Full Stack Student Developer
Who are we?
We are Manchester Students’ Union, the biggest SU in the country, supporting over 40,000 students throughout their time at university. We help to make student life the best it can be by supporting students to campaign for change, creating opportunities to meet new people, providing employment opportunities, providing advice and support and being a safe place on campus.
We are a values-centred organisation that employs around 90 permanent, full-time members of staff. We recruit a wide range of roles throughout the year within all our departments from our Commercial team operating Manchester Academy Venues, 13 Media, Bar 532 & Kitchen and Corridor Coffee to our Student Activities, Student Engagement, Marketing and Communications, Finance, HR and Facilities teams. Our team of around 400 part-time, studying staff are instrumental in providing to support to all departments as well as leading major projects like Student Angels. When you join UMSU, you’ll be immersed in an environment that empowers staff to make great things happen and we're always on the lookout for innovative, passionate, and proactive people to join us.
Our values are really important to us and shape the work that we do every day. As part of our recruitment process, we want you to demonstrate how your experiences, behaviours and skills align with our values. You can find more detailed explanations of our values on our website.
About the role
🌟 Be the driving force behind a transformative digital platform connecting students with groundbreaking research – join us as our Full Stack Developer! 🌟
Are you a passionate Full Stack Developer eager to work on innovative projects that make a real difference? The University of Manchester Students’ Union is looking for a talented Full Stack Student Developer to join our digital team and help build the Research Quest Hub, a unique gamified platform designed to engage students with research opportunities like never before. This is your chance to combine cutting-edge technology with a meaningful mission in higher education.
You’ll play a pivotal role in designing and delivering the Research Quest Hub — an online platform that rewards students for participating in research studies. From creating seamless user dashboards and responsive interfaces to building robust backend systems and secure integrations, the Full Stack Developer will be at the forefront of our digital innovation.
You’ll join a collaborative team within the Students’ Union, dedicated to delivering high-quality digital experiences that improve student life and engagement. The Full Stack Developer will work closely with UX designers, researchers, and stakeholders to bring the platform’s vision to life.
Key duties of the Full Stack Developer include:
- Developing responsive, mobile-optimised front-end experiences for browsing research studies, tracking participation, and redeeming rewards.
- Designing and implementing RESTful APIs to manage study data, authentication, and reward systems.
- Creating secure integrations with survey platforms such as SurveyMonkey and Microsoft Forms.
- Building database schemas using Airtable or similar systems for user profiles, study records, and participation data.
- Ensuring web security and GDPR compliance, maintaining robust data protection standards.
- Setting up CI/CD pipelines to support efficient, automated deployment processes.
We’re seeking a Full Stack Developer with solid experience in both front-end and back-end development, ideally using technologies such as JavaScript, HTML5, CSS3, and frameworks like Node.js or Python/Django. Knowledge of cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud), API integrations, and web security best practices will set you up for success in this role. Experience with gamification systems or Airtable would be a bonus but isn’t essential.
Join us as our Full Stack Developer and help shape a platform that empowers students, advances research, and contributes to a vibrant university community. Apply today and become a key part of our digital transformation journey!
Please read the full role profile before applying, as well as our guide to recruitment.
You will be given the questions prior to interview, and you will be asked to present a past project that you had worked on to showcase your experience and expertise in this role.
Details
Wage: £12.60 per hour + holiday pay
Contract: Zero Hour contract
Hours: 5+ per week or project based
Eligibility: Must be eligible to work in the UK at the start of employment. Must be a current student at the University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan and University of Salford graduating in 2026 or later.
Our Reward Package
You'll get access to our reward package which you can see here.
Recruitment Guide
We have a guide that explains our full recruitment process. We recommend reading through this before beginning an application.
If you are invited to interview with us, we will share our interview questions in advance so you can prepare your responses. We’re more interested in hearing about your experiences and ideas than in testing your memory, and so we want you to feel as prepared as possible.
Inclusivity and Accessibility
We are committed to equality of opportunity, and we work hard to ensure we appoint based on skill and values.
We particularly encourage applications from Disabled or Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African candidates as these groups are currently underrepresented in our staff team.
If you have any accessibility requirements or require adjustments to support you to apply to work with us, please get in touch. We can offer reasonable adjustments at all stages of our recruitment process.
Recruitment Timeline
Applications opened: 06/08/2025
Applications close: Rolling
Interviews: Rolling
Role Commencing: ASAP
We may close applications early if we receive a high volume of applications. We recommend that you apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. In this case, all applicants who have started an application will be contacted 2 hours before we close the role.
Contact
People Team:
You can contact the People Team with any questions regarding this vacancy or our recruitment process.
Email: jobs.su@manchester.ac.uk
Phone: 0161 306 3279
Hiring Manager: Ruth Fernandes
You can contact the People Team with any questions regarding this vacancy or our recruitment process.
Email: ruth.fernandes@manchester.ac.uk