Opportunity information
Salary £11778 per year
Duration 31 months
Advert closing date 27/08/2025
Description
Life Development Solutions (or just Life Dev) is an IT consulting company based in the West Midlands. We provide software development and devops consultancy to a broad range of business clients. We have over 25 years of experience in the industry and are looking to
expand our team in order to better support our growing client base.
We offer a full spectrum of software development and devops services. Typically we get involved when clients have problems that cannot be solved with existing resources - identifying performance issues or complex bugs in website infrastructure is a speciality. We often work with other software or design agencies as an enhancement to their existing team. Providing advice and support where required.
This work can be anything from coding to managing cloud services to building complex deployment pipelines. Our regular work also includes long term development projects, such as Customer Relationship Management systems (CRM) or Web App development.
Core company values include: diligence, respect, curiosity and ethical conduct. We pride ourselves on meeting and exceeding the expectations of our clients, while also being courteous and approachable to in-house development, project management or design teams. This makes LifeDev a pleasant company to work with for our clients, and a happy working environment for our employees.
The technologies, services and frameworks in use by Life Dev are always evolving, and we never shy away from a potential project due to an unfamiliar language or framework alone. However some of the current mainstays are listed below:
PHP (Yii2, WordPress, Laravel etc)
HTML & CSS (SASS)
JavaScript (React DOM, Node.js - too many frameworks to list)
Databases (MySQL, Firebase, Redis etc)
Website optimisation (speed, security, responsiveness, and accessibility)
Generative AI automations (APIs, services etc)
Debugging and testing of any system.
Integration and Automation - using 3rd party APIs and bespoke APIs (Microsoft, Google, Facebook, LinkedIn etc).
Data processing, complex imports, and export routines.
Cloud platform management (AWS & Digital Ocean, some Azure)
Scalability, redundancy, and security Personal projects are actively encouraged at Life Dev. While time is not provided within working hours for these projects, the company will support any personal project that is beneficial to the personal professional development of the employee - personal web projects, apis, building games etc are all good examples of this.
As a Software Engineering Apprentice at Life Development solutions your duties will include but are not limited to:
The successful candidate can expect action packed and interesting working days. Due to the range of projects and clients there are opportunities to work in a range of frameworks and environments. Tasks are organised into larger projects, with the successful candidate working alongside a project manager and one or more developers or engineers.
A typical day would consist of one or more of the following tasks:
Writing code or markup (PHP, Javascript, HTML, CSS etc)
Testing code (own or someone else’s)
Using source control (Git)
Handling first line and second line support requests.
Communicating directly with clients and/or other team members.
Analysing problems or evaluating solutions During the day one can expect multiple video/phone calls with clients or other team members as well as regular contact via business instant messaging tools (ie Slack, Teams etc).
Entry requirements
English and Maths grade 4-9 is Desirable
Prior level 3 qualification in Technology subject is desirable.
Training to be provided
Software Developer Level 4 Apprenticeship Standard:
The successful candidate will undertake a 30 month, nationally recognised qualification through TDM. This is a work-based learning programme which will require commitment to block weeks in an online training room once every quarter working towards the qualification along with weekly off the job training and monthly coaching sessions.
You will be required to demonstrate through the standard that you meet all competencies and behaviours, which will lead to the achievement of the qualification.
You will have a designated mentor in the workplace to support your learning and at the end of programme will be assessed via an external assessment body.
This is a Level 4 qualification.
Knowledge modules will include:
Software Development Methodologies and Testing
Systems Analysis and Design
Algorithms, Data Structures and User Interfaces
OOP and Design Patterns
Things to consider
This is a level 4 Apprenticeship programme and is a Office based role with occasional remote working.
Company Benefits:
Open to providing online training resources (Udemy etc) if requested.
Free co.uk domain name registered for employee’s personal projects and complementary web hosting for the duration of employment.
Skills required
Array
Future prospects
Opportunity to progress to a Degree Level Apprenticeship and/or permanent role for the right individual.
Hours per week 30
Working week Monday-Friday
Apprenticeship standard Software developer (Level 4)
Dudley, West Midlands, England, DY1 1PY
