Ready to work somewhere that cares more about how you build software than how fast you can ship it? At Opencast, we don’t measure developers by the number of tickets you complete. We care about engineering craft, clean design and thoughtful problem-solving. Opencast consultants deliver in complex environments, pairing often and working with others who take pride in doing things properly: TDD, emerging design, refactoring and leaving code better than they found it. We build software we are proud of, and our clients trust us not just to code but to think, challenge and guide. If you value simple and robust solutions and want a role where your judgment matters as much as your keyboard, you will fit right in. The role We’re looking for Contractors in Software Development (consultant level) to help our major clients transform. Software developers at Opencast care about building products right and combine their own experience and approach with our company values. They are tech agnostic, have expertise in agile methodologies, extreme programming practices and use industry-leading programming languages to deliver agile transformation. Our approach to software development is collaborative, focused on keeping things simple, and we use test driven development and pair programming as best practice. Working with clients and key stakeholders is a crucial part of a consultancy role. Our developers are inclusive team players that listen, collaborate, can positively challenge and manage expectations when needed but most of all are always willing to teach and help others. Leaving a client with improved ways of working, working technology and a good experience from discovery through to live is the priority. Contractors at Opencast follow the same principles as permanent consultants. The roles are varied, technical, and never confined to any one provider or solution. Requirements Due to the nature of this role, applicants must either currently hold active Security Check (SC) Clearance or be eligible to obtain it. Eligibility typically requires UK citizenship and continuous residence in the UK for the past five years, with no single absence exceeding 28 consecutive days. As attendance at client sites is a routine part of the role’s working pattern and involves occasional travel, travel expenses are not covered. Experience in delivering digital services for the UK government is highly valuable for many of our projects. Therefore, familiarity with the GDS toolkit will be beneficial. Technical Skills - Expertise in Java and/or Scala is required - Experience with Javascript, Typescript, Kotlin, Python or Ruby is also valuable - Understanding of Object Oriented Programming - In depth knowledge of concepts and uses of testing - Knowledge or experience of delivering complex services to Government Digital Service (GDS) standards - Being comfortable with new technology, t-shaped and comfortable with ongoing learning and development is key to success - Experience with agile methodology A contractor in software development at Opencast is responsible for: - Delivering in the upkeep of their team’s backlog - Collaborating with the teams testing effort - Leading on the implementation of user stories - Embracing mobbing and pairing - Working with others in a collaborative, multi-disciplinary environment Salary Up to £450 per day (working inside IR35) Where you’ll work This role requires regular on-site attendance across our HQ, hub offices, client sites and home. Applicants must be able to commute to offices and client sites as part of their normal working arrangements, as travel is essential to fulfilling the responsibilities of the role. We include you We welcome candidates from all identities, attributes, ways of thinking and backgrounds to thrive in a career at Opencast. Our aim is for the diversity of our people to be reflected in the solutions we deliver, to help create a fairer society for all. Interview Interviews will be conducted via Microsoft Teams. We’re happy to make adjustments to support your needs. Want to know more? Visit our website for more details.

