Vacancy Description:

Are you passionate about technology and using it to solve problems? Are you a collaborative person who has a thirst for learning and developing? If this sounds like you, then keep reading... We are hugely excited to announce that we are ready to welcome apprentice software developers with open arms to our award-winning Tech Team. Sykes Cottages are one of the fastest-growing Tech businesses in the North West. Our industry-leading tech team based in Chester is a hub for development, where each of our passionate professionals are united in nurturing our rich culture of innovation and discovering new ways of doing things... and for that, we need you! Having already developed and nurtured software apprentices since 2021, we are ready for you to become our newest stand-out apprentice. We will support you to soak up the wealth of talent and knowledge from within our talented Tech department, and you'll contribute to and share in our rich culture. It’s all about personality for us ...aside from being able to demonstrate a true passion for tech, such as having envisaged or even created a technology solution to an everyday problem, we know what kind of people make our team successful and ensure any new addition has an inquisitive mind, a desire to learn new things and an eagerness to grow. We have a strong track record of nurturing our apprentices to become true professionals within our talented tech teams. Continuing our partnership with Ada, National College for Digital Skills in Manchester, we will deliver the 2-year Level 4 Software Developer apprenticeship programme. You will gain invaluable experience to jumpstart your career supported by our best mentorship and world-class practical experience. Skills and Requirements This is more than an Apprenticeship… This is your opportunity to take your first steps into one of the country's most exciting tech companies. You will innovate and collaborate with some of the most talented people in their fields, learning, growing and making an impact every day. We welcome those with a drive for collaborative problem-solving; we can then support you in solving even more complex problems using cutting-edge technologies, such as Laravel and Symfony or CodeIgniter. In return, we can guarantee a spring-board into a career in Tech, where you can reap the benefits of our career progression opportunities, growing your technical skills in advanced programming, Artificial Intelligence and Cloud Technologies (to name a few) and becoming a valued part of our collaborative, passionate team! Alongside your clear passion, drive, and desire to learn, we ask that you have the following, and in return, we will support you. - An A-Level, Level 3 or equivalent qualification in a Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM subject) - Some familiarity with a modern programming language, ideally object-oriented, such as Java, JavaScript or Python - A proven interest in technology - Must be local to the North West and happy to travel to our Chester head office at least two days a week. We offer flexible working with two days in the office per week. - Be happy to travel to Manchester for your off-the-job training at Ada. The off-the-job training is delivered in one-week blocks after your initial first six-week launchpad. You’ll need to meet the standard eligibility requirements for apprenticeships in England - You must have lived in the UK or EEA for the last three years - Have the right to work in the UK. - You are 18 years old or over as of April 2023 and not in full-time education - You must live in the UK and spend at least 50% of your working hours in England over the apprenticeship. - You must not hold an existing qualification at the same or higher level in a similar subject (e.g. a degree or master's in a similar subject) or studied the course contents before. What will stand out to us in your application: - Awareness of PHP, e.g. through a personal project in that language. - Knowledge of a modern PHP framework such as Laravel. - Exposure to Docker or equivalent Awareness or experience of cloud technologies such as EC2. Your Responsibilities As an Apprentice Software Developer, you will work closely with your team, drawing from their knowledge and skills to solve technical problems, aiding our ongoing growth and success. Over the course of your two-year contract, you will spend approx. 20% of your time training with Ada, The National College for Digital Skills, through a blend of remote and face-to-face training at their campus in central Manchester, working towards a Foundation Degree in Digital Innovation validated by the Open University! After a brief induction period at Sykes Cottages, you will jump into your off-the-job training, starting with six weeks of training called ‘launchpad’. During the six-week launchpad, you will cover three modules; Systems Development Lifecycle, Programming and Databases. You will then return to Sykes Cottages full of confidence and ready to apply your newly acquired skills on-the-job, alongside our tech superstars! We are looking for bright, motivated apprentices who want to produce high-quality code and work with the latest cloud and development technologies. They need to be team players who aren’t afraid to get stuck in writing code and fixing problems. They’ll work closely with other, experienced developers and develop their skills and experience in commercial software development.