Senior Software Engineer (Backend)

Job Description

Who are we?

Common sense says that the less someone drives, the less driving should cost them. And we agree. But back in 2018, the car insurance industry didn’t see it like that. So, we launched the UK’s first real-time pay-by-mile policies. Since then, we’ve had our members covered for a massive 500 million miles of driving. It’s been an epic journey (which is a bit ironic, since we’re helping people who don’t use their cars so much).

Along the way, we’ve gone from plucky newcomers, to being voted Best Car Insurance Provider 3 times in a row. Though we’re still very much doing things in our own, unique way - we’re now backed by Direct Line Group (alongside some of the country's best known brands)

What we believe in.

We challenge with kindness, making sure everyone feels safe and included. We support each other.

We take time to learn so that we can improve ourselves, our colleagues and our products. We’re not afraid to make mistakes if it gives us the opportunity to grow.

We’re clear in our vision. We’re happy to challenge the status quo if it will help us make things better.

We own up, we don’t blame. We’re humble enough to take feedback on board, and respectful enough to give it. The next big idea could come from anywhere, so everyone’s opinion matters.

We consider before we start, whether that’s interrogating details to save confusion down the line, or getting help from others. We make decisions using data, not opinions, and we use our time wisely, always staying focused on the end goal.

Senior Backend Engineer

We are looking for a Senior Backend Engineer to join our Platform team. We’re a Small team, with a commitment to flexibility and autonomy. You’ll work alongside a talented group of developers, QA engineers, and a dedicated product manager to support us in a modern, cloud-native environment with the freedom to improve and scale our existing architecture. With 10% professional development time carved into your working week, you'll be provided with room to grow and develop your own solutions while thriving and building APIs and services in our AWS cloud environment.

You will be working with the wider engineering team to collaboratively build systems in a scalable way that meet our stakeholder needs and incorporate best practices - supporting our commercial and marketing goals and delighting our Members (By Miles policy holders).

We value building platforms and systems that are resilient. The stack you’ll be working with predominantly consists of Node.js hosted on AWS.

Our coding philosophies are:

We consider design patterns and SOLID principles where appropriate, but above all we prioritise simple code that is easy to understand, well documented and architected, and written with other humans in mind.

We always code with security and testability as priorities, and we believe in a test-driven approach to development.

We aim to be good citizens who don’t ignore any problems we find in the codebase — we like to leave things better than we found them.

You’ll be a fantastic addition to By Miles if you have:

• In depth knowledge of relational and no-SQL databases (PostgreSQL, AWS DynamoDB)

• A solid grasp of TypeScript and its principles.

• The ability to build robust APIs and services with Node.js in an AWS cloud environment.

• Previously built decoupled cloud-native services leveraging modern cloud patterns,

• A deep understanding of SQL, enabling the efficient development and optimisation of queries.

• Working knowledge of infrastructure-as-code techniques (We mostly use Terraform and, CDK)

• A firm commitment to deploying updates using CI and CD techniques.

• Fantastic communication skills. You’ll be open and compassionate. You’ll be open and compassionate within and outside your immediate team to maintain a high level of stakeholder engagement and satisfaction.

Day to day you’ll be:

• Working with engineers, designers and product managers to develop and enhance features within our back-office Customer Experience platform.

• Using your strong technical skills to write good-quality, testable code, respecting and contributing to the team's coding philosophies.

• Drawing on your experience to optimise and improve our existing codebase,

• Contributing to an environment of excellence; supporting, mentoring and coaching other engineers in the team.

• Owning deployments, monitoring outcomes and performance of your work as it goes into production.

• Documenting processes and decisions to facilitate knowledge sharing within the team.

• Contributing to the engineering roadmap and direction of the wider team.

• Promoting a psychologically safe environment where colleagues can provide regular constructive feedback and praise.

But it’s not all about us...

It’s just as much about you. We’re an ambitious, energetic bunch and we have our sights set on great things this year. We recognise the value our people bring, with their inquisitive minds, bright ideas and fantastic attitudes, and we aim to give as much as we receive. It’s only fair.

Our benefits:

• Our people work from wherever works best for them. We have office space in central London - but if you prefer to work from home, you could be in Cornwall, Cardiff, Carlisle, or anywhere else in the UK (it doesn’t even have to begin with ‘C’). All you need is your talent and a stable internet connection.

• We offer an allowance to help get your workspace set up.

• We understand 9-5 isn’t for everyone, and are always willing to talk about flexible or condensed hours, part-time work and job share opportunities.

• Life’s short and the world is wide. After 3 years at By Miles, you’ll be able to take a sabbatical and put time towards anything you like knowing your role is waiting for you.

• We offer enhanced parental leave policies, regardless of gender. Primary Caregiver Leave, Secondary Caregiver Leave, Adoption Leave, Parental Leave and Shared Parental Leave.

• Compassionate leave, Parental Bereavement Leave - When the worst happens, we want you to take the time you need without worrying about money or work.

• You’ll get 26 days of annual leave a year (plus bank holidays on top).

As well as offering flexibility in your role, we’re committed to helping you get to where you want to be - professionally and as a person. As part of the By Miles team, you’ll get access to:

• Flexible benefits through Thanks Ben worth £100 a month. This can be put towards anything you feel will increase your wellbeing (and, no, it definitely doesn’t have to be a gym membership).

• Access to 16000+ online courses through our Learning & Development platform

• Access to coaching from our incredible in-house coach, Helen McMillan.

• Access to on-demand mental health support through Plumm

Salary: £70,000-£80,000 + flexible benefits

Location: Work from anywhere in the UK, with full access to our offices in London (near London Bridge), Leeds, Bristol, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Doncaster, Perth, Maidstone, Gloucester, Farnham and Peterborough.

Our customers come from all walks of life, and so do we. We are committed to creating a diverse environment and are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics or disability.