Service development manager jobs in ditchingham, norfolk

Platform Engineer

Remote (UK-based) | Full-time | Salary: £68,671 + benefits

Do your best work, for the right reasons.

Oak is a fully remote, mission-driven organisation offering high levels of flexibility, autonomy, and purpose. We’re a national not-for-profit working in partnership with teachers to create the highest-quality, sequenced curriculum and lesson resources for pupils across all subjects and age groups.

Our culture has been independently recognised through:

• Flexa verified (93% overall score, including 95% for working hours and 97% for role modelling)

• Escape the City's Top 1% Employers – based on anonymous colleague reviews of culture, development, and impact

• Investors in People Gold - through external accreditation and colleague feedback

�� About the Role

In this role, you will be working with engineering, product and research colleagues to build confidence using observability principles that aids our understanding of our users and help us continually improve our products. We work together in product squads alongside designers, researchers and education experts, regularly releasing new features and improvements to give teachers and their pupils quick and easy access to the highest quality learning resources.

As a young organisation we have been able to leverage the latest technologies to rapidly build and deliver the game changing products we have. Now that we've proven ourselves and are established, we want to mature our processes to ensure we are getting the best out of the technology and remain able to respond quickly to business needs. We see this role as being a key part of that change.

You will be tasked with raising our monitoring and observability to a high standard across all our key applications while working closely with engineering teams to help them improve the stability of their applications and give engineers more sense of ownership.

You will also drive site reliability engineering principles and be a key driver of automation by working alongside other members of the platform team, helping to improve the overall developer experience.

Candidates must have a good understanding of SRE principles and the value they bring to an organisation. While a good grounding in development practices, security fundamentals and infrastructure operation are key, specific technical skills are less important than a passion for automation, an ability to understand complex systems and a keenness to learn.

Responsibilities

• Lead the continuous improvement of the observability, performance, and reliability of our web applications (Next.js, JavaScript, Typescript, Node), Serverless Functions (Google Cloud Functions, Cloudflare). Deployed on PaaS Infrastructure (Vercel, Cloudflare).

• Promote and nurture a culture of quality across the product and engineering department, enabling teams in using SLO/SLAs to ensure they maintain a high quality of service delivery.

• Take ownership of our observability, monitoring, logging and reporting solutions to ensure they are easy to use and provide development teams with the information they need to understand service quality, resolve problems quickly, and get meaningful insights into application behaviour.

• Identify and implement ways in which automation can be used to speed up development, secure systems or improve the quality of the services we provide.

• As a member of the Oak Team, you will contribute to the wider success and culture of the organisation and support and role model our five values: create the right environment, be a great colleague, own your role but work for the team, make things happen, and keep getting better.

• Work in cross-functional and product-oriented squads with colleagues from across the organisation, as required. Oak has a strong focus on collaboration and mentoring.

• Deputise for other members of the Platform team and take on other general responsibilities as required.

Knowledge, skills, and experience

• The ideal candidate would have strong professional experience leading the continuous improvement of event-driven architectures using Serverless technologies such as Google Cloud Run, AWS Lambda or Azure Serverless.

• Considerable experience in designing and implementing monitoring, observability and reporting solutions for complex cloud infrastructures within a major cloud provider (GCP, AWS, Azure). In production we’re using Datadog as our main monitoring platform.

• Confident in understanding and maintaining web application code and able to design and build small apps, preferably using JavaScript/TypeScript.

• Experience working with Cloud computing platforms and a familiarity with Infrastructure as Code tools. We’ve chosen Terraform as our Infrastructure as Code tool.

• Comfortable promoting and leading a spirit of collaboration with a range of technical and non-technical stakeholders.

  The successful candidate will have a desire to contribute in all areas to ensure Oak is successful. You will be comfortable working at pace, with a range of digital systems (including proprietary ones as required) and you will continuously look at ways that the team can keep getting better. You will be excellent at working as part of a remote team, building relationships and managing your time effectively.

�� Our Benefits

• 25 days annual leave, plus one extra day for each year of service (up to 28)

• Additional Oak closure days over Christmas/New Year

• 11% employer pension contribution (with no minimum employee contribution)

• A 36-hour working week, with half-days on Fridays or every other Friday off

• Fully remote working — we’ll support your home set-up and offer coworking options if preferred

• Twice-yearly in-person offsites to collaborate, connect, and have fun

• A culture that genuinely supports flexibility, autonomy, and trust

  The successful candidate will have a desire to contribute in all areas to ensure Oak is successful. You will be comfortable working at pace, with a range of digital systems (including proprietary ones as required) and you will continuously look at ways that the team can keep getting better. You will be excellent at working as part of a remote team, building relationships and managing your time effectively.

