Software Developer – Senior ICT Specialist

About the Role

As a core part of the ICT/digital unit of any Civil Service organisation, the role of Software Developer – Senior ICT Specialist at HEO level is an important one. These roles are focused on delivering digital solutions to a range of users including members of the public, businesses and colleagues across their own organisation.

Successful candidates will be lead members of a technical team using any one of a range of different languages/frameworks to develop applications and digital solutions needed by your organisation. In that context, you will be expected to demonstrate an in-depth knowledge and understanding both of how web applications work from frontend to server side and database, and some of the associated problems, as well as technologies associated with each of the following:

• Frontend: CSS, JavaScript and associated frameworks, client side security, client side performance, implementing designs, accessibility, mobile-enabled.

• Server Side: MVC web frameworks, dealing with high load, APIs, webservers.

• Database: Database Design, Database Tuning, No-SQL, SQL.

• Languages: Popular programming languages like Java, Python, or C#; Object oriented software development.

• Deployment: Containers; Windows/Linux server configuration in relation to web applications; Cloud stacks like AWS or Azure.

The specific duties of each Software Developer – Senior ICT Specialist role will largely be determined by the Department/Agency to which you are assigned. However, some duties and responsibilities will be common to all such roles and may include:

• Developing and supporting end-to-end business application and business intelligence solutions, using agile development methodologies, across a broad set of leading technologies.

• Developing software for websites, web applications, desktop, batch jobs, and mobile apps.

• Developing UI interfaces using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, desktop UI builders, and other UI development methods.

• Developing server side code in a variety of programming languages such as VB.net, C#, Java, Python, JavaScript, COBOL, etc.

• Developing solutions using databases including the design and creation of database models, and also managing and monitoring databases, including traditional relational and NoSQL databases.

• DevOps development, including setting up cloud infrastructure with code, setting up auto-scaling to manage uneven loads, creating CI/CD pipelines to manage deployments, and monitoring system performance.

• Developing object-oriented code to solve business problems.

• Architecting effective software solutions.

• Developing test strategies, test harnesses, test cases and carrying out software testing, including Test Automation, Performance/Accessibility/Security testing.

• Designing, implementing, and supporting a wide range of ICT/digital infrastructures across a broad set of leading technologies serving internal and external service users.

Other responsibilities common to the role of any Senior ICT Specialist role at HEO-level in the ICT profession may also include:

• Managing and mentoring a team to maximise performance, ensuring a focus on human-centred service design, continuous improvement, agile and quality service delivery.

• Promoting the effective use of ICT and digital services to support the business of the organisation and in particular to promote world-class delivery of digital government services.

• Engaging in collaborative problem solving with other ICT areas and business units, ensuring that your work is informed by the overall organisational strategy.

• Monitoring ICT/digital developments at an international level including strategies and policy development by multilateral institutions such as the EU, OECD, and UN, and demonstrating and maintaining a broad knowledge of technology solutions, current trends, and techniques.

• Critically evaluating and analysing business information, translating business requirements into design options that are cost-effective, efficient, sustainable and reusable, comply with standards, and enhance business processes.

• Working closely with and managing external contractors and vendors.

• Researching a topic and summarising findings.

• Working within and across departments/agencies, where project delivery involves multiple organisations.

• Undertaking such training and development, by yourself and your team, as may be required to stay up to date with the technologies in your area of operations.

• Other broader activities associated with ICT/digital service delivery such as budget and people management, procurement, compliance, project management, stakeholder engagement, research, and assessment of projects from a feasibility and value-for-money perspective.

• Such other duties as may be assigned from time to time by your Manager.

Please Note: This list is not exhaustive but serves to reflect the type of duties included in the role. Other duties and responsibilities appropriate to the grade may be assigned from time to time.

A Day in the Life of Alex, a Senior ICT Specialist working in Software Development My day tends to start with a 10-minute stand-up meeting where I go through a Kanban board with the rest of my team. This allows me to catch up on the progress of projects with other developers and facilitates the team to help each other with issues they might have. I might, for instance, take on a code review, agree to test another developer’s work, or offer a solution to a problem.

After the stand-up, I start work on any project tasks I have taken on while also checking in throughout the day with the staff members reporting to me.

My role is varied, and this is one of the reasons why I love it. I could be writing or testing a piece of code, developing a creative software solution to solve a problem, working on one of our in-house software projects, or contributing towards a cross-government or European initiative.

During my time in the Civil Service, I have had the chance to be part of development teams delivering high-quality software as part of some very exciting projects. I've also been exposed to a multitude of technologies which has greatly enhanced my own experience and skill set. Every day is a learning day of some form, which makes the work very rewarding.

What I really enjoy about my job is that I am constantly learning and developing myself, and at the same time making a real contribution to building quality digital services that will make a difference in peoples’ lives. Our human-centred approach to service design makes for really interesting collaboration with my colleagues in business units and, sometimes, their service users.

One of the great things about this role is the varied nature of the work—it means that I am always learning, as is my team. Digital, enabled by ICT, is the way of the world now and is a constantly evolving area of work. This makes the role both a challenging and exciting one. It’s essential for me to keep up to date not just on the technology front, which I do by monitoring websites and social media channels, but also the broad digital strategy and policy context, nationally and internationally.

Who We Are Looking For

We are looking for people who are enthusiastic, logical, imaginative, and keen to learn new skills, and who want to further develop their software developer career as part of the Civil Service.

Do you have:

• strong technical aptitude and see opportunities for digital and ICT to deliver world-class government services to individuals and businesses?

