Careers

Consultant Software Engineer - Career Switchers and Returners 2026

This role is for career switchers or returners looking for entry-level development roles.

Department

Software engineering

Location

London|Cambridge

Salary

£45,000

plus an average of between

£2,250 - £3,000 in profit share

In Brief

This role is for career switchers or returners looking to blend high-level software engineering with strategic client advisory. Our consultant engineers act as technical partners to our clients, helping them transform their businesses through domain expertise and, increasingly, AI-driven solutions.

As a consultant engineer at Softwire, you’ll be part of a bright, inclusive, supportive team. You will work directly with our customers to solve some of their biggest challenges, making a genuine difference to people’s lives, businesses and society along the way.

Interspersed with the project work, you’ll benefit from structured training that equips you for a long and fulfilling career in the digital world.

Working here, your opportunities are virtually limitless, with a wide variety of career paths open to you, both technical and non-technical. Both our current and our previous managing directors are alumni of our entry level programme.

Key facts at-a-glance

Locations: London and Cambridge. This is a non-remote role which requires you to be in the office or on customer site a minimum of three days per week, sometimes up to five days per week.

Salary: £45,000

Start dates: Cohorts will start in July, September and November 2026

Who can apply: to qualify you MUST have accrued 2+ years of full-time, permanent employment since leaving education (in any role or industry – either software engineering or otherwise) and in the past two years you MUST NOT have been employed in any software engineering role or other role that involves producing code

When can I apply: Applications are open now

Our entry-level timeline

Months 1-2: Software engineering induction.

Our training programme gets you up-to-speed with the skills you need to thrive as a professional digital engineer. You’ll get a grounding in coding, source control, modern technology stacks, and more. You’ll then form a team with your fellow new starters to develop a piece of software, typically for a not-for-profit organisation or to be used within Softwire. Under the guidance of experienced engineers, you’ll learn what it takes to deliver commercial-grade software.The induction includes training in AI-assisted development. You will learn to oversee and refine AI-generated code, reflecting a shift in the coding world from manual creation to high-level oversight. This training ensures you can leverage AI for maximum efficiency while focusing on architectural challenges and client value.

Months 3-15: Working on client projects

With your first project complete, you’ll join one of our teams delivering a client project, usually in our offices but sometimes on a customer site. You’ll get plenty of support throughout, surrounded by helpful colleagues and industry experts to answer all your questions. And with continual peer review of your work, your software engineering skills will quickly rise to new levels. Alongside your project work, you’ll continue to attend our in-house training programme . This industry-leading course lasts six weeks in total, spread over 12 months. It broadens your knowledge in key aspects of professional software engineering, including:

System design
Development methodologies
Additional technologies

You will move beyond simply doing what is asked; you will advise clients on the best course of action using your domain knowledge. As AI handles more of the routine coding, your role will focus on architectural oversight and strategic partnership.

Month 16 and beyond: Choose your career path

We continue to invest in your development and promote from within. Many of our senior staff joined at entry level and have followed a range of career paths. And, as the individuals we’ve highlighted below show, you’ll quickly get opportunities to take on added responsibility. You might decide you love leading project delivery. You might enjoy overseeing a technology team. You may find consulting is your passion. You could choose to specialise in areas such as design, or data science and artificial intelligence.

The people we are looking for

A passion for solving real-world challenges: First and foremost, you’ll get a buzz from building things that make a difference to businesses, people and society. We also want to see passion for coding – any experience you have is a bonus
A consultancy mindset: You are genuinely excited about working with customers to solve their problems. You’ll need to be comfortable in new environments, quickly building relationships with new clients to get to the heart of their businesses and their needs. You are confident discussing technical ideas with people with varying degrees of digital literacy, communicating clearly with any audience
A positive, can-do team player: You love pushing the team to greater heights by helping colleagues out wherever you can. You always look to improve yourself and others. Your default answer to a question is ‘yes’, and you make big problems seem small
Extreme STEM skills: We are looking for exceptional logical analysis and reasoning capabilities

For you

Benefits that grow with your career

Starting salary of £45,000
Generous compensation packages
25 days annual holiday with the option to buy or sell, plus charity days
Generous maternity, paternity and adoption pay
Consistently one of the best places to work in the UK*
Dedicated budget for staff activities and entertainment + annual company holiday abroad
Great offices, plus free on-site gym and subsidised restaurant in London
A workplace that promotes diversity and inclusivity

Application process and start dates

We’ve been at or very near the top of the Best Companies To Work For for many years.