�� Inclusion and Belonging

We believe diverse teams build better products. We warmly welcome applicants from all backgrounds, particularly those who are underrepresented in the tech and education sectors.

We use the Applied recruitment platform to help reduce bias in our hiring process. 

�� Key Info

• Location: Remote, but you must be based in the UK with the legal right to work here

• Sponsorship: Unfortunately, we’re unable to offer visa sponsorship at this time

• Closing date: We’ll be reviewing applications as they come in and may close the role early

If this sounds like the kind of role and team where you could do your life’s best work, we’d love to hear from you.

Next steps

You’ll answer some questions related to your day-to-day job. Your answers will go through our sift process: all answers will be anonymised, randomised, and then reviewed by a panel of reviewers (real humans).

If you are shortlisted, we’ll invite you to the next stage, which will consist of a short chat with one of our Engineering Managers.

We love giving feedback, so at the end of the application process, we'll share how well you performed.

We aim to begin interviews in January 2026.

We are receiving excellent responses to our job advertisements. This may lead us to close the role early, so if you are considering applying, please submit your application promptly to avoid missing out.

We are an equal opportunities employer.

We are committed to a policy of Equal Employment Opportunity and are determined to ensure that no applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of gender, age, disability, religion, belief, sexual orientation, marital status, or race, or is disadvantaged by conditions or requirements which cannot be shown to be justifiable.

Senior Software Engineer

Remote (UK-based) | Full-time | Flexible working | Competitive salary + excellent benefits

Do your best work, for the right reasons.

We’re looking for a Senior Software Engineer to help us build beautifully simple, high-impact digital products that support teachers and improve outcomes for pupils across the UK.

Oak is a fully remote, mission-driven organisation offering high levels of flexibility, autonomy, and purpose. We’re a national not-for-profit working in partnership with teachers to create high-quality, sequenced curriculum and lesson resources for pupils across all subjects and age groups.

Our culture has been independently recognised through:

• Flexa verified (93% overall score, including 95% for working hours and 97% for role modelling)

• Escape the City's Top 1% Employers – based on anonymous colleague reviews of culture, development, and impact

• Investors in People Gold - through external accreditation and colleague feedback

�� About the Role

You’ll join our AI-Enablement team to build and improve the digital platforms that teachers and pupils rely on every day. Working closely with product managers, designers, researchers, and curriculum specialists, you will develop user-facing applications with AI features utilising technologies such as TypeScript and Next.js. You’ll also interact with our backend systems using PostgreSQL databases and GraphQL APIs. You'll stay ahead of the curve in AI developments across the industry and gain hands-on experience building user-facing AI tools in production.

This is a hands-on role with plenty of scope for technical leadership and mentoring, alongside the opportunity to shape our engineering practices and culture. You'll be part of a supportive and collaborative team that cares deeply about accessibility, usability, and delivering tools that genuinely enhance learning.

�� What You’ll Be Doing

• Development of highly-responsive, accessible web-based AI features

• Designing and writing clean, well-tested code that’s easy to maintain and scale

• Be the expert authority within the engineering team on several important aspects of the code base and maintain a good working knowledge of large parts of the technology stack

• Championing new tools or practices that improve the developer experience

• Supporting and mentoring colleagues across the team

• Taking part in our on-call rota to help keep our products reliable and available

• Collaborating with others across the organisation in multi-disciplinary squads

• Contributing to planning, retros, and the wider culture of Oak

�� What We’re Looking For

• Proven professional experience building AI features with TypeScript and React frameworks (ideally Next.js)

• An understanding of how generative AI works and the ability to balance experimentation on new tools and techniques with building production-ready AI features

• Experience working on cross-functional product teams in agile environments

• Experience building automated test suites and understanding the value of different types of testing (e.g. unit vs integration)

• Desire to build beautiful, easy-to-use digital products with an understanding of the importance of accessibility in all its forms

• Strong collaboration and communication skills

• Comfortable working independently in a remote setup, managing your time and relationships effectively

