Senior Software Developer (X2) at NSFAS

POSITION OVERVIEW:

• The main purpose of the job is to design, develop (coding, unit testing, implementing software enhancements, 3rd level support) software applications and to build different layers of the infrastructure according to business needs.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Policy, Systems & Procedure Development

•  Analyse existing system to identify areas for improvement.
•  Design infrastructure/deployment strategies of the application.
•  Conduct code reviews of colleagues’ work.
•  Analyze and translate requirements created by business analysts into a solution architecture.
•  Review and grade applications against design standards and principles.
•  Ensure that logs are maintained to determine what component of the system is failing and the cause(s) thereof.
•  Release the systems to the testing team.
•  Provide testable, scalable, and efficient systems.
•  Analyze existing system to identify areas for improvement.
•  Design infrastructure/deployment strategies of the application.
•  Conduct code reviews of colleagues’ work.
•  Analyze and translate requirements created by business analysts into a solution architecture.
•  Review and grade applications against design standards and principles.
•  Ensure that logs are maintained to determine what component of the system is failing and the cause(s) thereof.
•  Release the systems to the testing team.
•  Provide testable, scalable, and efficient systems.
•  Maintain software quality standards and best practice principles.
•  Design java applications and code that meet business requirements with appropriate functional and non-functional requirements.
•  Develop java applications and code used by the student center model.
•  Delivery of software development in compliance with an SDLC process.
•  Ensure all code produced has unit and integration tests and are functional.
•  Participate in design session and ensure code has been reviewed before it moves to the release branch.
•  See to it that the code produced goes to production and works as expected.
•  Ensure adequate logging at correct log levels.
•  Adhere to stipulated coding standards and best practice.
•  Ensure OWASP secure coding standards are adhered to and applied.
•  Ensure code produced does not break any build or introduce priority 1 incidents.

Core Strategic & Operational Objectives Development

•  Maintain efficiency of Java applications and code.
•  Ensure the best possible performance, quality and responsiveness of the applications.
•  Identify bottlenecks and bugs.
•  Create solutions to these bottlenecks and bugs.
•  Help maintain code quality, organisation, and automatization.
•  Continuously evolve the current systems and architecture landscape including the proactive management of technical debt.
•  Resolve reported production incidents in stipulated timelines.
•  Improve code quality and security where flaws have picked up.
•  Identify an appropriate communication channel to share requests with 3rd parties.
•  Suggest the appropriate communication channel to the infrastructure team to communicate with 3rd parties.
•  Agree with the 3rd party on a suitable request and response structure.
•  Identify where the current system is lagging.
•  Ensure that the system meets all business requirements.
•  Ensure that all standard design factors are maintained.
•  Identify which components of the system are missing to meet business needs.
•  Identify server requirements to determine which server would be suitable to run the application depending on its load.
•  Analyse the logs on the system and on the servers to see why a certain operation/function has not been actioned.
•  Determine why the system crashed.
•  Place issue in backlog for resolution.
•  Refer important issues to the testing or infrastructure team.

People Management & Ethical Leadership

•  Commit to the performance contracting and review process in a timely manner.
•  Abide by the NSFAS Code of Conduct. Standards of behaviour and ethical principles that all  NSFAS employees must adhere to, in order to maintain the integrity and reputation of the  Organization
•  Familiarize with the code and ensure that their actions and behaviour are in line with its  principles at all times.
•  Maintaining confidentiality, avoiding conflicts of interest, and treating colleagues and stakeholders with respect and professionalism

Stakeholder Management & Relationships

•  Ensure effective communication and smooth operation of activities. Software development team point of contact for project resources, consultants, service providers, responding to queries and complaints, and providing necessary information to stakeholders.
•  Responsible for disseminating relevant information to stakeholders such as technical documentation, applications architecture, technical understanding of applications/systems to enable knowledge sharing. Communicating updates, changes, and other important information related to systems or applications, ensuring that stakeholders are informed and up to date.
•  Provide input towards internal audits for the unit and work with the auditor general when needed. 
• Ensuring that all records, processes, and procedures are accurate, up-to-date, and compliant with internal policies and external regulations.
•  Participate in NSFAS wide service delivery efforts through partnership, engagement, collaboration, and seeking and sharing of information as required. Collaborating with other departments and stakeholders to improve service delivery, seeking feedback, and sharing relevant information to improve overall organizational performance.
•  Attend to and resolve internal client requests. Ensuring that all requests are logged, prioritized, and responded to in a timely and effective manner, keeping management informed of progress.
•  Engage with colleagues using team dynamics, strong interpersonal skills, be able to work collaboratively with colleagues, and foster a positive and productive work environment.
•  Be active listener, providing constructive feedback, and working towards common goals.