We know how much effort you put into your application, so we always aim to get back to you within two working days at each stage. And if you are asked to interviews, you can choose your own timeslots, using our online booking system. Interviews are conducted remotely with the exception of the final interview which is an in-person group assessment day.

We typically offer various start dates in the spring and autumn and allocate places to successful applicants on a first-come, first-served basis. We recommend applying early to secure your preferred start date.

More about Softwire: What you'll be part of

Our mission is to solve our customers’ business challenges using technology. This often demands creativity, tackling complex issues in intelligent ways, to help organisations streamline operations and better serve their customers and users.

We played an important role in the Moorfields Eye Hospital/DeepMind collaboration, which demonstrated how artificial intelligence could help doctors fast-track patients with serious eye diseases. We built the system that runs the BBC Live Events websites, sharing content from Glastonbury, the Reading and Leeds festivals, and the BBC Proms. We’ve been the long-term digital partner for David Lloyd Leisure, building its mobile app, booking system and numerous other capabilities. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Find out what else we’ve been involved with.

Of course, there’s more to Softwire than building software. We’re working hard to nurture a diverse, inclusive and supportive culture, where people love what they do and feel inspired by working with some of the best minds in the business. We also have a generous budget for a varied programme of staff events and activities, with employees, not management, deciding how the money is spent.

We believe we’re the best company in the UK to work for and we have awards and review scores to prove it. Check us out on Glassdoor or Best Companies.

Learn more about our core values, and discover some of our company culture initiatives on our insights page.

FAQs

How do I apply for a role?+−

Via the links on our careers pages only – we aren’t able to accept applications via email.

What entry level roles are available?+−

In 2026, we expect to take on around 25 graduate consultant software engineers and 25 consultant software engineers – career switchers/returners.

We will not be taking on apprentices or interns in 2026.

What start dates are available?+−

Entry-level developers may join at various points throughout the year, please see our open role pages for details.

Are there any short term or temporary placements available?+−

No. We are not offering any internships or industrial placements at present.

Which permanent role should I apply for?+−

If you are a career switcher or returner, you should apply for the role of Consultant Software Engineer – career switchers and returners.

Otherwise you should apply for the role of Consultant Graduate Software Engineer. Note that you don’t need a degree for this role if you are a proficient programmer.

Can I apply for more than one role?+−

There is no need to apply for more than one role – you can simply indicate your interest in other roles when you apply. In any case, we consider people for all suitable roles so it isn’t critical which role(s) you specify on your application.

Can I work remotely?+−

For your first 1-2 years of training we would expect you to be in the office 4-5 days per week. Beyond that there is greater flexibility, but most of our employees will be in three or more days per week on average.

In practice we are often able to say “yes” to people who wish to work fully remotely for short periods, or have other flexible working needs – e.g. to accommodate caring responsibilities. But there will inevitably be certain projects or activities which require you to attend our offices, so we can’t guarantee that remote working will always be possible.

We are an inclusive employer, so if you have a disability or other personal circumstances that make regular office working a challenge, please do get in touch to discuss further.

Can I work part-time?+−

Unfortunately not. All of our software development roles are full-time roles, at least in the first instance. You may be able to move to part-time working once you have been with us for a while, by mutual agreement.

Do we offer visa sponsorship?+−

For permanent roles, Softwire offers visa sponsorship for non-UK nationals and will cover application costs for a Skilled Worker visa or Indefinite Leave to Remain.

