Staff Back End Engineer

About the role

As the UK’s most successful omni-channel retailer, ecommerce is a key part of our business - we run two of the busiest websites in the UK, driving a significant proportion of our sales. Our engineering practice includes 80+ teams, working on everything from Cloud platforms to mobile apps, from ecommerce functionality to machine learning.

Have a quick glance of our Engineering best practices, see our engineers talk about their experience and opportunities to learn and grow; Check out our Tech stack, reach out to us if you have any questions. Visit -

At a glance

• Flexible Working: This is a hybrid working role, therefore your time will primarily be split between working from home (in the UK) and London Head Office. However, there will also be an expectation to visit other locations as the need arises.

• While most engineers visit the office once or twice a month, occasionally business needs may require more frequent attendance. Our offices are open five days a week for those who prefer to work from the office more regularly.

• Salary: up to£92,400 (depending upon experience)

• Contract type: Permanent

What will you be doing?

• This is an opportunity to join one of our agile product teams working as a Staff Back-End Software Engineer using Kotlin. You will be leveraging your excellent backend skills from your Kotlin or Java background to build and support new features adding value for Our Business.

• As a Staff Engineer, you will also use your knowledge of Software Engineering to lead the shaping of new projects and support the professional development of less experienced Engineers.

• There are opportunities to become a people manager for your fellow engineers if that is something that appeals to you

• Successful candidates will have a passion for using technology to deliver outstanding and innovative software solutions, and will have a track record of working in teams delivering complex, performant, high quality software.

Internally this role is known as Product Engineer (L6).

Essential skills/experience you’ll need

• Extensive experience leading, coaching and mentoring individuals/teams

• Expertise in either server side Kotlin or a modern version of Java.

• A structured approach to systems analysis and development.

• A good understanding of Microservice Architectures.

• Experience with application frameworks such as or Spring Boot.

• An understanding of Agile development methods such as Scrum or Kanban.

• Demonstrable experience in TDD, pair programming.

• Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery

• REST API development and/or consumption.

Desirable skills/experience you may have

• Experience with Cloud Platforms such as AWS, GCP or Azure

• Docker, Kubernetes

• Jenkins, Gitlab CI.

Additional Information:

• The application form consists of an online assessment, CV upload, followed by application questions. Please visit - to understand more about application and hiring process

• If you are successful following your initial application, the next stages are: a screening telephone call with a recruiter, tech assessment and up to two rounds of interviews

• You'll be asked about any adjustments you might need to support the recruitment process. Please let us know, and we'll be sure to discuss it with you.

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About The Partnership

We’re the largest employee owned business in the UK and home of our cherished brands, John Lewis and Waitrose. We’re not just employees, we’re Partners, driven by our purpose to build a happier world. As we look to our future, there’s never been a more exciting time to join us.

We’re ruthlessly focused on being brilliant at retail. We continue to innovate, adapt and diversify. Never Knowingly Undersold on price, quality and service in John Lewis and passionately serving food-lovers in Waitrose.

As Partners we all share the responsibility of ownership and in its rewards. We use our voices to contribute to our success, working together through the good and challenging times, holding true to our behaviours and treating everyone with kindness and respect.

We all own making the Partnership somewhere we belong. Embracing our differences and creating an environment where we’re free to be ourselves and can THRIVE. Growing ourselves individually, and as a collective.

As Partners, we make all the difference. And, we all own it.

Important points to note:

It’s important to note that some of our roles are subject to pre-employment vetting (which may include DBS checks for successful candidates). If required, you’ll be informed and provided with information about vetting during the recruitment process and we encourage you to complete any vetting documents quickly to avoid delays. Any DBS checks required will be carried out by a third-party registered body and financial probity checks may also be required for some of our roles.

We occasionally close vacancies early in the event we receive a high volume of applications, and therefore, we recommend you apply early. If you require a reasonable adjustment due to a disability which means you may need longer to complete your application please contact us as soon as possible.

We want all of our Partners to have a good work-life balance and we support flexible working. This might mean flexible or compressed hours, job sharing or shorter hour contracts, where possible. Please discuss this further with the hiring manager during your interview.