Associate Software Engineer Level II

Associate Software Engineer Level II

Pay of £38,772, plus 28.97% employer pension contributions, hybrid working, flexible hours, and great work life balance.

Are you ready to kickstart your software engineering career and build solutions that genuinely change lives?

DWP are looking for 4 Junior Software Engineers to join The Garage.

The Garage is our specialist automation team - we lead the way in developing innovative solutions that transform public services for millions of citizens every day.

With over 75 solutions delivered and more than 50 million transactions processed in the past eight years, The Garage is recognised as a leader in intelligent automation across government and industry.

You will join a collaborative central based team where ideas are shared openly and learning is continuous supported through an effective hybrid working environment.

As a Junior Software Engineer, you'll work alongside experienced engineers to build real automation solutions, develop modern technical skills and deliver high-quality code that drives meaningful large-scale impact from day one.

What skills, knowledge and experience will you need?

• Strong grounding in programming fundamentals using JavaScript/TypeScript and Node.js, with hands-on experience in at least one modern framework (e.g. React, Next.js, or Express).

• Practical knowledge of at least one database technology, whether SQL or NoSQL (e.g. Postgres, MySQL, or MongoDB).

• Familiarity with cloud platforms such as AWS or Azure, with some exposure to using them in practice.

• Basic understanding of automated testing and continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines.

• Good awareness of the software development lifecycle, with experience working collaboratively within a development team.

You and your role

As a Junior Software Engineer, you'll develop features and components for automation solutions as part of an agile scrum team. You'll be supported by a mentor and work closely with experienced engineers to build your skills and confidence.

DWP is expanding its automation capability, using modern technologies such as cloud-native APIs and emerging Agentic AI, alongside RPA for legacy systems. You'll contribute to building new solutions from the ground up, strengthening your coding fundamentals while gaining practical experience with AWS and automation platforms.

From day one, you'll work on live projects, supported through pair programming, code reviews and collaboration with colleagues across different levels.

You'll use a range of modern tools in your day-to-day work, including Jira for planning, Confluence for documentation, and Teams and Slack for communication. Our code is managed, built and deployed through GitLab, with solutions hosted on AWS and supported by MacBook Pro devices.

You'll also have access to a wide range of learning and development opportunities, including structured training, industry conferences and platforms such as Cloud Academy.

You can connect directly with partners like AWS, UiPath and MongoDB through dedicated Slack channels in a team that actively supports learning, growth and progression.

Details. Wages. Perks.

Location: You'll join us in our digital hub Newcastle.

Hybrid Working: We work a hybrid model - you'll spend some time working at home and some time collaborating face to face in a hub.

Pay: We offer pay of £38,772.

Pension: You'll get a brilliant civil service pension with employer contributions of 28.97%, worth £11,232 per year.

Holidays: A generous leave package starting at 24 days rising to 26 after one year.

You can also take up to 3 extra days off a month on flexi-time. You'll also get all the usual public holidays.

We have a broad benefits package built around your work-life balance which includes:

• Flexible working including flexible hours and flex-friendly policies

• Time off volunteering and charitable giving

• Bring your authentic self to work with 'I Can Be Me in DWP'

• Discounts and savings on shopping, fun days out and more

• Interest-free loans to buy a bike or a season ticket, so it's even easier for you to get to work and start making a difference

• Sports and social activities

• Professional development, coaching, mentoring and career progression opportunities.

And we have an award-winning environment and culture:

• DWP have been recognised as 2024 Diversity Employer of the Year at the Computing Women in Tech Excellence awards

• Diverse and Inclusive Leadership at Digital Leaders Awards 2024

• Commended as Best Place to Work in Digital category in the Computing Digital Technology Leaders awards 2025

• Recognised as one of the Best Public Sector Employers at 2025 Women In Tech Employer Awards

Process:

We know your time is valuable so our application and selection process is just two stages:

1. Apply: complete your application on Civil Service Jobs. There'll be full instructions when you click through.

1. Interview: a single stage interview online.

CLICK APPLY for more information and to start your application.