Software Developer - Senior ICT Specialist at Higher Executive Officer Level in the Civil Service

Job title: Software Developer - Senior ICT Specialist at Higher Executive Officer Level in the Civil Service Employer: Government of Ireland Location: Dublin Closing Date: 3pm, Wednesday, 11th November 2026 Starting Salary: €60,029 About the Employer: The Civil Service is at the heart of Irish society and, as Civil Servants, we put the public at the heart of what we do. Everything we do impacts our country, its organisations and most importantly its people. A career in the Civil Service offers you the opportunity to take on exciting and challenging work while making a real difference to people’s lives in Ireland. As a part of the ICT/Digital Profession in the Civil Service, you can play a real part in delivering the Government’s Digital Public Services Plan 2030 and meeting EU Digital Decade 2030 targets making a positive impact on the day-to-day lives of people through being involved in designing, building and maintaining systems which support our digital interactions with citizens and businesses. ICT is a professional discipline within the Civil Service, with its own career pathways, training and development programmes and networking opportunities. As well as offering a rewarding and challenging career, some of the benefits of working in the Civil Service include: A chance to work on major cross-government projects. The opportunity to grow your expertise in your chosen area of ICT/digital. Career progression and mobility opportunities. Access to Public Service Credit Union. Access to flexible work arrangements and well-being programmes to support a healthy work life balance such as Blended Working. Membership of the Single Public Service Pension Scheme. Access to schemes such as the Bike-to-Work and Tax Saver public transport pass. In addition to this, as an employer of choice, the Civil Service is an advocate of life-long learning for its staff. So, if you are successful and are appointed to the Civil Service, you will be encouraged and supported to undertake further training and certification, at all National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ) levels. This will enable you to grow your expertise in your chosen area of ICT, and beyond, and to develop your career. The Software Developer – Senior ICT Specialists recruited from this competition will be directly involved in delivering on a range of Government strategies within their appointed organisations. This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a larger team delivering on the ambitions of Ireland to be a digital leader and enabling digital engagement with the State by businesses, members of the public and public servants. Successful candidates will be integral members of teams that are delivering critical projects of national importance and public prominence such as the National Childcare scheme, interactions with the Revenue Commissioners, digital solutions supporting subsidies in the agri-food sector, company registrations, the census, Driver Licence Online, social welfare supports, registering key life events (such as birth, marriage, deaths), employment permits and the gov.ie portal, which is now the primary source of information on Government and Government services and is one of the most accessed Irish websites and solutions to meet Ireland’s targets for Europe’s Digital Decade. About the Role: As a core part of the ICT/digital unit of any Civil Service organisation, the role of Software Developer – Senior ICT Specialist at HEO level is an important one. These roles are focused on delivering digital solutions to a range of users including members of the public, businesses and colleagues across their own organisation. Successful candidates will be lead members of a technical team using any one of a range of different languages/frameworks to develop applications and digital solutions needed by your organisation. In that context, you will be expected to be able to demonstrate an in-depth knowledge and understanding both of how web applications work from frontend to server side and database, and some of the associated problems, as well as technologies associated with each of the following: Frontend: CSS, JavaScript and associated frameworks, client side security, client side performance, implementing designs, accessibility, mobile-enabled. Server Side: MVC web frameworks, dealing with high load, API’s, webservers. Database: Database Design, Database Tuning, No-SQL, SQL. Languages: Popular programming language like Java, python or C#; Object oriented software development. Deployment: Containers; Windows/Linux server configuration in relation to web applications; and Cloud stacks like AWS or Azure. The specific duties of each Software Developer – Senior ICT Specialist role will largely be determined by the Department/ Agency to which you are assigned. However, some duties and responsibilities will be common to all such roles and may include: Developing and supporting end-to-end business application and business intelligence solutions, using agile development methodologies, across a broad set of leading technologies; Developing software for websites, web applications, desktop, batch jobs and mobile apps; Developing UI interfaces using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, desktop UI builders and other UI development methods; Developing server side code in a variety of programming languages - such as VB.net, C#, Java, Python, JavaScript, COBOL, etc.; Developing solutions using databases including the design and creation of database models, and also managing and monitoring databases, including traditional relational and NoSQL databases; DevOps development, including setting up cloud infrastructure with code, setting up auto scaling to manage uneven loads, creating CI/CD pipelines to manage deployments and monitoring system performance; Developing object oriented code to solve business problems; Architecting effective software solutions; Developing of test strategies, test harnesses, test cases and the carrying out of software testing, including Test Automation, Performance/Accessibility /Security testing etc.; Designing, implementing and supporting a wide range of ICT/digital infrastructures across a broad set of leading technologies serving internal and external service users. Other responsibilities common to the role of any Senior ICT Specialist role at HEO-level in the ICT profession may also include: Managing and mentoring a team to maximise performance, ensuring a focus on human-centred service design, continuous improvement, agile and quality service delivery; Promoting the effective use of ICT and digital services to support the business of the organisation and in particular to promote world class delivery of digital government services; Engaging in collaborative problem solving with other ICT areas and business units, ensuring that your work is informed by the overall organisational strategy; Monitoring ICT/digital developments at international level including strategies and policy development by multilateral institutions such as the EU, OECD and UN, and demonstrating and maintaining a broad knowledge of technology solutions, current trends and techniques; Critically evaluating and analysing business information, translating business requirements into design options that are (i) cost effective (ii) efficient (iii) sustainable and reusable, (iv) comply with standards and (v) enhance business processes; Working closely with and managing external contractors and vendors; Researching and summarising findings as well as producing high-quality reports as required; Working within and across departments/ agencies, where project delivery involves multiple organisations; Undertaking such training and development, by yourself and your team, as may be required to ensure that you stay up to date with the technologies in your area of operations; Other broader activities associated with ICT/ digital service delivery as budget and people management, procurement, compliance, project management, stakeholder engagement, research, and assessment of projects from a feasibility and value for money perspective, etc; and Such other duties as may be assigned from time to time by your Manager. Further information including details on how to apply for this position is available on www.publicjobs.ie. The closing date for receipt of completed applications is 3pm on Wednesday, 11th November 2026. We are committed to a policy of equal opportunity and encourage applications under all nine grounds of the Employment Equality Act.