Baseline objectives for backend developers on GOV.UK
These objectives attempt to lay out what we mean by a “good backend developer” on GOV.UK, and what we hope that developers on GOV.UK are aspiring to. These are the standards and behaviours need to attain a performance score of “Achieving”.
These objectives are a starting point for line managers and should be modified to reflect the work of the team. The format for the objectives is taken from the guidance on the GDS Wiki.
Line managers should be meeting with the line report regularly to check progress against the objectives.
Mid-level developers
| Type | What | How | Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taking initiative / Being proactive |
I will be an active and engaged member of my team | I will be an active participant in team activities
I will proactively get involved in the work and pick up tasks. I will communicate absences to my line manager and team in a timely manner (Stretch) I will suggest improvements to team processes |
I will measure my progress against this objective using the following:
Feedback from the team shows that I was an active participant in meetings, e.g. stand-up, retros. Feedback shows that I have been self-motivated in getting involved in the work and picking up tasks Feedback shows that I communicated progress and blockers with the team My line manager knows if I have been absent and why e.g. sick leave, annual leave. Feedback shows that I was an active participant in pairing / mobbing sessions both as the person “driving” and by contributing ideas. (Stretch) Feedback shows that I made suggestions in team retros, emails, or slack when I saw things that could be improved. |
| Support | I will be an active participant on in-hours support rotas | All tickets and requests will be responded to by the end of the working day. |
I will measure my progress against this objective using the following:
All tickets and requests will be updated daily. |
| Modern standards | My code will adhere to expected standards of engineering. (TDD, test coverage, code quality, documentation) | I will follow GOV.UK engineering practices, with guidance
I will ask for guidance and review |
I will measure my progress against this objective using the following:
Evidence of knowledge and application of GOV.UK engineering practices |
| Learning | I take ownership of my learning goals relating to my teams work | I will manage my time effectively to achieve learning goals |
I will measure my progress against this objective using the following:
I can demonstrate progress against learning goals with my line manager I can share my learning at community meetings |
| Delivery | I will work independently on medium sized features | I will see a feature through from development to deployment to production
I will collaborate with other disciplines |
I will measure my progress against this objective using the following:
I report progress on the feature e.g. by keeping tickets up to date and giving updates in stand-up Feedback shows that I have collaborated with other disciplines |
| Delivery | I will contribute to larger cross-cutting features | I will collaborate with other technologists and other disciplines |
I will measure my progress against this objective using the following:
I report progress on the feature e.g. by keeping tickets up to date and giving updates in stand-up Feedback shows that I have collaborated with other technologists and other disciplines |
| Collaboration | I will collaborate with other developers when required to get work done | I will review PRs for features built by other team members as well as dependency upgrades.
I will pair/mob with other developers |
I will measure my progress against this objective using the following:
Feedback from the tech lead and other developers on the team shows that I have collaborated with other developers |
Senior developers
| Type | What | How | Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taking initiative / Being proactive |
I will be an active and engaged member of my team | I will be an active participant in team activities
I will proactively get involved in the work and pick up tasks. I will communicate progress and blockers with my team in a timely manner I will communicate absences to my line manager in a timely manner I will suggest improvements to team processes |
I will measure my progress against this objective using the following:
Feedback from the team shows that I was an active participant in meetings, e.g. stand-up, retros. Feedback shows that I communicated progress and blockers with the team My line manager knows if I have been absent and why e.g. sick leave, annual leave. Feedback from the team shows that I suggested an improvement to a team process |
| Support | I will be an active participant on in-hours support rotas | All tickets and requests will be responded to by the end of the working day. |
I will measure my progress against this objective using the following:
All tickets and requests will be updated daily. |
| Modern standards | I will uphold high standards of engineering, and code quality/test coverage. | I will guide other developers to use high standards through feedback |
I will measure my progress against this objective using the following:
Evidence of good enough test coverage Evidence of good software design practices (e.g simple, modular) Evidence of holding others accountable for doing good enough work |
| Learning | I take ownership of my learning goals relating to my teams work | I will manage my time effectively to achieve learning goals |
I will measure my progress against this objective using the following:
I can demonstrate progress against learning goals with my line manager I can share my learning at community meetings |
| Delivery | I will take the lead on larger cross-cutting features | I will decompose the problem into parts and create tickets.
I will consider risks and dependencies I will collaborate with other disciplines |
I will measure my progress against this objective using the following:
I report progress on the feature e.g. by keeping tickets up to date and giving updates in stand-up I can describe the risks and dependencies to another person Team members can pick up the cards I create. Feedback shows that I have collaborated with other disciplines |
| Technical Leadership
(*not necessarily being ‘tech lead’) |
I will shape technical direction at a team-level and contribute to technical decisions
I will be a trusted advisor across disciplines in at least some areas of the system |
I will write and comment on ADRs, RFCs or on other team documents
I will engage with other developers across teams to discuss software design decisions |
I will measure my progress against this objective using the following:
Feedback shows that I have added meaningfully to technical discussions I can answer questions about areas of the system. |
| Developing others | I will raise team capability
I will help and guide mid and junior-level staff regularly, raising team capability |
I will help and guide mid-level and junior staff.
