Change your career, change lives

The Open University is the UK’s largest university, a world leader in flexible part-time education combining a mission to widen access to higher education with research excellence, transforming lives through education. Find out more about us and our mission by watching this short video (you will be taken to YouTube by clicking this link).

About Digital Services

Digital Services is at the heart of delivering life-changing learning experiences that enrich society. We combine trusted design, data expertise, and cutting-edge technology to support lifelong learning.

Our objectives are to:

• Enhance the student and staff experience through simple, evidence-based solutions.
• Deliver value iteratively, securely, and at speed.
• Foster a vibrant, supportive workplace that embraces continuous learning and growth, empowering everyone to succeed.

As a service-led institution, we are committed to simplifying and improving how we work by organizing ourselves around the services we provide. This enables us to design and deliver outstanding services effectively and efficiently.

With our ethos of being “open to people, places, methods, and ideas,” we proudly support students in every setting imaginable—from submarines to prisons, and everywhere in between. We take pride in enabling our academics to teach and our students to learn, no matter the circumstances.

About the Role

We are recruiting multiple Software Engineers across a range of Digital Services teams. These roles sit within agile, product-focused environments delivering business‑critical digital services that support students, staff, and the wider University.

As a Software Engineer (known internally as an Engineer) at The Open University, you will contribute to the design, development, and support of high‑quality software solutions, working across the full software development lifecycle, from requirements analysis and system design through to coding, testing, and deployment.

These positions will work within product teams delivering and evolving user‑facing services, building scalable, secure, and user‑centred applications.

Engineers will work with modern engineering practices, contributing to CI/CD pipelines, automated testing, cloud‑based delivery, and DevOps ways of working. You will gain experience working with a diverse technology stack, including cloud platforms such as Microsoft Azure and AWS, and will be supported in developing your technical capability and service ownership over time.

In addition to building new functionality, you will support the services you develop, contributing to application monitoring, incident management, and ongoing improvements to reliability and performance.

Candidates are not expected to have experience across all technical areas. The specific technologies, team context, and areas of focus will be discussed during the recruitment process, alongside opportunities for learning and professional growth.

Key Responsibilities

• Participate in Software Development: Contribute to the development and enhancement of software systems throughout the software lifecycle, from design to deployment, following best practices and industry standards.
• System & Software Design: Assist in the design and documentation of software components and systems, working within established architectural patterns and standards, ensuring that solutions are scalable, reliable, and meet The Open University needs.
• Program & Debug Software: Write, test, and maintain high-quality code with accompanying test scripts and documentation, ensuring that it is well-structured, efficient, and aligns with project requirements.
• Assist with System Integration: Support the integration of various software components and systems, ensuring seamless interoperability and functionality.
• Contribute to Testing Activities: Contribute to test design and execution to validate software quality, ensuring functionality, performance, and security requirements are met.
• Support Software Configuration Management: Manage software configuration and version control, ensuring that changes are tracked, documented, and easily retrievable.
• Data Modelling & Database Design: Contribute to data modelling and assist with database design to support application development and data integrity.
• User Experience & Analysis: Support user experience design and analysis to ensure that the software solutions are user-friendly and meet stakeholder expectations.
• Monitor Emerging Technologies: Stay updated with emerging technologies and assess their potential impact on current and future projects.
• Information Security & Quality Assurance: Implement security measures and contribute to quality assurance processes to maintain the integrity and reliability of software systems.
• Contribute to Services, Products & Requirements Analysis: Engage in business analysis to understand stakeholder needs and help define and document technical requirements.
• Evaluate Feasibility: Conduct feasibility assessments for proposed solutions to determine their technical viability and alignment with project goals.
• Non-functional Testing: Perform non-functional testing to ensure systems meet performance, scalability, and security standards.
• Support Application & System Operations: Provide support for application and system operations, assisting in incident management, including on-call rotas and out-of-hours as required, and ensuring smooth functioning of services.
• Availability & Capacity Planning: Contribute to managing system availability and capacity, ensuring that services are reliable and scalable to meet current and future needs.
• Problem Management: Participate in problem management activities, including contributing to root‑cause analysis, post‑incident reviews, and follow‑up actions to improve system stability and resilience.