Project Management & Leadership

•  Support the Project Manager with all the internal and external ICT related projects in the unit.
•  Ensuring compliance with the implementation of project requirements
•  Ensure communication among project team regarding ICT projects.
•  Participate in regular project meetings, gather information as required and lead the process regarding software development and participate in internal/external audits if needed.
•  Support the project team and aid to ensure that projects are adhered to. Work closely with other team members to ensure that compliance is maintained.
•  Ability to effectively communicate with stakeholders, ensuring that all relevant information is disseminated promptly and accurately. Demonstrate strong software development skills to enable project execution and other project-related documentation.

Compliance Monitoring & Evaluation

•  Assist in formal submissions of documents to the unit, timely and in compliance with legal or process requirements.
•  Identify potential risks and implement appropriate risk management strategies.
•  Stay up to date with ICT Governance legislative compliance requirements and ensure that all policies and procedures are adhered to accordingly.

Information & Knowledge Management

•  Conducting research and analysis to identify the information and data requirements of the ICT department and the talent acquisition team.
•  Collaborating with ICT team members and talent acquisition team members to understand their data and information needs and requirements.
•  Identifying and evaluating various software tools and systems that can be used to store, manage, and analyse data and information related to talent acquisition.
•  Coordinating with the ICT team to implement and configure the selected software tools and systems.

Reporting & Accountability

•  Organizing and maintaining accurate records: responsible for keeping track of schedules, appointments, and deadlines. Creating and maintaining a filing system for documents, reports, and other important information.
•  Preparing reports prepare reports on a regular basis. This could include tracking expenses, monitoring progress on projects, and analysing data.
•  Communicating effectively: communicating with multiple stakeholders, such as the executive you are supporting, other team members, and external partners. It is important to be able to communicate clearly and professionally, both verbally and in writing.
•  Managing budgets: responsible for managing budgets and ensuring that expenses are within budget. This requires keeping track of expenses and reconciling accounts.
•  Monitoring progress on tasks and projects: It is important to keep track of tasks and projects, including deadlines and progress updates. Ensure that everything is on track and that deadlines are met.
•  Providing feedback and suggestions for improvement: have a unique perspective on the organization and may be able to identify areas where improvements can be made. Providing feedback and suggestions for improvement can help to make the organization more efficient and effective.

DESIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE
Minimum requirements:

•  NQF Level 6 in Information technology, Computer science or other relevant qualification.
•  8 years’ experience in a similar role, including systems designs.
•  8 years’ experience with Java developer
•  Experienced in Spring boot.
•  Experienced in agile methodology.
•  Knowledge of software development design patterns
•  Expertise developing enterprise-level web applications and RESTful APIs using Microservices, with demonstratable production-scale experience.
•  Experience in Industry standard protocols related API security including Oauth
•  Demonstrate strong design and programming skills using JSON, Web services, XML, XSLT, SQL in Unix and windows environments.

Preferred

•  10 years’ experience in a similar, including systems designs.
•  Experience in GIT/SVN, Swagger, Rabbit MQ
•  Experience in creating unit test using Junit, Mockito or Power mock.
•  Good knowledge of Microservices
•  Experience working with tools like Git, Maven
•  Experience with J2EE Web development, Eclipse/ STS.SVN/ Rest web services, JPA/Hibernate
•  Experience in markup language such as JSON and XML
•  Experience on using Quality and Security tools such as Sonar Cube

Computer skills required:

•  MS Word – Intermediate
•  MS Excel – Intermediate
•  MS Power Point – Intermediate
•  MS Outlook – Intermediate
•  Code writing software - Advanced.

Skill and Competencies:

•  Problem-solving skills
•  Planning skills
•  Organising skills
•  Communication skills
•  Report writing skills.
•  Analytical thinking
•  Critical thinking skills
•  Team-work skills