Software Engineer - Maternity Cover

Department: Development Employment Type: Contract / Temp Location: Belfast DescriptionWho are we? At Bright, we create cutting-edge software for accounting, payroll, tax, and practice management, supported by a team of talented individuals who are passionate about making a difference. Together, we lead the industry with innovative solutions and unparalleled customer support. We’re all about creating opportunities for businesses to succeed—and for you to shine. Join us, and be part of a supportive, collaborative team that values your voice and contributions. The Opportunity We are looking for a Software Engineer to join our central services team, contributing to products and services that help unify our suite of cloud solutions. This role focuses on developing high-quality, scalable backend applications using C# and .NET, with SQL as the primary data layer. You will work collaboratively across cross-functional teams to deliver impactful, business-critical projects, with opportunities to contribute to front-end development in JavaScript and leverage cloud infrastructure on Azure. Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain web-based applications and services, ensuring robust, efficient, and scalable performance.
• Write clean, well-tested, and well-documented code that meets Bright’s engineering standards.
• Collaborate with product managers, engineers, QA, and other stakeholders to translate business requirements into technical solutions.
• Work with the team to troubleshoot and resolve technical issues promptly and effectively.
• Configure and maintain automated tests and CI/CD pipelines to support reliable and efficient software delivery.
• Identify and act on opportunities to improve development practices, tools, code health, and maintainability in collaboration with the wider engineering community.
• Stay current with industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices in software engineering.
• Foster a collaborative environment by working closely within cross-functional teams to ensure high-quality software delivery.
• Engage with AI tooling and productivity features as part of your day-to-day workflow, using tools such as GitHub Copilot or similar to enhance development efficiency and code quality.

What are we looking for?  Essential

• Commercial experience developing web-based applications with C# and .NET.
• Experience with relational databases, including writing and optimising SQL queries.
• Familiarity with cloud platforms, particularly Microsoft Azure.
• Experience working in a fast-moving Agile environment.
• Familiarity with CI/CD practices and tools.
• Self-driven with a genuine interest in growing your skills and knowledge.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively across teams.

Desirable

• Experience building web front ends using JavaScript and modern frameworks such as React or Blazor.
• Familiarity with unit testing or test-driven development (TDD).
• Experience with containerisation technologies such as Docker or Kubernetes.
• Understanding of SOLID principles and software design patterns (MVVM, MVC, microservices).
• Knowledge of RESTful API design and development.

AI Awareness & Adoption AI is becoming an integral part of how we work at Bright, and we want our engineers to be part of that journey. You don’t need hands-on AI development experience for this role, but we do value an openness to AI tools and a curiosity about how they can improve the way we build software.

• Comfortable using AI-assisted development tools such as GitHub Copilot or similar to support coding, code review, and documentation tasks.
• An awareness of how large language models (LLMs) and AI-powered features are being applied in software products.
• A willingness to engage with and learn about AI capabilities as part of your ongoing professional development.
• An interest in how AI can be used to improve development workflows, reduce toil, and support higher-quality output.

Benefits Include

• Annual performance bonus
• 25 days annual leave
• Company pension of up to 5% company contribution
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Hybrid Woking opportunities
• Educational Assistance
• Family Supportive
• Free Parking
• Company Events