Job Title: Senior MS SQL/Access Developer
Location: Primarily remote. Onsite visits (mostly Borough; occasionally Purfleet, Hastings or Lancing) regularly during initial onboarding; approximately once a month thereafter.
Salary: £65,000 - 75,000
Job Type: Full-time, but we are open to considering part-time applicants with the right experience

The Company:

Recorra is a leading circular economy company, providing services for recycling, data destruction and office supplies in London and the South East. We are born environmentalists, formed by Friends of the Earth in 1988 and now operating as an independent commercial organisation.

We are an ethical and fast-growing company with a team of exceptional people and are looking for someone to join us during an exciting period of change and growth. The role provides the opportunity for you to use your skills to make a difference within a friendly, dynamic and forward-thinking company. The culture is energetic, and there will be many opportunities for you to make a substantial contribution to the business.

About the System:

Prada is the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software used by Recorra staff to manage nearly all day-to-day business operations. Built on an Azure SQL Server database backend and a Microsoft Access front end, it has been developed and maintained over the past two decades. The original developer is gradually retiring, and the system is now supported by two part-time developers and a QA engineer.

The database comprises about 250 tables and 550 stored procedures, and the front end comprises around 350 forms, 80 reports and 80,000 lines of code. There are around 70 internal users of the system spanning all areas of the business: the main areas of focus are Operations, Customer Services and Accounts, but the system is also occasionally used by Marketing and Sales.

As a core part of our business, there are a number of integrations with other business systems, including an Android app used by our drivers, Sage accounting system, our customer web portal, and Dynamics 365 for our Sales and Marketing team.

Over the next few years, we intend to carry out a significant overhaul of the system, futureproofing it for use as the company grows to 2-3 times its current size. Most areas will be upgraded and modernised, and Access may be replaced with a modern web-based front end.

The Role:

This role is to join our development team as we revitalise this system. Supporting day-to-day maintenance and enhancements but also executing the longer-term strategic roadmap. For a candidate with the right experience, this is also an opportunity to work as a systems architect and lead the systems overhaul over the next few years.

In terms of experience required for the role, excellent SQL skills are essential. Microsoft Access, or at least a good knowledge of complex VBScript is highly desirable; we have a separate contractor who can support on Access training.

The team is relatively new, and many development and testing protocols are still being established. You will have the opportunity to help shape these procedures and the way that we work, if this is of interest to you.

Responsibilities:

Key responsibilities 

• Resolve issues and bugs in the system, as recorded and prioritised by the Product Manager
• Review, prototype and develop features, as developed in conjunction with the Product Manager and key product users within the business.
• Work through complex topics with key users in the business to deeply understand problems and help to design the best solution 
• Work on strategic projects to upgrade Prada to fit Recorra’s business needs.

Other responsibilities 

• Complete monthly reviews with the Product Manager and one of the company directors to review progress against OKRs and plan in strategic topics for the coming period 
• Complete functional testing of changes, recommend test cases for user acceptance testing, prepare release notes
• Plan and complete releases of new major versions (in test and production environments)
• Support the preparation of developer and user documentation

About you:

Essential

• Excellent SQL skills 
• Experience using Access as a front end 
• Experience developing front end systems 
• Excellent ability to problem-solve, with a data-oriented approach 
• Strong organisational skills with an ability to independently manage and prioritise workload 
• Excellent communication (written and verbal) and interpersonal skills 
• To work to the highest ethical standards and have a genuine interest in protecting the environment 

Desirable

• Experience as a Development Manager in a software development environment.
• Experience as an Architect, designing data-intensive software products (e.g. ERP systems).
• Experience translating Access front ends to a different front end (ideally web-based) 

Benefits:

• Flexible working hours
• 22 days' annual leave (additional days for length of service) plus bank holidays
• Employee pension scheme
• Travel season ticket loan
• Cycle to work scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Health Cash Plan
• Charity volunteering opportunities and social activities
• Free breakfast
• Monthly massages
• Dog friendly office

Please Note:

Candidates must have the legal right to live and work in the UK to be considered for this role.

Please click the APPLY button to submit your CV and cover letter for this role.