I’m Rav, a senior software engineer working at DWP Digital, employed through BPDTS Ltd. I’m working as part of a scrum team to redevelop and re-host a Carer’s Allowance web-based service.
BPDTS Ltd is a digital technology service provider for DWP. I joined last May, having previously been employed by DWP, and so far, I’m finding it to be both a challenging and a rewarding role.
Exciting technology
I was immediately given some exciting challenges to solve, tasked with working on the front-end using NodeJS server-side rendering. So far, I’ve been able to use my knowledge and experience to not only write code, but contribute to the whole spectrum of project delivery activities. For example: defining business requirements; participating in and leading scrum sprint ceremonies; automating testing, using continuous integration with build pipelines; and deploying high quality, thoroughly tested and vulnerability-free code into multiple environments.
I’ve been able to find opportunities for improvement and have put forward suggestions regarding best practice, sharing my knowledge on web application security, unit testing, end-to-end testing, continuous integration and continuous deployment, source code static analysis and source code management technologies such as Git and GitLab.
Lots to learn
As with any project, there are many technical challenges to overcome. It’s important to realise that it’s impossible to have all the knowledge and skills needed, but with these challenges comes a number of opportunities to learn something new. I find that the most important skill to have is to always be willing to learn something new. The world of digital is moving at a fast pace and today’s cutting-edge technology can become old news in just a few months, so being open and adaptable to change are qualities that are needed in this role.
There’s a great working atmosphere in the team with a generous amount of flexibility on time spent working and time spent learning. But within this laid-back atmosphere, there’s also a focus on continuous improvement and achieving excellence in everything we deliver.
Ample opportunities
This is echoed in our communities of practice, where we’re encouraged to meet with colleagues within our professions and share knowledge and experience.
Working here I've been able to progress and become a full stack Javascript software developer. I’ve had the opportunity to learn agile project methodology and how to develop secure, stable, scalable, highly-available software applications using micro-service architecture. I’ve also had exposure to business analyst, QA and DevOps roles to gain a good understanding of the work completed in these positions. I’ve attended numerous training courses and gained industry recognised qualifications including Professional Scrum Master and Professional Scrum Developer. I’ve been able to learn to code using the latest Javascript frameworks such as Vue.js, Angular and React.js and I’ve felt empowered by being included and heavily involved in the decision-making process for each project that I’ve worked on.
Join us
I would definitely recommend joining us. Resource availability can often change on a project and being able to move in and fill the gaps where the resource is low, to provide vital help is very fulfilling. Having a broad skill set will ensure a rewarding career with opportunities for progression.
If you have a genuine interest in technology both inside and outside of work and have knowledge and experience spanning the whole tech stack you would love a role with us.
We're recruiting now, find out more about our software engineering community.
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