IT Software Developer

Shakespeare Martineau is a leading law firm that combines creativity, commerciality and clarity. We work with blue-chip companies, leading organisations, high street brands and individuals across the country.

Our multi-disciplinary team delivers a broad range of specialist legal services, and particularly stands out for its expertise across sectors including, but not limited to: energy, education, banking and financial services, investment funds, healthcare and advanced manufacturing. 

We’re proud of our people’s varied backgrounds and expertise. Our different qualities stand out and make us interesting to our clients.

We firmly believe in working hard and being ambitious. We look to recruit and develop talented people to achieve their potential - and who will contribute to achieving ours too.

Here you can fulfil your ambitions, whatever they are and however rapidly you want to achieve them. Together, and individually, we create exceptional results.

To provide truly outstanding client service we work as one team.  Our Business Operations Group is made up of business professionals who work with our legal professionals to provide market leading expertise to our clients.  The Groups include; Finance, Operations, HR, Marketing, IT, Risk and the Executive Leadership team.

Our IT team is responsible for providing clients and staff with high quality relevant technology, customised systems and superior service and support to ensure our business needs are always met.

Based mainly in the Birmingham office but also with a presence in Nottingham the team is around 25 strong and includes talented developers, engineers, analysts and service desk support people.

This is an ever changing and exciting area to work in as we constantly look for new and innovative ways to provide the most effective solutions to the business.

The role:

We are looking for an IT Software Developer to join our Birmingham-based IT team. 

This role is to develop, implement and support business system solutions in response to business requirements.  You will work on a mixture of application foundations, some with a more SQL Server Database slant, others more focused on ASP.Net and VB.Net.

This is a good opportunity to build a career with the firm, taking ownership over areas of projects and supporting others in the team as you progress your own skills.

Your key duties will include:

• requiring analysis to gain an understanding of business needs to develop level of effort estimates, software design and development, unit testing
• developing reliable, innovative and scalable technology solutions to meet organisational needs and process improvements
• managing development items to closure within time, cost and quality constraints
• translating user requirements into detailed design specifications to deliver effective solutions in an agile environment
• creating and maintaining application documentation including; Technical Specifications, Knowledge Base / Know How Articles and other project artefacts as required
• being capable of understanding and contributing to the technical solutions from design through to solution implementation
• providing regular and effective progress updates to and working closely with the Development Team Leader to ensure the management of any delivery risks or issues
• defining delivery phases of the project including; activities, sub-activities and milestones ensuring these are documented and used as the basis for the project event log, issues and risk log and subsequent reporting
• ensuring the awareness, involvement and support from the key stakeholders and participants by building strong client relationships and maintaining robust communication on the project status throughout its life cycle
• analysing user requirements
• evaluating, assessing and recommending software and hardware solutions
• developing software, architecture, specifications and interfaces
• developing user interfaces, client displays and management information
• developing, delivering and testing software prototypes
• initiating and driving major changes in programs, procedures and methodology
• collaborating with our software developers and professionals
• reporting to the IT Development Team Leader and / or team members concerning day-to-day progress and issues

Your additional duties will include:

• ensuring internal compliance with ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 standards
• providing assistance in risk and best practice improvement projects

Skills and experience you will have:

• a minimum of 5 years’ previous experience in a similar role
• a strong background in application development, with the desire to research and learn new skills and technologies as they become available
• a practical knowledge of planning, executing and reporting on various forms of testing; including system or integration testing, performance and regression testing
• a knowledge of a variety of software development approaches and methodologies
• experience in requirements capture, analysis techniques and process improvement approaches
• experience in producing software specifications
• knowledge of full software development lifecycle
• the ability to work on multiple development work streams concurrently
• previous knowledge and experience in managing stakeholders
• excellent written and oral communication skills, liaising with colleagues, stakeholders and third parties
• a sound knowledge of the below systems:
• SQL Server 2008 R2+
• ASP.Net / Net Framework
• C# and VB languages
• WCF/ Web services
• IIS, website setup / SSL certificates
• JavaScript / Jquery
• CSS
• Markup languages / JSON

It would also be beneficial to have experience in:

• SSRS
• MVC
• JSON
• Responsive Web Design (such as Bootstrap)
• Object Orientated approach
• Content Management systems
• Workflow solutions
• SharePoint
• Knowledge of Axxia product
• LINQ / Entity Framework

Key competencies you will need:

• to be enthusiastic and adaptable in your approach to development and technology
• the ability to react to change, prioritise accordingly and maintain strong organisational skills with minimal supervision
• to have a logical approach to problem solving
• to be able to work as part of a team in a development environment
• the drive and enthusiasm to be part of a bigger team working together to achieve team goals

Due to the nature of the work undertaken, confirmation of employment will be subject to a variety of checks which will be carried out once an offer of employment is accepted. Details of the checks can be found here.

Shakespeare Martineau is a committed equal opportunities employer. We seek to attract, develop and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds and cultures. We value and respect individuality and encourage a culture within our business where people can be themselves and be valued for their strengths and experiences. Everyone who either applies to or works for the firm is treated equally, regardless of their gender, age, ethnic origin, nationality, marital status, sexual orientation or religious beliefs.