Job Title: Principal Developer & Team Lead

Salary: £51,400 - £68,800

Location: Cambridge/Hybrid with 40-60% of time in the office

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full time 35 hours per week 

As a team lead with strong technical instincts  you're ready to take the next step with more scope, more shaping of what gets built, more influence over how things are done but you're not ready to put down your tools.

We are Cambridge University Press & Assessment, a world-leading academic publisher and assessment organisation and a proud part of the University of Cambridge.

You'll lead transitions taking place in our organisation: migrating legacy enterprise applications to cloud-native AWS architectures, while helping us establish two practices from close to scratch including Site Reliability Engineering and AI development.

About the role  

Alongside that broader technical leadership, you'll be the principal developer on a focused project within the programme deep ownership of a specific delivery, hands-in-the-code, designing and building it end-to-end. You'll spend most of your time close to the code: setting direction, setting the standard in design and review, and writing code alongside the team.

You'll also be the line manager for a small team of developers. We're not looking for a fully formed people leader we're looking for someone who cares about the people around them and wants to grow into that part of the role. You'll have support and development to grow into it over time.

The bulk of your focus is on the technical work. You'll be the principal developer on a focused project within the migration programme your own delivery to design, build and own. Around that, you'll lead the wider migration to AWS, build the DevOps automation and observability that lets SRE practices take hold, and establish the standards for how we use AI responsibly in education products. You'll set the technical bar through code reviews, design conversations and your own contributions not from a distance.

On the team side, you'll be the line manager for a small team of developers: one-to-ones, development conversations, helping people find their next step. As you settle in, you'll take on more of the wider people work recruitment, performance, identifying where the team needs to grow in AI/ML and SRE. We'll support you to learn this side of the role; we don't expect you to arrive with it fully formed.

You'll deliver in agile squads alongside architects, product owners, technical leads, SREs and infrastructure teams, and you'll be the technical voice in stakeholder conversations about what's possible.

This position has been classified as a hybrid role, requiring the selected candidate to typically spend 40-60% of their time collaborating and connecting face-to-face at their dedicated location. Aside from our hybrid principles, other flexible working requests will be considered from the first day of employment, including other work arrangements should you require adjustments due to a disability or long-term health condition. 

About You  
 
A current or recent team lead ready to step up technically. The bar that matters most: 

• You've led developers before, formally or informally, and people have grown around you
• You're fluent in two or more modern languages and you still write code regularly
• You've worked with AWS (or an equivalent cloud) in anger not just touched it
• You understand CI/CD, infrastructure as code, and what observability actually means in production
• You can hold a conversation about event-driven architecture, microservices and security in cloud environments at a level beyond the textbook
• You communicate clearly with engineers and non-engineers, and you're open to growing the people-leadership side of the role with support

If you meet the above minimum requirements, we encourage you to apply. Your application will be even stronger if you can also demonstrate the following desirable criteria: 

• Hands-on exposure to AI/ML in production systems
• Experience helping establish SRE or observability practice early on
• A track record of modernising legacy systems without breaking them

What this role offers someone taking the next step

Genuine scope from the start you'll be shaping the SRE function and AI practice, not inheriting someone else's blueprint, while owning a focused project as principal developer that keeps you firmly in the code. A small team to lead and learn from. A leadership team that expects you to stay close to the code, and that will support you to grow as a people leader at your own pace. And work that has real reach the systems you help build serve millions of learners, teachers and researchers worldwide.

For a detailed job description, please refer to the link at the bottom of the advert on our careers site.  

We are a Disability Confident (DC) employer that is committed to equality and inclusion ensuring our recruitment process is accessible to all. The DC scheme's Offer of an Interview commitment applies to applicants who opt in, and disclose a disability or a long-term health condition, and who best meet the minimum criteria for the role. In instances where interviewing all qualifying candidates is not practicable and/or appropriate, we prioritise those who best meet the minimum criteria, as we would for applicants who do not have a disability or long-term health condition. 

Cambridge University Press & Assessment is an approved UK employer for the sponsorship of eligible roles and applicants under the Skilled Worker visa route. Please refer to the gov.uk website for guidance to understand your own eligibility based on the role you are applying for.

Rewards and benefits  

We will support you to be at your best in work and to live well outside of it. In addition to competitive salaries, we offer a world-class, flexible rewards package, featuring family-friendly and planet-friendly benefits including: 
 

• 28 days annual leave plus bank holidays 
• Private medical and Permanent Health Insurance  
• Discretionary annual bonus  
• Group personal pension scheme 
• Life assurance up to 4 x annual salary  
• Green travel schemes  

Ready to pursue your potential? Apply now.

We aim to support candidates by making our interview process clear and transparent. The closing date for all applications will be 14^th June We will review applications on an ongoing basis, and shortlisted candidates can expect interviews to take place shortly after it closes.

If you are shortlisted and progressed through the stages, you can expect: 

• Two questions to select one answer from multiple options. 
• A 15-minute screening call with the Hiring Manager.
• First stage interview via MS Teams or in person. You will be provided with a brief to complete a role related task which will need to be returned by email in advance of your interview.  

If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process due to a disability or a long-term health condition, there will be an opportunity for you to inform us via the online application form. We will do our best to accommodate your needs.   

Please note that successful applicants will be subject to satisfactory background checks including DBS due to working in a regulated industry.

We are committed to an equitable recruitment process. As such, applications must be submitted via our official online application procedure. Please refrain from sending your CV directly to our recruiters. If you experience technical difficulties or require additional support with submitting your online application, contact the Recruiter. 

Why join us 
 

Joining us is your opportunity to pursue potential. You will belong to a collaborative team that is exploring new and better ways to serve students, teachers and researchers across the globe – for the benefit of individuals, society and the world. Sharing our mission will inspire your own growth, development and progress, in an environment which embraces difference, change and aspiration.

Cambridge University Press & Assessment is committed to being a place where anyone can enjoy a successful career, where it is safe to speak up, and where we learn continuously to improve together. We welcome applications from all candidates, regardless of demographic characteristics (age, disability, educational attainment, ethnicity, gender, marital status, neurodiversity, religion, sex, gender identity and sexual identity), cultural, or social class/background. 

We believe better outcomes come through diversity of thought, background and approach. We welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and communities, actively seeking to employ people from a wide range of different communities.

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