Ready to work somewhere that cares more about how you build software than how fast you can ship it? At Opencast, we don’t measure developers by the number of tickets you complete. We care about engineering craft, clean design and thoughtful problem-solving. Opencast consultants deliver in complex environments, pairing often and working with others who take pride in doing things properly: TDD, emerging design, refactoring and leaving code better than they found it. We build software we are proud of, and our clients trust us not just to code but to think, challenge and guide. If you value simple and robust solutions and want a role where your judgment matters as much as your keyboard, you will fit right in. The role We’re looking for Contractors in Software Development (Senior level or Technical Lead) to help our major clients transform. Software developers at Opencast care about building products right and combine their own experience and approach with our company values. They are tech agnostic, have expertise in agile methodologies, extreme programming practices and use industry-leading programming languages to deliver agile transformation. Our approach to software development is collaborative, focused on keeping things simple, and we use test driven development and pair programming as best practice. Working with clients and key stakeholders is a crucial part of a consultancy role. Our developers are inclusive team players that listen, collaborate, can positively challenge and manage expectations when needed but most of all are always willing to teach and help others. Leaving a client with improved ways of working, working technology and a good experience from discovery through to live is the priority. Contractors at Opencast follow the same principles as permanent consultants. The roles are varied, technical, and never confined to any one provider or solution. Requirements Due to the nature of this role, applicants must either currently hold active Security Check (SC) Clearance or be eligible to obtain it. Eligibility typically requires UK citizenship and continuous residence in the UK for the past five years, with no single absence exceeding 28 consecutive days. As attendance at client sites is a routine part of the role’s working pattern and involves occasional travel, travel expenses are not covered. Experience in delivering digital services for the UK government is highly valuable for many of our projects. Therefore, familiarity with the GDS toolkit will be beneficial. Technical Skills - Expertise in Java and/or Scala is required - Experience in other languages such as Javascript, Typescript, Kotlin, Python or Ruby is also valuable - Experience in a technical leadership role - Deep understanding of programming paradigm, code design, testing, accessibility, performance and security - Proven ability to apply different testing tools and methods in practice - Knowledge or experience of delivering complex services to Government Digital Service (GDS) standards - Being comfortable with new technology, t-shaped and comfortable with ongoing learning and development is key to success - Experience with agile methodology A senior level contractor in software development at Opencast is responsible for: - Driving the elaboration of their team’s backlog - Setting testing strategies to match industry standards - Being a technical expert in their team (or acting as the team lead) - Leading the technical representation in a project discovery - Acting as a technical lead in the team, enabling them to achieve their full potential Salary £450 - £600 per day (working inside IR35) Where you’ll work This role requires regular on-site attendance across our HQ, hub offices, client sites and home. Applicants must be able to commute to offices and client sites as part of their normal working arrangements, as travel is essential to fulfilling the responsibilities of the role. We include you We welcome candidates from all identities, attributes, ways of thinking and backgrounds to thrive in a career at Opencast. Our aim is for the diversity of our people to be reflected in the solutions we deliver, to help create a fairer society for all. Interview Interviews will be conducted via Microsoft Teams. We’re happy to make adjustments to support your needs. Want to know more? Visit our website for more details.

Ready to keep quality at the heart of projects with impact?

Do you want to make a real impact by ensuring quality in services? Are you ready to grow your skills in a supportive, knowledge-sharing community where you can achieve your potential?

We’re a growing tech consultancy that creates user-centred solutions with purpose for our clients in government, healthcare and purpose-driven businesses. As a Quality Assurance consultant, you’ll ensure that quality assurance is considered from the start through testing, questioning and improving. You’ll apply your adaptability and communication skills across a variety of projects, working with a vibrant QA community that champions learning and knowledge sharing.

The role

You’ll work on public and private sector projects. You may be the sole software quality engineer on a project or work in a team.

Leading by example and promoting the Opencast approach, you’ll work in an agile environment across all testing types. You’ll collaborate with team members, clients and users to maintain quality and follow best practice. You’ll adapt to different tools and technologies, advising on the best and mentoring junior colleagues.

Applicants must either currently hold active Security Clearance (SC) or meet the eligibility criteria to obtain it.

Eligibility requires UK citizenship, continuous residence in the UK for the past five years, and no single absence from the UK exceeding 28 consecutive days.

Essential experience

To succeed in this role, you must have experience working as the sole software test engineer on a team.

In your CV and at interview, you’ll need to show experience of:

• writing, running and debugging functional automation tests on an integrated development environment (IDE) for front-end and API testing and frameworks like Cucumber BDD or Junit

• Recent hands on experience with Java and Selenium.

• presenting work to stakeholders

• managing defects and tasks through to resolution

• creating user stories and technical tasks from high-level requirements

• version control tools like git and peer review processes

• creating test plans and reports

• participating in E2E and UAT.

You’ll need a good understanding of:

• your working area and applying this to your role

• concepts and benefits of non-functional testing

• continuous integration tools like Jenkins, GitLab CI or CircleCI

• basic principles of programming paradigms, such as object-orientated and procedural programming

As well as QA skills, there are essential core skills you’ll need to be a great consultant.

