Junior Frontend Developer

The Government Digital Service (GDS) is the digital centre of government. We are responsible for setting, leading and delivering the vision for a modern digital government.

Our priorities are to drive a modern digital government, by:

1. joining up public sector services
2. harnessing the power of AI for the public good
3. strengthening and extending our digital and data public infrastructure
4. elevating leadership and investing in talent
5. funding for outcomes and procuring for growth and innovation
6. committing to transparency and driving accountability

We are home to the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence (I.AI), the world-leading GOV.UK and at the forefront of coordinating the UK’s geospatial strategy and activity. We lead the Government Digital and Data function and champion the work of digital teams across government.

We’re part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and employ more than 1,000 people all over the UK, with hubs in Manchester, London and Bristol.

The Government Digital Service is where talent translates into impact. From your first day, you’ll be working with some of the world’s most highly-skilled digital professionals, all contributing their knowledge to make change on a national scale.

Join us for rewarding work that makes a difference across the UK. You'll solve some of the nation’s highest-priority digital challenges, helping millions of people access services they need

Job description

Data.gov.uk is the public sector open data hub where users can search and browse for open data from across the public sector. We have an ambitious agenda to transform the way the public sector makes its data available and reusable. Transforming data.gov.uk plays a major role in this agenda as we redesign it into a modern reliable data hub which can provide access to a variety of public sector data.

As a Frontend Developer for data.gov.uk you'll share the responsibility for the ongoing operation, maintenance and continuing development of the data.gov.uk frontend.

As a Frontend Developer you will:

• build and maintain accessible, inclusive user interfaces using HTML, CSS and JavaScript, following WCAG guidance, GOV.UK Design System patterns and GDS web standards
• write clean, well-structured frontend code using a progressive enhancement approach, with support from more experienced developers
• develop and iterate prototypes and frontend components based on user needs, helping the team test and improve ideas early
• work closely with designers, user researchers and other developers to understand user needs and translate them into usable, high‑quality interfaces
• test your code and help fix bugs and accessibility issues, contributing to automated testing and quality assurance activities
• support the ongoing operation of the data.gov.uk frontend by making small improvements, resolving issues and learning how services are supported in production
• consider performance, usability and maintainability when making changes, with guidance on improving page load times and frontend performance
• communicate your work clearly through code comments, documentation and team discussions, and share learning with the wider frontend community as you develop

Person specification

We’re interested in people who:

• can write clear, well‑structured frontend code that follows modern web standards and a progressive enhancement approach
• have a working knowledge of HTML, CSS and JavaScript, and are keen to develop their frontend development skills in a production environment by collaborating with others when necessary to review specifications
• understand the importance of accessibility and inclusive design, and are able to apply accessibility guidance with support from others
• have experience defining work focused on user needs and tasks, collaborating with user researchers and designers
• are comfortable working as part of a multidisciplinary team and can communicate ideas, problems and progress clearly
• have experience with code reviews and pairing with more experienced developers
• have experience with prototyping and testing to maintain and improve existing services, including fixing bugs and making small iterative changes

Please note

This role requires SC clearance, which would normally need 5 years’ UK residency in the past 5 years. This is not an absolute requirement, but supplementary checks may be needed where individuals have not lived in the UK for that period. This may mean your security clearance (and therefore your appointment) will take longer or, in some cases, not be possible.

DSIT cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign. DSIT holds a Visa sponsorship licence but this can only be used for certain roles and this campaign does not qualify.