• A proactive, growth-oriented mindset and a desire to help others thrive

�� Our Benefits

• 25 days annual leave, plus one extra day for each year of service (up to 28)

• Additional Oak closure days over Christmas/New Year

• 11% employer pension contribution (with no minimum employee contribution)

• A 36-hour working week, with half-days on Fridays or every other Friday off

• Fully remote working — we’ll support your home set-up and offer coworking options if preferred

• Twice-yearly in-person offsites to collaborate, connect, and have fun

• A culture that genuinely supports flexibility, autonomy, and trust

  The successful candidate will have a desire to contribute in all areas to ensure Oak's success. You will be comfortable working at pace, with a range of digital systems (including proprietary ones as required), and you will continuously look at ways that the team can keep getting better. You will excel at working as part of a remote team, building relationships and managing your time effectively.

�� Inclusion and Belonging

We believe diverse teams build better products. We warmly welcome applicants from all backgrounds, particularly those who are underrepresented in the tech and education sectors.

We use the Applied recruitment platform to help reduce bias in our hiring process. 

�� Key Info

• Location: Remote, but you must be based in the UK with the legal right to work here

• Sponsorship: Unfortunately, we’re unable to offer visa sponsorship at this time

• Closing date: We’ll be reviewing applications as they come in and may close the role early

If this sounds like the kind of role and team where you could do your life’s best work, we’d love to hear from you.

Next steps

You’ll answer some questions related to your day-to-day job. After the advert closes, your answers will go through our sift process: all answers will be anonymised, randomised, and then reviewed by a panel of reviewers (real humans).

If you are shortlisted, we’ll invite you to the next stage, which will consist of a remote technical interview and a technical pairing session conducted over Zoom. This will last approximately two hours.

We love giving feedback, so at the end of the application process, we'll share our assessment of your performance.

We are aiming to start interviews in January 2026.

We are receiving excellent responses to our job advertisements. This may lead us to close the role early, so if you are considering applying, then please get your application in early to avoid missing out.

We are an equal opportunities employer.

We are committed to a policy of Equal Employment Opportunity and are determined to ensure that no applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of gender, age, disability, religion, belief, sexual orientation, marital status, or race, or is disadvantaged by conditions or requirements which cannot be shown to be justifiable.

The Organisation

This is a well-established national charity with an income in excess of £100 million, playing a vital role in supporting people affected by a major health condition. The organisation is values-driven, impact-focused, and undergoing continuous improvement in its financial operations. The Finance & Assurance directorate is a trusted partner across the charity, enabling better decision-making through high-quality financial insight and compliance.

The Job

As Financial Accountant, you'll lead a small team and report to the Head of Financial Accounting. You'll be responsible for producing accurate financial statements, managing audit deliverables, ensuring compliance with charity and company law, and driving improvements in financial processes and reporting. This is a hands-on technical role with leadership responsibilities, requiring collaboration across finance, systems, and planning teams to deliver a seamless finance function.

Key responsibilities include:
- Preparing statutory accounts and technical accounting adjustments
- Leading year-end processes and audit engagement
- Ensuring compliance with VAT, Corporation Tax, and Gift Aid
- Driving system and process improvements
- Supporting and developing Associate Accountants

The Person

You'll be a qualified accountant with strong technical expertise in SORP/FRS102 and experience in a large, complex organisation. You'll bring a track record of producing high-quality financial reports, managing audits, and improving performance through data and collaboration. Open to candidates coming straight from practice, especially those who have previously laised with charities.

We're looking for someone who:
- Communicates confidently with senior stakeholders
- Builds high-performing, accountable teams
- Is resilient, adaptable, and committed to continuous improvement
- Works collaboratively across departments and disciplines
- Champions inclusion and values-driven leadership

What's in it for You?

- A meaningful role in a purpose-led organisation making a real difference

- Remote working with occasional office attendance
- Competitive salary in the region of £50,000-£58,000
- 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays, rising with service
- Up to 8% employer pension contribution
- Life assurance and income protection
- Employee assistance programme and wellbeing support
- Season ticket loan and cycle-to-work scheme
- Opportunities for professional development and career progression
- A collaborative, high-support environment focused on learning and impact

What to Do Now

If you're a technically strong accountant who thrives in a collaborative, mission-driven environment, I'd love to hear from you. Apply now or get in touch for a confidential conversation.

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