experience/professional qualification).
4. A good knowledge of current web developments and standards.
5. Proven experience of scripting languages and web server technologies (for example JavaScript, PHP, NodeJS and others).
6. Demonstrable experience of server-side development using modern languages and frameworks.
7. Knowledge of and commitment to software development best practice including issue tracking, testing, documentation and version control.
8. Demonstrable experience in creating interactive, data driven web applications or content.
9. Ability to develop excellent working relationships both internally and externally.
10. Ability to solve problems and resolve issues, plan solutions and make pragmatic decisions.
11. Ability to manage workload and prioritise effectively working under own initiative or collaboratively in a small team within a pressurised environment.
12. Experience with .NET / .NET Core.

Desirable

1. Experience of meeting requirements of Government and W3C accessibility guidelines.
2. Experience with ASP.Net and C# or classic ASP code and VBScript 
3. Knowledge of Apache Server or Microsoft IIS.
4. Experience of working with Integrated Development Environments (IDE) such as Visual Studio Code.
5. Experience of creating and maintaining complex relational databases, for example normalising data and running queries using SQL, Stored Procedures and Triggers.
6. Experience of Linux or UNIX, and MS Windows operating systems.
7. Experience of release and deployment management tools (e.g. version control, preferably GitHub, automated testing, etc.)
8. Experience with .NET Identity, MVC or IdentityServer4

Realising Your Potential Approach

The Realising Your Potential Approach clarifies the behaviours expected to be demonstrated by all staff across Professional Services in the University regardless of their role. Along with the core responsibilities, role responsibilities and the person specification, the Realising Your Potential Approach behavioural indicators are used to inform the recruitment and selection process. Further information on the Realising Your Potential Approach is available here.

Durham University Job Family: Estates and Information Infrastructure Services

OUR CHARACTERISTICS: We are a globally outstanding centre of teaching and research excellence, a collegiate community of extraordinary people, in a unique and historic setting.

OUR VALUES: We are inspiring, challenging, innovative, responsible and enabling.

It is expected that all staff within the University:

• Contribute to our learning culture by engaging in mentoring, training and coaching.
• Positively contribute to fostering a collegial environment; as well as demonstrating commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.
• Have due regard to Health and Safety requirements appropriate to grade and role.

Family key attributes

Roles in this family manage and maintain the integrity of University buildings, estates and information services.

Overall family purpose

• Ensure safe, sustainable and fit for purpose buildings, internal and external environments in and on which to conduct University business.
• Liaise and engage with stakeholders across the University to identify and plan infrastructure projects to update and improve services and facilities.
• Align services to meet organisational strategic and operational objectives.
• Design new, adapt existing and implement services, working with external contractors and suppliers.
• Manage and monitor systems, mechanisms and processes to ensure compliance with internal and external regulations.
• Implement procedures to ensure safe and secure buildings, facilities, estates and information networks.
• Design and construct real and virtual test environments to ensure the most fit for purpose technology and services are available to underpin University business needs.
• Manage technology driven services and third-party platforms to underpin teaching, learning, research and administrative activities across the University.
• Engage with external suppliers, contractors, manufacturers and developers to ensure the highest-standards and quality of buildings, estates and information services.
• Work collaboratively and network across the University with staff in other families to ensure a smooth, timely and high-quality delivery of service.

Link to key strategic plan

• An economically sustainable approach to delivering infrastructure services across the University;
• Develop an academic estate that will allow the University to deliver world-class education, research and student experience;
• Ensure the long-term availability of suitable residential accommodation;
• Ensure the continuing renewal and maintenance of our estate;
• Improve the environmental sustainability and ease of travel around our estate and city locations;
• Support and facilitate a first-rate digital learning environment and experience on a par with the best in the UK;
• Running and ongoing development of a first-rate digital learning environment on a par with the best in the UK
• A stakeholder-focused orientation, offering satisfying careers to all staff;
• Ensure that an increasingly diverse workforce is treated equally, fairly and with respect, and that all staff are demonstrably valued and actively engaged.

DBS Requirement: Not Applicable.