Oxford Computer Consultants Ltd Hiring for Graduate Software Developer Job at Oxford, England Full Time

Starting salary: £25,000 – £35,000 per annum

Status: Permanent, full-time position

Hours: 37.5 hours per week

Location: Oxford offices with remote and hybrid working and equipment budget available

Oxford Computer Consultants (OCC) is a technical company at heart, led by developers and engineers. We work in information technology because we enjoy the challenges and see the positive impact IT has on business and society. We’re proud of the work we do and always put our customers first.

Due to continued growth, we are looking to hire an additional two graduates in 2022. As a Graduate Software Developer at OCC, you’ll be part of a team of front and back-end developers working on our market-leading software products. You’ll have the opportunity to get involved in all stages of the product life cycle, from specification and design to development, implementation, and documentation.

As a member of our development team, you’ll find yourself surrounded by a diverse group of supportive individuals who review and test one another’s ideas, designs and code, working together to produce the best product possible.

What to expect as a new Graduate Software Developer

Every new graduate to OCC is assigned a mentor, who will help you settle into life at OCC by providing support and advice on our processes and policies as well as helping you get to know who’s who and what’s what here. In addition, they will be available to answer any questions you may have and will meet with you regularly to make sure everything is proceeding smoothly.

Your induction will last around four weeks, during which time you’ll receive training on all the technologies you need to do your job, our products and company policies, plus you’ll have the chance to meet key stakeholders from every part of the business.

A great part about joining OCC as a new graduate is that alongside your induction training, you’ll begin hands-on development work within your first week – supported by your line manager and mentor, you’ll quickly start to make valuable contributions to the development of our software.

As a Microsoft Gold Partner, you’ll find yourself working with the best technologies. Our main product, ContrOCC, is composed of a suite of applications interacting with a SQL database back-end. The other primary technologies we use are C#, MVC, EntityFramework (6 and Core), WinForms, WebApi, WCF, JavaScript (Knockout, React), Xamarin with Xamarin.Forms and Asp.Net WebForms 2.

We value every employee individually and encourage staff development and continual learning. We assign every employee a career advisor; typically, a senior member of the company who is available to discuss and help advise you on your career progression. We also hold regular show and tells and provide every staff member with an annual training budget of £1000 and 5 days per year which you are encouraged to utilise to aid your professional development.

What we’re looking for

Typically, our graduate developers hold a 2:1 degree or higher in a STEM subject from a top-rated university and have knowledge of an object-oriented language such as C# or Java, but familiarity in the following areas would also be advantageous:

Database design and programming, ideally with MS SQL Server, including stored procedures, triggers, views, functions, indexes, constraints, and keys

• HTML and CSS, with a good understanding of front-end best practices and accessibility considerations
• Knowledge or experience of the React framework

Our Graduate Software Developer role is not client-facing; however, strong communication and interpersonal skills are important, as you’ll need to interact with various teams, including Support and Implementations.

Recruitment process

We have a two-stage interview process for our graduate developer role. Both interviews are currently taking place virtually, via MS teams and last 45 minutes each. The first stage includes some technical questions and a short assessment, and the second stage includes questions designed to find out if you are a fit for OCC and, more importantly, if OCC is a good fit for you.

Due to the nature of our work with local government clients, if you’re successful in receiving a job offer, we will request a DBS check as part of our recruitment process.

What we offer

In addition to a competitive salary, we have a comprehensive benefits package at OCC.

Financial benefits:

We offer financial protection in the form of life assurance and income protection insurance.

You don’t need to be local to our offices to work for OCC (although we think there are many advantages of being so), as we offer remote and hybrid working. However, If you’re not local and want to relocate to the beautiful city of Oxford, we’ll pay up to £1,500 towards agency, legal and moving fees.

If you join OCC and like it as much as we think you will, you could receive up to £800 if you recommend someone to apply to OCC, and we go on to employ them.

Wellbeing:

The wellbeing of our staff is important to us, and we want OCC employees to feel supported through times of ill health. We, therefore, offer a company sick pay entitlement designed to help staff through any period of absence and their return to work, plus free access to a wellbeing hub offering financial, physical, and mental health advice and support.

When you work for OCC, you will have access to free fresh fruit and the option to join the OCC running club!

We’ll also pay for an annual flu jab and eye test with money towards glasses if you need them for VDU use.

Work-life balance:

We understand the importance of a work-life balance, and for that reason, most staff are provided with a core hours contract (core hours are 10 am – 12 pm and 2 pm – 4 pm). We work 37.5 hours a week, but how you arrange those hours is up to you.

We also have a generous leave package with the option of purchasing up to 10 days extra per year, and once you’ve been with us for five years, and every five years thereafter, you’ll get a four-week sabbatical!

Family-friendly:

We offer enhanced maternity and paternity pay.

Travel:

Once you’ve passed your probation at OCC, you’ll be able to claim back up to £220 towards the cost of a bike and cycling equipment, plus we offer interest-free season ticket loans for staff travelling on public transport.

Fun activities:

We recognise and reward hard work at OCC, but of course, it’s not all work and no play. We hold a monthly social event available for everyone to attend and enjoy a companywide Christmas party each year. In addition to that, we have a fortnightly free lunch at a variety of local restaurants.

We have modern offices with tea and coffee on offer plus an office pool table, ping-pong table, and many other board games to keep you busy at lunch. We hold a variety of annual tournaments with trophies awarded to the lucky winners!

You won’t be stuck for things to do in your spare time with quick access to the beautiful walks and parks in central Oxford, plus the Westgate shopping centre is just a stone’s throw away!

OCC is an equal opportunities employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees by building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. We are a Disability Confident Employer and proud to be a Tech Talent Charter Signatory.

If you require any reasonable adjustments or have accessibility requirements you would like to discuss before applying for this role, please contact us via the careers page of our website and we will be happy to help.

Due to the nature of our work with local government clients, please note we request a DBS check as part of our recruitment process.

Job Type: Full-time

Salary: £25,000.00-£35,000.00 per year

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday

Education:

• Bachelor’s (required)