Senior Software Engineer

Staff Software Engineer – Platform & Distributed Systems$85-100k GBPWe are looking for a Staff Software Engineer to help lead the evolution of a highly scalable distributed data platform powering large-scale enterprise systems. This role is ideal for someone who enjoys solving complex backend and infrastructure challenges, influencing technical strategy, and mentoring engineers while remaining hands-on with architecture and development.You’ll work across engineering teams to design and build high-performance distributed systems, scalable data pipelines, and cloud-native services operating at massive scale. This position plays a key role in shaping long-term platform architecture, improving system reliability and observability, and driving engineering best practices across the organization.What You’ll DoLead the design and development of scalable backend systems and distributed data platformsArchitect and optimize high-performance, high-availability cloud-native servicesBuild and maintain large-scale ETL and data processing pipelinesDesign APIs, microservices, and service-to-service communication frameworksDevelop scalable systems for processing large, streaming, and multi-tenant datasetsDrive technical strategy and influence architecture decisions across teamsImprove platform observability, monitoring, reliability, and operational performanceCollaborate closely with engineering leadership, product teams, and stakeholdersMentor engineers and contribute to engineering standards and best practicesParticipate in system troubleshooting, root cause analysis, and performance tuningCreate and maintain technical documentation and architectural standardsWhat We’re Looking For10+ years of backend or platform engineering experienceStrong experience building and operating distributed systems at scaleDeep understanding of microservices architecture and service-oriented designExperience with containerized environments using Docker and KubernetesStrong cloud experience with AWS, Azure, or GCPExpertise with relational and non-relational databases such as PostgreSQL, MySQL, Cassandra, or ElasticsearchExperience designing scalable APIs and backend services using gRPC and Protocol BuffersStrong programming experience with Java/Kotlin, Python, C#, or similar backend technologiesExperience with CI/CD pipelines, automated deployments, and infrastructure automationStrong understanding of system design, scalability, security, and observabilityAbility to lead complex technical initiatives while collaborating across multiple teamsNice to HaveExperience working with large-scale data platforms or multi-tenant systemsFamiliarity with feature flags and release toggle strategiesExperience evaluating or integrating third-party platforms and servicesExperience with service mesh technologies such as Envoy or AWS App MeshBackground in highly regulated or enterprise-scale environmentsFamiliarity with Agile development practicesWhat’s OfferedOpportunity to work on highly complex distributed systems and platform challengesStrong engineering culture focused on collaboration, scalability, and innovationHigh-impact role with influence on technical direction and architectureGrowth opportunities within a fast-moving engineering organizationFlexible and collaborative work environmentMust be able to work in the UK without any sponsorship!