Introduction

We are looking for an experienced Software Engineer to take ownership of technical design decisions and play a key role in the quality, architecture, and delivery of software solutions across a retail platform. The role will work closely with cross-functional teams to deliver scalable and maintainable systems built on AWS cloud infrastructure, leveraging modern microservices architecture and best-in-class engineering practices. This is a 12-month contract role in a hybrid environment, currently requiring 3 days per week in the office, with either Monday or Friday being compulsory.

Duties & Responsibilities

Technical Capability

• Maintain a working understanding of organisational structures and business partner dynamics, adapting delivery approaches within agreed frameworks.
• Identify critical deficiencies in architecture or processes and recommend actionable improvements.
• Uphold development principles and quality compliance criteria to ensure delivery commitments are met.

Solution Design & Development

• Analyse and understand business requirements within the context of the current business environment.
• Create and update conceptual, logical, and physical solutions using appropriate coding techniques and methodologies.
• Design and develop solutions according to standards and best practices for back-end and integration layers.
• Develop, document, and maintain source code in line with established design standards.
• Ensure solutions are designed for maintainability, scalability, and operational efficiency.
• Build systems that take advantage of true cloud-native architecture, leveraging AWS services and patterns.

Stakeholder Engagement & Collaboration

• Actively share technical insights and information with relevant stakeholders at appropriate levels of detail.
• Work effectively as part of a team without requiring close supervision.
• Engage regularly with Product and Architecture stakeholders.

Quality, Compliance & Delivery

• Complete deliverables throughout the system development life cycle in compliance with agreed plans.
• Identify and proactively prioritise project risks, with clear escalation paths.
• Apply code review discipline and QA processes as required, ensuring successful deployment through quality gates.
• Develop code according to industry best practices, adhering to team processes and established conventions.
• Work within both SDLC and Agile (SCRUM) methodologies as required by the project.

Infrastructure & Continuous Improvement

• Set up, maintain, and improve technical infrastructure supporting development, testing, and production environments.
• Maintain technical competency across the applicable technology stack and related tools.
• Research and remain current with trends in online retail channels and related information technology.
• Adhere to and champion best practices and team processes, contributing to a culture of continuous improvement.

Desired Experience & Qualification

Essential

• 5+ years of software development experience.
• Extensive hands-on experience with Java development in production environments.
• Proven experience designing and building microservices-based architectures.
• Practical experience with AWS cloud services and cloud-native design principles.
• Experience working across both Agile (SCRUM) and SDLC methodologies.
• Strong code review practices and a commitment to quality-driven delivery.
• Strong and effective communication skills.

Advantageous

• AWS certifications, such as AWS Developer Associate.
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines, DevOps tooling, and Infrastructure-as-Code.
• Exposure to event-driven architecture and messaging systems such as Kafka, SQS/SNS.
• Familiarity with containerisation technologies such as Docker and Kubernetes/EKS.
• Experience designing and productionising both NoSQL and RDBMS technologies.
• Prior experience within the retail industry or comparable customer-facing commercial environments.