• good communication skills and team leadership skills?

Are you:

• someone who can effectively promote the effective use of ICT and digital services to support the business of the organisation?

• someone who takes a thorough and structured approach to organising tasks and solving problems and can deliver on time against project deadlines?

• comfortable leading a team and working as part of project and multidisciplinary groups?

• someone who can establish and maintain good working relationships with others, identify their needs, and be receptive and responsive to their queries?

• confident and persuasive and able to explain complex ideas to a non-technical audience in a structured and concise manner?

• someone who keeps up to date with emerging technologies and is always eager to learn new skills?

• happy working in an environment where there is ongoing and significant change?

• focused on providing the best possible service to the public and to customers in your organisation?

Essential Requirements, Qualifications, and Experience Given the technical nature of the roles to be filled, you must have a relevant qualification matched with experience appropriate to this Software Developer Senior ICT Specialist role. You must, on or before Thursday 25th September 2025, meet one of the following sets of criteria:

A. Hold a degree qualification at Level 7 on the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ) major award (i.e., ordinary level degree), or higher, in a relevant computing or computational discipline and have at least 3 years directly relevant hands-on ICT software development experience from your employment to date.

B. Hold a degree qualification at Level 8 on the NFQ major award (i.e., honours level degree), or higher, with computing or computational modules taken in the final year and have at least 3 years directly relevant hands-on ICT software development experience from your employment to date.

C. Hold a major award qualification of at least Level 6, or higher, on the NFQ in a relevant computing or computational discipline, for example: an NFQ Level 6 qualification such as from the FIT Tech Apprenticeship or a Post Leaving Cert Course at an ETB and have at least 5 years directly relevant hands-on ICT software development experience from your employment to date.

D. Have achieved at least two industry-recognised certifications, one of which must be in an area of software development, and have at least 5 years directly relevant hands-on ICT software development experience from your employment to date.

During this recruitment process, candidates must be able to demonstrate that they:

• have excellent coding skills and can deliver well-written, efficient code;

• can translate user requirements into elegant coding solutions and can analyse and solve difficult coding problems;

• have achievements from their career to date, of where/how they have delivered ICT/digital solutions, or any elements thereof, to the benefit of the business of their organisation in the area of software development;

• can effectively manage a team of ICT, digital, and business specialists ensuring a focus on continuous improvement and service delivery;

• can take initiative with a proactive approach to the introduction of ICT/digital solutions;

• have excellent communication skills and be comfortable working as part of and at times leading a team or project group;

• have strong analytical thinking, leadership, communication, and networking skills;

• have a clear ability to organise and prioritise work tasks in a busy work environment which is characterised by competing demands from a range of different work areas.

Relevant Industry Certifications Software development-related industry certifications considered relevant and appropriate for candidates include, but are not limited to:

• Python, C++, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Java, .NET languages, COBOL, and SQL

Other industry-based certifications which can be combined with a relevant software development certification could include any of:

• Project management – e.g., Prince and PMI, foundation level or above

• Knowledge domain-specific awards such as the Special Purpose Award in Business Analysis at Level 8 on the NFQ

• Vendor-based certifications at intermediate level or above (achieved in the past 5 years) such as Operating systems (incl. Microsoft Windows, Linux, desktop and mobile), Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google, IBM and Microsoft Azure cloud technologies, Virtualisation (VMWare, HyperV, etc.), Microsoft (e.g., MTA, MCP, Microsoft 365 Certified, Microsoft Azure), IAM, DBA, Security, Data Centre, Cisco (CCNA/CCDA or higher), HPE and Aruba, Juniper, Brocade, Linux, Check Point, Citrix, Palo Alto, Fortinet

• Other frameworks, methodologies and industry-recognised certifications such as Angular JS, Electron Framework, ISTQB, CSDP, ITIL, COBIT, iSAQB, TOGAF, Lean Six Sigma, Agile, DevOps, CITA, IASA, CISSP

Pre-Employment Checks Several pre-employment checks must be completed before a candidate is deemed suitable for appointment. These checks include evaluation of Citizenship, Health & Character, Garda Vetting & Security Clearance, and Reference Checks. Unsatisfactory results or inability to obtain checks may disqualify a candidate or terminate employment.

Candidates with Disabilities Publicjobs is committed to equality of opportunity for all candidates. Reasonable accommodations during the selection process are encouraged and include adjustments for online assessments, interviews, or exercises. Disclosure of a disability will not negatively impact progress. Required documentation includes recent accommodations details or a psychologist/medical report summarising recommendations.

Making a Complaint under Section 8 Candidates may make a complaint under Section 8 to publicjobs regarding breaches of the Commission’s Code of Practice. The process includes an informal complaint (desk-based review) within 5 working days of notification of the decision, and if unresolved, the formal procedure may be adopted. The complaint must outline facts, identify the aspect of the Code infringed, and provide supporting documentation.

Principal Conditions of Service

The appointment is permanent and subject to Civil Service Regulations Acts 1956 to 2005, the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act 2004, and other applicable acts.

Salary

The salary scale with effect from 1st August 2025 is: Personal Pension Contribution (PPC) €58,847 €60,567 €62,285 €64,000 €65,723 €67,437 €69,157 €71,637 (LSI1) €74,112 (LSI2)

The PPC pay rate applies when the individual is required to pay a Personal Pension Contribution. Different rates apply if not required. Long Service Increments may be payable after 3 years (LSI1) and 6 years (LSI2) satisfactory service at the maximum of the scale.