Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Graduate Developer

🎯 Role Definition

As a Graduate Developer, you will join a dynamic software development team and contribute to the full software development lifecycle—from requirements gathering and design through coding, testing and deployment. You will receive mentorship and structured training while writing clean, maintainable code, collaborating with stakeholders, debugging applications, learning best practices and evolving your skills. Your work will help build and support software solutions that drive business value and innovation.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Recent Computer Science or Software Engineering graduate
Graduate programme/trainee developer
Internship to Graduate Developer transition

Advancement To:

Junior Developer / Software Engineer
Developer / Software Engineer
Senior Developer / Lead Developer

Lateral Moves:

QA/Automation Engineer
DevOps Engineer
Front‑end or Back‑end Specialist Developer

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Collaborate with senior developers and stakeholders to understand business requirements, convert them into technical specifications and commit to deliverables.
Write clean, efficient, well‑documented code under guidance, using programming languages such as Java, C#, Python, JavaScript or TypeScript.
Participate in the full software development lifecycle including design, development, testing, deployment and maintenance of applications.
Debug, troubleshoot and fix issues in existing systems; assist with bug triage, defect tracking and resolution.
Write and maintain unit tests, integration tests and support QA efforts to ensure the quality and reliability of software.
Review and refactor code under the review of senior engineers to improve readability, performance and maintainability.
Collaborate within Agile or Scrum teams: attend stand‑ups, backlog grooming, sprint planning and retrospectives.
Maintain and update technical documentation including design specs, user stories, code comments, and deployment guides.
Stay up to date with emerging technologies, frameworks and tools; participate in training and learning opportunities to grow as a developer.
Assist with software deployments, version control workflows, branch/merge tasks and support production hand‑over.
Engage in peer code reviews, contribute constructive feedback and uphold coding standards.
Work on new feature development: explore concepts, propose solutions, and implement under supervision.
Support the maintenance of databases or data stores: write queries, help manage schema changes or assist with performance optimisation.
Assist with UI or front‑end tasks: develop interfaces, fix styling/behaviour issues, collaborate with UX/design teams.
Participate in system integration activities: ensure components work together, address interface issues and assist in testing of connected systems.
Communicate effectively with team members, stakeholders and mentors: raise blockers, ask questions, report progress and work collaboratively.
Take responsibility for your personal development: seek feedback, set learning goals and apply new knowledge in your projects.
Apply security, data protection and good practice standards when writing code and handling data.
Help with internal tools, scripts or utilities that support the development or operations teams (e.g., automation, build tools, test scripts).
Contribute to continuous improvement of team processes: suggest enhancements to workflows, tooling, test coverage or documentation.

Secondary Functions

Support ad‑hoc development tasks: bug fixes, small enhancements, technical investigations or prototype work.
Contribute to the organisation’s graduate developer programme improvements: share feedback, help annual reviews, mentoring of future graduates.
Collaborate with business units to translate user feedback or bug reports into backlog items and development tasks.
Participate in internal training, tech talks and developer communities to strengthen team capability.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Demonstrated proficiency in at least one programming language such as Java, C#, Python, JavaScript/TypeScript.
Basic understanding of software development fundamentals: object‑oriented programming (OOP), data structures, algorithms, design patterns.
Familiarity with web technologies or frameworks (e.g., HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, React, Angular) or backend frameworks (.NET, Spring).
Understanding of version control systems (Git, SVN) and basic build/deploy workflows.
Awareness of databases and SQL – ability to write simple queries and understand relational data modelling.
Knowledge of testing methodologies and unit/integration test development.
Understanding of Agile development methodologies: sprint planning, stand‑ups, backlog, retrospectives.
Problem‑solving skills: able to troubleshoot, debug and fix software issues efficiently.
Good communication skills: ability to collaborate, ask questions, explain technical ideas to team members.
Desire and ability to learn new technologies quickly, adapt to change, and grow professionally in a fast‑paced environment.

Soft Skills

Strong analytical mindset and logical thinking: able to break down problems and propose solutions systematically.
Team‑oriented and collaborative: comfortable working with mentors, peers and cross‑functional teams.
Adaptable and eager to learn: demonstrates willingness to pick up new tools, languages, frameworks and workflows.
Communicative and articulate: fluent in verbal and written communication; able to raise issues, share progress and participate in discussions.
Time‑management and organisation: able to prioritise tasks, meet deadlines and manage learning alongside development responsibilities.
Ownership mindset: takes responsibility for assigned tasks, seeks feedback and iterates to improve outcomes.
Detail‑oriented and quality‑driven: writes maintainable, reliable code and follows standards.
Resilience and proactivity: handles ambiguity, asks for help when needed, engages with new challenges proactively.
Business value awareness: understands that software work supports organisational goals and user outcomes.
Mentoring potential: open to receiving feedback, reviewing peer work and contributing to team learning.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology or related technical discipline.

Preferred Education:
A first‐class or 2:1 honours degree is preferred, along with evidence of software or coding projects (personal, academic or internship).

Relevant Fields of Study:

Computer Science / Software Engineering
Information Technology / Computing
Data & Analytics / Applied Mathematics
Information Systems

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:
Graduates with less than 24 months’ experience or those who have recently completed their degree and are seeking their first full‑time developer role.

Preferred:
Some prior internship, placement or personal coding project experience is advantageous but not mandatory.