Are there any academic grade requirements?+−

No. None of our roles require any particular academic grades (from school, university or any other institution), and all of our offers are unconditional.

Does Softwire offer careers specialising in particular areas, for example, Machine Learning or Artificial Intelligence?+−

Our engineers typically work across a range of technologies and industries during the first few years of their career, so we don’t generally offer specialised entry level roles, although we value existing experience, and will aim find project assignments that make best use of it.

There are further opportunities to specialise later in your career, for example in Data Engineering or AI engineering. All our roles will feature a strong focus on developing consultancy / client-facing skills, and using AI in an effective, high-quality way.

Can I visit Softwire’s offices to see what they’re like?+−

The final stage group interview for permanent entry level roles is conducted in our offices and will be a chance for those candidates to look around and meet members of our team.

All those that receive an offer of employment from us are welcome to visit our offices before making their decision. Due to the volume of applicants, we are regrettably unable to offer earlier visits – apologies!

What salaries are offered?+−

Full salary details are listed on the job open role pages.

What does the application process look like?+−

There are six stages: submission of the application form; online tests (typically lasting 2 hours); a 30-minute non-technical interview; a 90-minute technical interview; a 45-minute soft skills interview and a final group interview day held in our offices. At each stage we aim to get back to you within two working days, the only exception being after the group interview when we might need more time to make a final decision on your application. All interviews except the final one are conducted remotely, with humans (not bots!) and you are able to choose your own time slots for the interview, using our online booking system.

What is the best preparation for the assessment process?+−

Lots of coding practice! Hobby projects, academic projects, any coding at all. The aim should be to obtain good coding fluency – it’s not about knowing every corner of a language, but about being comfortable working with the basic concepts. We use CodeSignal to deliver our coding test. If you would like to practise using their test environment, feel free to register with them and try some of their exercises. You may also find good exercises on HackerRank and LeetCode. We strongly recommend that you put some practice in before taking the tests, both on the CodeSignal platform and elsewhere, and especially so if you are a beginner.

How much coding experience do I need to apply?+−

We are very much open to beginners applying but to assess you we do require you to have some coding experience, even if it’s only a little. (Without such experience, how would either of us know that coding is something you actually enjoy!) We recommend a minimum of around 25 hours or so before you take our online coding test. And the more experience you do have, the better your chances in our assessment.

How can I get started in coding?+−

You can get started with any mainstream programming language, with the most common examples being: Python, Ruby, JavaScript, Java or C#. (Knowledge of HTML/CSS is useful but they aren’t programming languages.) There are plenty of sites that will teach you the basics, for example, Codecademy. If you’d rather learn more formally, you can try a coding Bootcamp such as Softwire’s Techswitch or the Softwire Coding Bootcamp. Many of these Bootcamps accept candidates with little to no experience.

What training does Softwire provide for software developers?+−

Our entry-level new starters begin with a dedicated, full-time training program over their first couple of weeks, guided by a dedicated mentor. This induction provides a comprehensive introduction to Softwire and the main high-level technologies we use. Following this, they immediately join a team for hands-on training, contributing to a real-world project; either in-house or for a client. This practical work is supported by close mentoring and is combined with part-time, off-project, training sessions for a further three months. Beyond that we offer an optional Level 4 apprenticeship for those that wish to continue with a formal learning programme. Regardless of their path, all new developers receive continuous, on-project reviews from our experienced team, ensuring practical education remains at the core of their development.

What are the working hours?+−

Our employees are contracted for a minimum of 37.5 hours per week. Long working hours are quite rare at Softwire, and few people regularly work much more than 40 hours per week. Employees need to be working during ‘core hours’, to overlap with their team mates. Core hours may vary per team but are typically 10am-4pm.

Working at Softwire

Here at Softwire, we are always on the lookout for talented individuals to join our team.

You’ll work with the industry’s smartest people and collaborate on leading-edge projects in a relaxed and informal atmosphere, refreshingly free of bureaucracy.