In the interview, we will assess how you have:

• organised your workload to ensure you’re completing tasks efficiently to ensure quality is unaffected

• strong attention to detail

• a methodical approach to resolving complex problems

• respectfully challenged decisions or solutions

• communicated with technical and non-technical people

• been proactive and taken the initiative in seeking solutions to mitigate risk

• raised risks and issues through the correct tools.

Other helpful experience

Some areas of experience are not essential but relevant to the role:

• UK government service standards

• agile methodology.

If you don’t have experience, we can coach you if you join us.

Salary

Consultant salary range: £44,001 – £52,000 per annum

What we offer

A competitive package including a 7% employer pension contribution, share options and a discretionary bonus. You’ll also benefit from flexible working hours (aligned to client commitments), 25 days’ holiday, and access to 3 annual “life happens” days to support unexpected situations. We also offer wellbeing support, ongoing professional development, volunteering opportunities and the chance to be part of a genuinely supportive team.

Where you’ll work

This role requires regular on-site attendance across our HQ, hub offices, client sites and home. Applicants must be able to commute to offices and client sites as part of their normal working arrangements, as travel is essential to fulfilling the responsibilities of the role.

We include you

We welcome candidates from all identities, attributes, ways of thinking and backgrounds to thrive in a career at Opencast. Our aim is for the diversity of our people to be reflected in the solutions we deliver, to help create a fairer society for all.

Interview

Interviews will be conducted via Microsoft Teams. We’re happy to make adjustments to support your needs.

Want to know more?

Visit our website or email careers@opencastsoftware.com

We are not working with recruitment agencies on this vacancy. If you are interested in this position, please apply directly with Opencast.

Do you want to make a real impact by ensuring quality in services? Are you ready to grow your skills in a supportive, knowledge-sharing community where you can achieve your potential?

We’re a growing tech consultancy that creates user-centred solutions with purpose for our clients in government, healthcare and purpose-driven businesses. As a Quality Assurance consultant, you’ll ensure that quality assurance is considered from the start through testing, questioning and improving. You’ll apply your adaptability and communication skills across a variety of projects, working with a vibrant QA community that champions learning and knowledge sharing.

The Role

You’ll work on public and private sector projects. You’ll likely be working as a lead software quality engineer on internal and client-facing projects, contributing to the leadership of teams.

Leading by example and promoting the Opencast approach, you’ll support colleagues to develop knowledge and work through challenges in all testing types. You’ll decide the best thing for your team to be working on. You’ll collaborate with team members, clients and users to ensure that high quality is maintained and best practices are followed throughout the project. You’ll adapt to different tools and technologies, advising on the best ones to use.

You’ll ensure that work is carried out in accordance with Opencast’s quality, environmental, and information security policies and procedures, as well as applicable customer policies, standards, and procedures while working on client.

Requirements

Due to the nature of this role, applicants must either currently hold active Security Check (SC) Clearance or be eligible to obtain it.

Eligibility typically requires UK citizenship and continuous residence in the UK for the past five years, with no single absence exceeding 28 consecutive days. As a result, we are unable to progress applications from candidates who do not meet these requirements.

Essential experience

To succeed in this role, you must have experience working as a lead software tester on multiple complex projects and have a good understanding of what it means to be a senior consultant.

In your CV and at interview, you’ll need to show experience of:

• Your working area and how you apply this to your role

• Functional and non-functional automation testing using Playwright with Typescript

• Creating test documentation

• Resolving complex issues and presenting findings to stakeholders

• Creating tasks from high-level requirements

• Defect triage

You’ll need a good understanding of:

• Basic principles of programming paradigms, such as object-orientated programming and procedural programming
• The concepts and benefits of OAT testing.

As well as QA skills, there are essential core skills you’ll need to be a great consultant.

In the interview, we will assess how you have:

• Demonstrated strong attention to detail and focus on high-quality outcomes

• Took a methodical approach to resolving complex problems

• Respectfully challenged decisions or solutions when necessary

• Communicated effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders

• Proactively sought solutions to mitigate risk

• Raised risks and issues using the appropriate tools and processes

• Built strong working relationships and successfully resolved conflicts

• Led project meetings and actively contributed to workshops and events

Desirable experience

Some areas of experience are not essential but relevant to the role:

• UK government service standards

Salary

Senior consultant salary range: £56,001-£68,000