Senior Analyst Programmer (.Net)

The post holder will take a lead role in the Software Solutions group in developing and supporting applications built with Microsoft ASP.Net and Dynamics CRM.

In particular they will:

  • be responsible for development of bespoke business application written in a combination of ASP.Net and MS Dynamics systems. This will mostly involve development work as well as some co-ordinating and directing the work of other developers. ASP.Net and MS Dynamics has been chosen as the strategic development platform for many new applications and will be used to replace many of its existing Access databases. The department is currently running Dynamics CRM 2015.
  • be willing to learn and/or take the lead on other Microsoft technologies such as BizTalk, SharePoint, SSIS, SQL/TSQL, VB.NET and C#.NET. These tools are used in a variety of other University systems and in time, this post would engage with these systems.

The post holder will have a thorough knowledge of the use of ASP.Net and Visual Studio as a development tool in large organisations and will be a source of technical expertise to the team and will lead the design, coding and testing of developments in these technologies.

The post holder will be expected to develop a thorough knowledge of the business systems within their area of responsibility and will be a source of technical expertise to the team and will lead the design, coding and testing of developments.

As a technical specialist lead, the post holder will take on a number of specific responsibilities that support coherent development policy and procedures across the systems they are responsible for, such as:

  • source control and release management
  • development standards and code reviews
  • quality assurance
  • development technologies
  • documentation standards
  • code optimisation and performance tuning
  • reporting
  • technical infrastructure

In these areas of technical specialism, the post holder will be responsible for agreeing, implementing, reviewing, managing and maintaining common approaches for the entire team. They will provide leadership, training and supervision, where appropriate, to other developers. The post holder will be expected to act as a role model in ensuring best practice in software development and the application of correct procedures and standards across the development team.

They will develop systems or ensure changes are made to a high standard.

They will be required to prioritise, estimate and schedule work, reporting status to their manager on a regular basis and notifying them of any scheduling or workload / resource issues.

Essential selection criteria

  • Education to degree level in a computing or IT-related subject or able to offer the equivalent in terms of professional training and experience
  • Expert knowledge of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 or higher
  • Expert knowledge in at least three of the following:
    • Javascript
    • C# .NET
    • ASP .NET MVC
    • T-SQL
    • Dynamic CRM
  • A strong understanding of the full life cycle of software development gained from previous employment in a commercial software development environment or major software implementation project
  • Experience of using systems analysis and relational database design to extend existing database models or create new database structures
  • A creative approach to problem solving
  • Careful attention to detail and an ability to demonstrate an understanding of the need for programming and documentation standards in development work
  • The ability to meet tight deadlines
  • An adaptable and flexible attitude towards the demands of their job
  • The ability to work within, and contribute to, a team environment and build and maintain effective working relationships with customers, users and colleagues within the wider project team
  • The ability to manage, plan and take responsibility for a range of tasks involving interaction with other developers, business analysts or users
  • The ability to communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical colleagues at all levels in both verbal and written communications
  • Confident use of PC tools (such as MS Word, Excel), email and internet browsers

Desirable selection criteria

  • Experience of working in the higher education sector or with higher education institutions
  • Experience in an agile methodology such as Scrum or DSDM
  • Experience of working with Unit Test Frameworks (such as NUnit or MSTest) and an understanding of the principles of test-driven development