About You

Key Skills and Experience:

• Software Development Lifecycle: Solid understanding of the software development lifecycle, including design, development, testing, and deployment.
• Software Design & Development: Strong skills in designing and developing software solutions that are scalable and efficient.
• Advanced Testing Knowledge: Proficient in functional and non-functional testing to ensure the delivery of high-quality software products.
• Data Modelling & User Experience: Experience in data modelling and supporting user experience design to enhance software usability and effectiveness.
• Emerging Technology Awareness: Keen interest in exploring new technologies and their potential applications within the organization.
• Security & Quality Focus: Understanding of information security and quality assurance practices to maintain the reliability and security of software solutions.
• Analysis & Requirements Management: Ability to analyse requirements and translate them into technical specifications.
• System Support & Operations: Basic experience in supporting application and system operations, troubleshooting issues, and ensuring system stability.
• Modern Engineering Practices & AI Enablement: Experience working in a modern engineering environment, applying practices such as automated testing, CI/CD pipelines, cloud-native development, and DevOps ways of working. Demonstrates effective use of AI-assisted development tools to enhance productivity, improve code quality, support testing and documentation, and enable faster delivery, while being mindful of governance, security, and cost considerations.

Behaviours:

• Problem Solver: You approach challenges with a logical and analytical mindset, finding effective solutions to complex problems.
• Collaborative: You work well in team environments, sharing knowledge and ideas, and contributing to collective success.
• Adaptable: You thrive in a dynamic work environment and are open to learning new skills and technologies.
• Detail-Oriented: You have a keen eye for detail, ensuring that your work is accurate, high-quality, and aligns with project goals.
• Curious & Innovative: You stay updated on the latest industry trends and are always looking for ways to incorporate new ideas and technologies into your work.

Support with your application

If you have any questions, or need support or adjustments relating to your application, the recruitment process, or the role, please contact us on 01908 541111 or email careers@open.ac.uk quoting the advert reference number.

What's in it for you?

At The Open University, we offer a range of benefits to recognise and reward great work, alongside policies and flexible working that contribute towards a great work life balance. Get all the details of what benefits we offer by visiting our Staff Benefits page (clicking this link will open a new window).

Flexible working

We are open to discussions about flexible working. Whether it’s a job share, part time, compressed hours or another working arrangement. Please reach out to us to discuss what works best for you.

It is anticipated that a hybrid working pattern can be adopted for this role, where the successful candidate can work from home and the office. However, as this role is contractually aligned to our Milton Keynes office it is expected that some attendance in the office will be required when necessary and in response to business needs. We’d anticipate this to be on average once per month.

Next steps in the Recruitment process

We anticipate that interviews for this role will be taking place online via Microsoft Teams during the week commencing 13 or 20 July 2026.

Early closing date notification

While most roles will remain open until the advertised closing date, applications may be reviewed on an ongoing basis. In some cases, vacancies may close earlier if a sufficient number of suitable applications have been received and equality impacts have been appropriately considered. All roles will remain advertised for a minimum of one week before any early closure is implemented.

If you have started an application or were in the process of applying when the advert closed, we encourage you to get in touch. We are committed to understanding individual circumstances and can offer further support where needed, including reasonable adjustments for applicants with protected characteristics.

How to apply

To apply for this role please submit the following documents:

• CV
• A personal statement of up to 1000 words. You should set out in your statement why you are interested in the role and provide examples of where your skills and experience meet the criteria for this role as detailed above within the job description.

You can view your progress and application communications when you are logged into our recruitment system. Please check your spam/junk folders if you do not receive associated email updates.