Principal Developer

Role type

Police Staff

/*generated inline style */

Contract duration

Permanent

/*generated inline style */

Contract type

Full Time

/*generated inline style */

Department

ICT

/*generated inline style */

Location

Headquarters Devizes

/*generated inline style */

Grade/scale

Including a market supplement, the salary for this role is up to £63,687

/*generated inline style */

Find out if you are eligible

Vetting | Wiltshire Police

/*generated inline style */

Risk assessed factors

DSE use (for a substantial part of work)

/*generated inline style */

Closing date

30/09/2026, 12:00

/*generated inline style */

Job description

About us

At Wiltshire Police, we are dedicated to making our community a safer place for everyone. Our team is committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity, professionalism, and service. We believe in creating a supportive and inclusive environment where every member can thrive and make a meaningful impact. Whether you’re just starting your career or looking to advance, Wiltshire Police offers a range of opportunities to grow and develop. Join us, and be part of a team that values courage, compassion, and dedication to public service. Help us to keep Wiltshire safe.

About our DDaT Services team

At Wiltshire Police, we're transforming policing through Digital, Data and Technology. We recognise that DDaT is no longer simply an enabler of policing; it is a strategic capability at the heart of how we protect communities, empower our workforce and deliver better public services. As we evolve from a traditional ICT function into a modern, user-centred DDaT organisation, we're embracing cloud technologies, automation, AI, data and digital innovation to create smarter, more connected and resilient services. Join us at the start of an ambitious transformation, where you'll have the opportunity to shape the future of digital policing, work with emerging technologies, influence meaningful change and build a rewarding career that makes a real difference to our organisation and the communities we serve.

About the role

As Principal Developer, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of digital policing, leading the design, configuration, development and continual evolution of the technology solutions that power critical services across Wiltshire Police. As a senior technical leader, you will drive engineering excellence across software development, low-code platforms, intelligent automation, RPA, AI-enabled capabilities and systems integration, ensuring solutions are secure, scalable, resilient and centred on user needs. Working across multidisciplinary teams, you will champion innovation, modern engineering practices and emerging technologies, transforming bold ideas into real-world solutions that enhance operational effectiveness, improve user experience and deliver lasting public value. This is a rare opportunity to establish the technical foundations for the next generation of digital, intelligent automation and AI-driven policing services.

What you will be doing

Provide strategic technical leadership across digital, data and technology services, shaping how software, low-code platforms, intelligent automation, AI-enabled capabilities, integrations and platform solutions are designed, configured, developed and evolved to meet the needs of modern policing.

Act as the organisation’s senior technical authority for complex and high-risk change, influencing enterprise-wide technology decisions, solution design and engineering direction to ensure sustainable, user-focused outcomes.

Define and champion engineering standards, patterns and technical guardrails, driving consistency, reuse, security, interoperability and long-term sustainability across the DDaT landscape.

Lead the adoption of emerging technologies and digital innovation, identifying opportunities to leverage AI, intelligent automation, low-code platforms, integration technologies and modern engineering approaches to improve services and deliver measurable value.

Drive engineering excellence and modern development practices, embedding CI/CD, automated testing, DevSecOps, platform engineering and technical assurance to increase pace, quality and reliability without compromising security or resilience.

Champion secure-by-design, and ethical technology principles, ensuring software, automation, AI and platform solutions are trusted, compliant and resilient by default.

Build and develop a high-performing development team, coaching and mentoring Lead and Senior Developers, fostering collaboration, innovation and continuous professional growth across multidisciplinary teams. Partner with Service, Architecture and Operations leaders to translate strategic ambitions into deliverable technical roadmaps, ensuring technology investments accelerate digital transformation, improve user experience and deliver lasting public value.

About you and your experience

You are a passionate technologist who combines deep engineering expertise with a relentless focus on user needs, service outcomes and continuous improvement, using technology to solve real-world operational challenges.

You have significant senior-level experience leading the design, configuration, development and support of complex digital, data and technology solutions across multiple teams, platforms or services.

You bring expertise across modern software engineering, low-code platforms, intelligent automation and enterprise technologies, with experience of solutions such as Microsoft 365; SharePoint, Power Platform, Power Automate, Power BI along with Blue Prism (RPA), Halo ITSM, ERP platforms such as Unit4, and broader integration and workflow technologies.

You are excited by innovation and emerging technologies, with the ability to turn opportunities in AI, automation, data and digital services into secure, scalable and user-focused solutions that deliver measurable business value.

You have experience defining engineering standards, improving development practices and driving technical excellence across multidisciplinary teams, ensuring solutions are secure, resilient, maintainable and built for long-term sustainability.

You are a collaborative technical leader who enjoys coaching and developing others, building high-performing teams and creating a culture of innovation, learning and continuous improvement.

You hold ITIL 4 Foundation certification.

You have completed secure-by-design and data protection training and can demonstrate continued professional development in software engineering, platform engineering, automation, AI or related disciplines.

What we offer

Excellent career development opportunities

Professional development and training

25 days annual leave plus bank holidays, rising to 30 days

Hybrid working

Flexi hours scheme

Free On-Site Gym membership

Physical and mental well-being support

Generous Pension scheme

Please note, all roles will be subject to a vetting procedure, some roles due to the nature of their work, will require additional security clearance.

Depending on the number of applications received, we reserve the right to close this role early.

We are proud of being a truly inclusive organisation who provides fair and equal consideration to all of our applicants. We encourage and welcome applications from people of all ages, genders, ethnicities, nationalities, disabilities, sexual orientation, religions or beliefs and of neuro divergence.

If there are any adjustments we could make to the recruitment and selection process to support you, please let us know.

/*generated inline style */

Important information before you commence an application

Please ensure you allow time to complete your application fully as part complete pages do not autosave and the application system only remains active on a single page for a period of 60 minutes.

/*generated inline style */

You may require the following detail to complete this application form:

National Insurance Number

Identification Detail e.g. passport

Address information

Referee information

Full employment history including dates and any qualifications you may have attained

Tattoos - you will also be requested to provide photos and describe of any visible tattoos you have

/*generated inline style */

You may require the following documents to complete this application form:

A Passport style photograph

A copy of your photo card driving licence

A downloaded DVLA summary showing full driving record

A copy of your paper driving licence counterpart (Northern Ireland only)

A copy of your British Passport or birth certificate (if a candidate does not have a passport, then they may use their birth certificate, but will need to provide a copy of a British passport once they have obtained one.)

Copies of your qualifications relating to English and Maths (only). If applying for the Degree Holder Police Constable Apprenticeship, you will need a copy of your Degree Certificate.

Clear, colour photos of any non-intimate tattoos

Formal translation from a reputable source for any foreign language or symbol tattoos

Any paperwork relating to discharged debts, CCJ, bankruptcy etc

Deed poll certificate for any name changes

/*generated inline style */

/*generated inline style */

/*generated inline style */

/*generated inline style */

/*generated inline style */