Graduate Software Engineer

Role Purpose

Our Technology department in Newcastle upon Tyne is looking to recruit a Graduate Software Engineer. This is an exciting opportunity to begin your career in a supportive environment designed to help you grow, learn, and thrive. You’ll join a network of professionals, benefit from structured development, and hands‑on project experience, and be empowered to take real ownership from day one.

As a Graduate Software Engineer, you will work as part of a team on the development and maintenance of a range of applications and services across the NorthStandard technology domain. With support and training, you will develop the capability to quickly learn new languages and technologies, while also demonstrating the curiosity and initiative to explore solutions independently.

You will collaborate with cross‑functional teams to deliver robust, scalable and secure solutions that support the needs of our insurance business. Your work will be key to modernising a number of applications, services and integrations as we continue moving towards modern cloud‑based platforms. This role will expose you to a diverse range of internally and externally developed systems, giving you broad, valuable experience early in your career.

What will you be doing?

Key responsibilities will include:

• Support system and service design activities by contributing to component/interface design, reviewing technical specifications, and assisting in the translation of logical designs into basic functional and technical artefacts under the guidance of senior developers.
• Contribute to the software development lifecycle, including writing clean, maintainable code, performing unit tests, debugging issues, and supporting documentation and quality assurance activities for assigned features or modules.
• Apply established development standards and best practices, participating in discussions on tools and technologies and providing input while learning from senior technical leads.
• Prepare and maintain technical documentation, such as simple diagrams, code comments, and user/technical notes, to support business understanding and ensure requirements are accurately followed.
• Collaborate effectively with team members and business stakeholders, supporting the flow of information, contributing to system reviews, and assisting in identifying performance or usability issues, escalating recommendations to senior colleagues

About you

Skills/Qualifications/Experience

Essential

• A good foundation of .NET development skills (C#, ASP.NET Core, Entity Framework Core, LINQ) with an understanding of clean coding principles and object-oriented design.
• Exposure to cloud development on Microsoft Azure or an equivalent platform, with practical experience or academic/project work being desirable.
• Basic understanding of CI/CD practices, preferably with experience using Azure DevOps or similar tools.
• Good awareness of API development, including designing or consuming RESTful APIs, understanding JSON/XML, and familiarity with integration concepts such as microservices and service messaging.
• Working knowledge of testing techniques, including writing unit tests and using mocking frameworks.
• Some familiarity with containerisation concepts and the role of Docker and Kubernetes in delivering these.
• Strong analytical mindset, able to break down problems, investigate issues methodically, and propose practical solutions, seeking guidance where appropriate.
• Clear and confident communication skills, with the ability to explain technical concepts in simple terms and work effectively with developers, testers, analysts, and business stakeholders.

Who we are

We are a specialist marine insurer and a member of the International Group of Protection and Indemnity clubs, owned by its shipowner members and controlled by a board of directors drawn from its membership. We’re one of the world’s leading and most influential P&I Clubs. Employing over 600 people globally, we provide an unmatched depth and breadth of expertise to our members.

Our culture and what to expect from us

Our culture is hugely important to us enabling us to fulfil our brand promise, ‘Taking on tomorrow, together’. Together we are empowered, inquisitive and courageous, giving the best of ourselves to our colleagues, customers, members and the communities we serve.We provide excellent service to members, build long-lasting relationships built on trust and understanding, and treat our colleagues in the same way. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do, we all act as role models and celebrate our cultural principles.

We provide our people with a fantastic benefits package including:

• Hybrid working
• 27 days annual leave + bank holidays (rising with length of
• service).
• An annual company bonus scheme.15% employer pension con
• tribution
• 2 days volunteering leave
• Private Medical Insurance.
• Life Insurance
• A health care cash plan
• Structured learning and development with support towards obtaining professional qualifications that are relevant to your job.
• Gym Allowance/Access to Office Gym

Salary starting from £30,000, dependant upon experience