Senior Software Engineer

The Company

Octopus Legacy is the place to plan for death and find support after loss.

Having been on our own startup journey, Octopus Group recently bought a stake in our company to supercharge our growth, and now we’re one of the fastest growing companies within the UK’s most exciting group (you may have heard of some of our sister companies…)

With our new brand, the Octopus platform at our disposal and a Top Secret plan to achieve radical scale we’re already transforming the way that people experience the process of planning for and dealing with death. 

We’ve assembled a crack team to prepare us for that scale, and you could be the missing piece we’re looking for!

The Role

As a Senior Software Engineer, you will be part of our growing engineering team, helping to design, build, test, deploy, and maintain our products. Your expertise will span the entire technology stack, from front-end interfaces to back-end services, ensuring high performance, responsiveness, and scalability. Your role will be crucial in shaping our technology stack, mentoring other developers, and driving best practices across our full-stack development process.

We are a startup moving at an extremely fast pace, and we're looking for individuals who thrive in such an environment. Our development team is highly collaborative, working closely together to deliver innovative solutions.

Key Responsibilities:

• Architect and Develop high-quality, full stack code for our products.
• Lead the design and implementation of complex features and systems.
• Collaborate with design and product to translate ideas and wireframes into functional applications.
• Integrate front-end components with back-end logic and APIs.
• Identify and resolve performance and scalability issues across the full stack.
• Contribute to the overall technical decision-making process.
• Mentor junior developers and contribute to code reviews and best practices.
• Contribute to technical decision-making and help shape our engineering culture.

Skills and Knowledge 

Must haves:

• 5+ years of experience in full stack web development, with a strong focus on back-end technologies.
• Deep understanding of Laravel's architecture, features, and best practices
• Good understanding of modern front-end frameworks (e.g., Vue.js, React, Angular).
• Strong experience with RESTful API design and implementation.
• Proficiency with relational databases (e.g., MySQL, PostgreSQL) and query optimization.
• Expert knowledge of version control systems, preferably Git.
• Experience with cloud platforms and deployment strategies (e.g., AWS, Google Cloud, Azure).
• Strong understanding of web application security best practices.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced startup environment.
• Strong collaborative skills and comfort with pair programming.
• Adaptability and willingness to learn new technologies quickly.

Nice to haves:

• Experience with modern CSS frameworks (e.g., Tailwind CSS, Bootstrap) and pre-processors (e.g., Sass, Less)..
• Familiarity with server-side rendering or static site generation techniques.
• Knowledge of containerization technologies (e.g., Docker).
• Experience with NoSQL databases (e.g., MongoDB, Cassandra).
• Proficiency in implementing and maintaining CI/CD pipelines.
• Project management and team leadership experience.
• Strong communication skills and ability to articulate technical concepts.
• Experience working with legacy code.

Bonus if you:

• Are familiar with domain-driven design principles.
• Enjoy knowledge sharing and participating in paired programming sessions.
• Are passionate about clean code and software design patterns.
• Have experience mentoring junior developers or leading small teams.

For reference, we use:

• Vue.js
• Inertia.js
• Laravel
• Tailwind CSS
• Git for version control
• Github Actions for CI/CD pipelines.

Our Mission

When people think about planning for death they think about wills, life insurance and funerals. We take these cold processes and turn them into something more human. Share more than money: leave voice notes, music, recipes. Shape a legacy that connects you while you're here. And after you're gone.

Founded by Sam after his mum died suddenly, we’re a group of people who work in death because we’ve been affected by it. We know the difference a good plan makes, and what it’s like when there isn’t one.

Death can come between us, leave mess, legal fees, frustration. But it can also make us stronger. We see a world where people talk openly about death, and work out the real meaning of legacy, one that connects to them. We’re here to make that world happen. 

Benefits:

• Flexible working: 3 days in the office (London, Holborn) 
• Work from anywhere in the world for up to 4 weeks per year.
• An extra holiday day for your birthday
• Life insurance, Health insurance, Will & LPAs
• Enhanced parental leave
• Octopus share incentive scheme 
• Cycle to Work Scheme and access to the Electric Vehicle (EV) Salary Sacrifice Scheme.
• Octopus Giving: we match any charitable fundraising that you do up to £500. 
• Octopus Springboard: where we help our employees become fully-fledged entrepreneurs.

We know that to be truly innovative, we need to have a diverse team around us. That is why Octopus Legacy is committed to creating an inclusive environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.