I will participate in pairing / mobbing sessions I will give constructive feedback to others I will give other developers opportunity and space to learn without solving problems for them |
I will measure my progress against this objective using the following:
Feedback from mid/juniors show I have successfully helped / guided them |
Probation period
These objectives are what we hope that our new starters are able to achieve by the end of their probation period. The standard objectives should be used once the probation period is over.
Line managers should be meeting with the line report regularly to check progress against the objectives. If it looks as though these objectives won’t be achieved the probation period can be extended.
Mid-level developers on probation
| Type | What | How | Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taking initiative / Being proactive |
I will be an active and engaged member of my team | I will be an active participant in team activities
I will proactively get involved in the work and pick up tasks. I will communicate progress and blockers with my team in a timely manner I will communicate absences to my line manager in a timely manner (Stretch) I will suggest improvements to team processes |
I will measure my progress against this objective using the following:
Feedback from the team shows that I was an active participant in meetings, e.g. stand-up, retros. Feedback shows that I have been self-motivated in getting involved in the work and picking up tasks Feedback shows that I communicated progress and blockers with the team My line manager knows if I have been absent and why e.g. sick leave, annual leave. (Stretch) Feedback shows that I made suggestions in team retros, emails, or slack when I saw things that could be improved. |
| Support | I will be an active participant on in-hours support rotas | All tickets and requests will be responded to by the end of the working day. |
I will measure my progress against this objective using the following:
All tickets and requests will be updated daily |
| Learning | I will learn about the GOV.UK architecture | I am able to describe a relevant part of GOV.UK’s architecture
(relevant topic to be decided with Line manager) |
I will measure my progress against this objective using the following:
I can explain how parts of the architecture work to another person. I can debug issues in this area. (Stretch) I can deliver one of the Learning GOV.UK talks |
| Learning | (if required) I will learn Ruby on Rails | I will complete the recommended Ruby training course
I will complete the Rails getting started guide I will read the Sandi Metz book |
I will measure my progress against this objective using the following:
I am able to complete features on my own. I can describe a Ruby concept to another person (relevant topic to be decided with Line manager) |
| Delivery By 3-6 months |
I will work independently on medium sized features | I will see a feature through from development to deployment to production
I will collaborate with other disciplines |
I will measure my progress against this objective using the following:
I report progress on the feature e.g. by keeping tickets up to date and giving updates in stand-up Feedback shows that I have collaborated with other disciplines |
| Peer reviews | I will unblock team workflows | I will review PRs for features built by other team members as well as dependency upgrades. |
I will measure my progress against this objective using the following:
I leave constructive comments on PRs |
Senior developers on probation
| Type | What | How | Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taking initiative / Being proactive | I will be an active and engaged member of my team | I will be an active participant in team activities
Proactively getting involved in the work / picking up tasks I will communicate progress and blockers with my team in a timely manner I will communicate absences to my line manager in a timely manner |
I will measure my progress against this objective using the following:
Feedback from the team shows that I was an active participant in meetings, e.g. stand-up, retros. Feedback shows that I communicated progress and blockers with the team My line manager knows if I have been absent and why e.g. sick leave, annual leave. |
| Support | I will be an active participant on support rotas | All tickets and requests will be responded to by the end of the working day. |
I will measure my progress against this objective using the following:
All tickets and requests will be updated daily. |
| Process optimisation | (Stretch) I will suggest improvements to team processes |
I will measure my progress against this objective using the following:
Feedback from the team shows that I suggested an improvement to a team process |
|
| Learning | I will learn about the GOV.UK architecture | I am able to describe a relevant part of GOV.UK’s architecture
(relevant topic to be decided with Line manager) |
I will measure my progress against this objective using the following:
I can explain how parts of the architecture work to another person. I can debug issues in this area. (Stretch) I can deliver one of the Learning GOV.UK talks |
| Learning | (if required) I will learn Ruby on Rails | I will complete the recommended Ruby training course
I will complete the Rails getting started guide I will read the Sandi Metz book |
I will measure my progress against this objective using the following:
I am able to complete features on my own. I can describe a Ruby concept to another person (relevant topic to be decided with Line manager) |
| Delivery By 3-6 months |
I will take the lead on larger cross-cutting features | I will decompose the problem into parts and create tickets.
I will consider risks and dependencies I will collaborate with other disciplines |
I will measure my progress against this objective using the following:
I report progress on the feature e.g. by keeping tickets up to date and giving updates in stand-up I can describe the risks and dependencies to another person Team members can pick up the cards I create. Feedback shows that I have collaborated with other disciplines |
| Peer reviews | I will unblock team workflows | I will review PRs for features built by other team members as well as dependency upgrades. |
I will measure my progress against this objective using the following:
I leave constructive comments on PRs |
| Technical Leadership
(*not necessarily being ‘tech lead’) |
I will contribute to technical decisions
I will be a trusted advisor across disciplines in at least some areas of the system |
I will comment on ADRs, RFCs or on other team documents
I will learn about areas of GOV.UK (areas to be determined by individuals / LMs) |
I will measure my progress against this objective using the following:
Feedback shows that I have added meaningfully to technical discussions I can answer questions about areas of the system. |
| Developing others | I will raise team capability
I will help and guides mid and junior-level staff regularly, raising team capability |
I will help and guide mid-level and junior staff.
I will participate in pairing / mobbing sessions I will give constructive feedback to others |
I will measure my progress against this objective using the following:
Feedback from mid/juniors show I have successfully helped / guided them |