UCAS is at the heart of connecting people to higher education.
UCAS is the world’s leading shared admissions service for higher education. We provide application services for UK universities and colleges and deliver a wide range of research, consultancy and advisory services to schools, colleges, careers services, professional bodies and employers.
We’re a successful and fast‑growing organisation that helps hundreds of thousands of people every year. We're committed to delivering a first‑class service to all of our customers — they're at the heart of everything we do.
Business Unit Description
The Digital Services business unit is at the heart of UCAS’ technical innovation, data and infrastructure. It focuses on leveraging data science, technology, and enterprise architecture to enhance UCAS' digital products and services.
The unit is dedicated to developing and improving customer‑centric digital solutions, ensuring seamless and secure online experiences for all users. By providing insightful data and analysis, often made available to anyone with free‑to‑use intuitive dashboards, Digital Services empowers the Higher Education sector with valuable information to make informed decisions. Working in collaborative, expert‑led, multi‑disciplinary teams, Digital Services drives UCAS’ mission to connect students with their next opportunities through advanced technological solutions.
About The Role Contractual Hours
35.00
About The Role
The Software Development Team Lead will provide line management and technical leadership to a team of software engineers, in addition to being the technical expert and providing some hands‑on development activities.
They will be accountable for the overall direction and operations of the technical stack within their functional and product area, ensuring that the team has the right skills, experience and capacity to support the delivery of technical change across their area, and providing technical coaching to maintain and develop skills in line with our strategy.
Key accountabilities
Providing Line Management for a team of engineers, including:
* Performance management, through the setting and tracking of individual and team objectives.
* Setting standards and expectations for quality, accuracy and timeliness.
Providing senior technical leadership and innovation to a team of software engineers, including:
* Staying informed within the wider software development industry and championing new techniques and standards.
* Providing a level of hands‑on development activity, including coding/configuring and documenting complex solutions from supplied specifications, using agreed standards and tools, and conducting reviews with others as appropriate.
For more information, see the attached role profile.
Successful candidates will be invited to interview from 13/04/2026.
Skills, Qualifications, And Experience
* Educated to Degree level in a relevant technical discipline or equivalent professional experience.
* Significant experience of leading and managing at team and technical level.
* Substantial experience of leading software development within multiple frameworks using C#, Web API, MVC, front‑end frameworks (e.g. Angular), REST.
* SQL with MySQL and/or PostgreSQL.
* Automated tests and deployments.
* Visual Studio, Git, Atlassian tools; Confluence, JIRA, Bamboo.
* Continuous integration and deployments.
* Cloud based solutions, specifically AWS.
* Be able to communicate effectively to both technical and non‑technical audiences.
* Comfortable working in a dynamic, large‑scale agile change initiative with multiple technologies.
* Expert/extensive technical knowledge with proven experience in leading technical design discussions and managing quality control.
* Previous significant experience of hands‑on development with a demonstrable career in software engineering with enterprise cloud‑based applications.
Package
* Purpose‑driven work in a charity‑led organisation connecting people to education and opportunity.
* Internal training, mentoring, and access to industry‑recognised certifications through our development academies.
* Hybrid working model built on trust and flexibility, with a 35‑hour week and flexible contracts.
* 30 days annual leave, 3 concessionary days over Christmas, bank holidays, and the option to purchase additional leave.
* Everyday wellbeing support through Perkbox, offering discounts and wellness tools.
* Onsite facilities including a subsidised gym, café, and free parking at our Cheltenham office.
* Inclusive culture supported by employee networks, wellbeing champions, and Mental Health First Aiders.
* Recognition and reward through our quarterly employee scheme and an ex‑gratia bonus for going above and beyond.
Studies have shown that some groups of people are less likely to apply to a role unless they tick every box. At UCAS we recognise that talent comes in various forms and we are committed to delivering a fair and equitable recruitment process where applicants have an equal opportunity to demonstrate their skills. So, if you are interested in this vacancy, but don't necessarily meet every single point on the job description, please apply.
If you have any questions and would like to find out more about the role before applying please email the Talent Acquisition team via careers@ucas.ac.uk.
Working Arrangements
Fully remote working is not an option.
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