Staff Engineer

We are looking for a dynamic and proactive individual who can think creatively to solve complex engineering problems and meet user requirements. You must be light and reactive, capable of delivering results while managing the details of implementation. You must have demonstrable expertise in software engineering with a wide range of knowledge, and be ready to research and learn new techniques, languages, and frameworks. Working with a DevSecOps mindset, you will be developing, delivering, and operating applications using a secure approach.

The Staff Engineer acts as a technical leader, overseeing technical designs from requirements gathering through to live release. You will be responsible for managing the details of implementation, identifying and enforcing best practices and ensuring alignment with our standards, as well as making well-considered decisions on the ground. You will also play a key role coordinating with and ensuring alignment with best practices from contractors, third parties, or agencies.

Main Duties

• Design innovative solutions to solve complex problems and meet requirements.
• Develop and test according to requirements using a variety of programming languages, frameworks, tools, and techniques.
• Encourage and practice Test Driven Development and other Delivery Best practices.
• Contribute to peer reviews and produce documentation as necessary.
• Monitor progress against assigned deliverables and triage issues that arise throughout those deliverables.
• Be proactive, anticipating opportunities for systems, service, or product improvement or development, and taking appropriate action(s).
• Competent in DevSecOps approach and practices.
• Actively contribute to Scrum ceremonies such as Refinement, Sprint Planning, Sprint Review, and Retrospective, ensuring alignment with our standards and making well-considered decisions on the ground.
• Communicate effectively to a variety of audiences including both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Contribute to improvements of our technical excellence and ways of working within Squad, Chapter, and Guild forums.
• Understand emerging technologies and their suitability to business demands.
• Address Technical Debt and recommend and work towards continuous improvement initiatives.
• Elaborate solutions at a high level and create low-level designs that conform to set standards.
• Actively contribute to and progress the technical roadmap.
• Identify and own Non-Functional Requirements.
• Actively encourage, drive technical demos, and provide knowledge transfer during the delivery stride.
• Oversee the integration of various technologies, including AI, front-end, and back-end systems, acting as a lynchpin to ensure cohesive solutions and alignment with our standards.
• Provide technical guidance and mentorship to team members.
• Collaborate with the delivery lead to align on strategy and planning, freeing them to focus on broader responsibilities.
• Foster a culture of trust and creativity, helping the team to exceed individual capabilities.
• Be onsite as needed to provide hands-on leadership and support, fostering a culture of trust and creativity within the team.
• Will lead technical resources in the Delivery team.

Experience Required

Behavioural:

• Ability to creatively think around a brief and challenge it if necessary.
• Understanding of Agile Scrum methodology and practices.
• Prioritisation and time management skills to hit deadlines.
• Strong communication and influence skills with the confidence to communicate ideas effectively to peers, seniors, and management, and build strong trust in leadership.
• Ability to produce quality documentation as necessary.
• Able to transfer knowledge between other members of the team through mentoring and coaching.
• A focus on continuous improvement and a desire to push your ideas forward.
• Able to plan and coordinate technical requirements and tasks across the team.
• Proactive approach to problem-solving and a desire for continual learning and improvement.
• Ability to build trust and foster a creative, collaborative team environment, helping the team to exceed individual capabilities.

Technical:

• Proficiency in a range of technologies, including hands-on software development.
• Experience with AI and machine learning applications.
• Strong understanding of front-end and back-end development.
• Ability to diagnose and resolve complex technical issues.
• REST API / Web services development experience.
• Experience with SQL, and database technologies such as PostgreSQL, MySQL, or MS SQL.
• Experience with development tools such as Git, Maven, npm, etc.
• Experience of unit testing.
• Proven knowledge of design patterns and Object-Oriented Design.
• Experience with Cloud Technologies, preferably Google Cloud Platform (GCP) / Azure.
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines, ideally Azure DevOps and tools such as Jenkins.
• Experience with containerisation products such as Docker, Kubernetes, Helm, or Terraform.
• Experience with Analysis and Monitoring tools like Kibana/Heap/App Dynamics/GTM.
• Experience with Security related frameworks/tools like Sonatype, SonarQube.
• Solid understanding of networking concepts such as load balancing, firewalls, resiliency, reverse proxies, etc.
• Experience of performance testing tools.
• Knowledge of identity management frameworks such as OAuth 2.0 or OpenID Connect and their application.

Benefits and Work-Life Balance 

At Admiral, we are proud to be a diverse business where we put our people and customers first. We have great benefits to ensure employees have a great work-life balance; it's one of the reasons we’re consistently voted one of the Sunday Times Best Big Companies to work for in the UK. We want you to have an element of freedom to define a working lifestyle that supports this, so accommodate flexible hours wherever possible. 

All colleagues will receive 33 days holiday (including banks holidays) when they join us, and this will increase with length of service, up to a maximum of 38 days (including banks holidays). You also have the option to buy or sell up to five days of annual leave in addition to your allocation. 

You can also view some of our other key benefits here. 

Admiral, Where You Can Be You

At Admiral you’re accepted, supported and empowered to be you. Because you’re brilliant.

We’re proud of our people-centric culture which has led us to being recognised as a Great Place to Work for Women, a Great Place to Work for Wellbeing, and an overall Great Place to Work for over 25 years! We’re committed to ensuring that at Admiral, progression is not slowed or haltered by barriers related to protected characteristics.

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