Senior Software Engineer

Job Package

Band: D

Contract type: continuing

Location: Salford (one / two days per week in our office)

Job Introduction

Step into the world of the BBC, one of the UK's most iconic and beloved brands, where every working day is as unique as it is rewarding. Every tick of the clock, our content reaches millions of people globally, which is made possible by our top-notch Software Engineering team. They've been instrumental in pioneering innovative products and unique features that have firmly positioned us at the forefront of our industry. We don't merely adapt to an ever-changing world - we set the pace.

Our team delivers the services that drive the search and suggest capabilities for the majority of the BBC (including WebCore, iPlayer, Sounds, News and Sport).

Ever wondered why "Eastenders" comes top when you type "East" in BBC search? That is an example of using our knowledge of what is relevant to the audience and boosting that result, so it appears higher up the page. The team are looking into ways to use Relevancy Engineering techniques to add weighting to search results and to 'boost' their visibility. This in turn will allow us to create a better - more personalised content stream for the user.

The Main Work Streams Include

• Working closely with our data science colleagues to understand how we can improve the relevancy of results for the audience.
• Building a data capture and analysis framework to give us better insight into user behaviour and needs.
• Keeping our infrastructure up to date to handle our large volume of traffic in a performant way.
  
  

We offer a warm welcome with full support settling in and foster a culture where everyone has an opportunity to succeed. We're deeply proud of our values, which are intrinsic to the way we behave every day. We take them seriously because we want our culture to thrive. We want people to really enjoy working with us and get a buzz from knowing that what they are doing is making a difference and enhancing people's lives.

Job Introduction

We focus on hiring for potential at the BBC, so the main requirement for the position is a strong software engineering skillset. We want to hear from skilled engineers and technical experts from all industries.

• Demonstrate expertise in full stack development, with a focus on backend technologies.
• Take a structured and professional approach to engineering, ensuring high-quality development.
• Build polished and beautiful products, emphasizing attention to detail.
• Conduct rigorous testing and collaborate with Test Engineers for continuous improvement.
• Foster relationships with local engineering networks for a sustainable talent pipeline and team scalability.
• Drive the ambition to build an outstanding engineering team and culture.
• Conduct code reviews, maintain coding standards, and guidelines.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to define and implement requirements.
• Mentor and support junior engineers, providing guidance through code reviews, pair programming.
  
  

Main Responsibilities

You will play a key role in driving our ambition to build an outstanding software engineering team, environment, and culture. We are looking for a Software Engineer to join our tech community to drive this transformation, build a modern digital ecosystem using exciting technologies and do the best work of their careers.

Our tech stack

The team is predominantly a backend team. Below are some of the tools/ technologies we currently use in our teams:

• Languages: TypeScript, JavaScript, Java, Python
• Cloud: AWS (S3, EC2, SQS, Lambda, SageMaker, Step Functions etc)
• Deployment: Jenkins, CodeBuild, CodePipeline, GitHub Actions
• Testing: TDD
• Database: PostgreSQL
• Search Engine: Solr, OpenSearch
• Techniques: DevOps, infrastructure, CI/CD
  
  

We create and support reliable and scalable cloud-based services on Amazon Web Services, use Git and GitHub for version control and practice pair programming and Test-Driven Development where possible.

In a nutshell, we seek someone who champions inclusivity, nurtures talent, and upholds the BBC's values, all while driving technical excellence. If this sounds like your cup of tea, we'd love to hear from you.

About The BBC

The BBC is committed to redeploying employees seeking suitable alternative employment within the BBC for different reasons and they will be given priority consideration ahead of other applicants. Priority consideration means for those employees seeking redeployment their application will be considered alongside anyone else at risk of redundancy, prior to any individuals being considered who are not at risk.

We don’t focus simply on what we do - we also care how we do it. Our values and the way we behave are important to us. Please make sure you’ve read about our values and behaviours here.

Diversity matters at the BBC. We have a working environment where we value and respect every individual's unique contribution, enabling all of our employees to thrive and achieve their full potential.

We want to attract the broadest range of talented people to be part of the BBC - whether that’s to contribute to our programming or our wide range of non-production roles. The more diverse our workforce, the better able we are to respond to and reflect our audiences in all their diversity.

We are committed to equality of opportunity and welcome applications from individuals, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio-economic background, religion and/or belief. We will consider flexible working requests for all roles, unless operational requirements prevent otherwise.

To find out more about Diversity and Inclusion at the BBC, please click here.

Disclaimer

This job description is a written statement of the essential characteristics of the job, with its principal accountabilities, incorporating a note of the skills, knowledge and experience required for a satisfactory level of performance. This is not intended to be a complete, detailed account of all aspects of the duties involved.

Please note: If you were to be offered this role, the BBC will conduct Employment screening checks which include Reference checks; Eligibility to work checks; and if applicable to the role, Safeguarding and Adverse media/Social media checks. Any offer made is conditional on these checks being satisfactory.

For any general queries, please contact: [email protected]

Redeployment

The BBC is committed to redeploying employees seeking suitable alternative employment within the BBC and they will be given priority consideration ahead of other applicants. Priority consideration means for those employees seeking redeployment their application will be considered alongside anyone else at risk of redundancy, prior to any individuals being considered who are not at risk.