Software Engineer, Python

The Company

We’re Octopus Legacy: one of the fastest growing tech companies in the country, part of the UK’s most exciting and best-trusted group (you may have heard of some of our sister companies…) and we have a mission.

We’re on a path to scale, aiming to become a household name while transforming a long-established industry and helping our customers prepare for, and find support after, death.

But we can’t do it alone, and that’s why we’re assembling a team of top performers to build with us.

Ready to be part of something big?

The Role  

As a Python Engineer, you will be a key member of our growing engineering team, responsible for designing, building, testing, deploying, and maintaining scalable systems. This is an exciting opportunity to work on a greenfield project, where you’ll have the ability to make key decisions on architecture and development, contributing to both back-end services and some front-end components. 

A key aspect of the role includes working with and integrating Large Language Models (LLMs) into our products, so experience in this area is a plus. While our preference is for expertise in AWS (using services like Lambda, S3, SNS, SQS, DynamoDB), we are happy to consider candidates with comparable experience in other cloud platforms like GCP or Azure. 

You will work closely with our Engineering Manager and Lead Python Engineer to help deliver high-quality solutions that enhance our product, and collaborate across teams to bring impactful features to life. 

As part of a fast-paced startup, you will thrive in an environment that values collaboration, flexibility, and quick iteration while maintaining the balance between speed and quality.

Key Responsibilities:

• Input into the design and development of scalable, cloud-native systems, leveraging modern architecture principles such as microservices and serverless frameworks.
• Write maintainable, efficient, and clean code primarily in Python, focusing on performance, scalability, and reliability.
• Build and maintain robust automated testing and CI/CD pipelines to support fast, frequent, and reliable deployments.
• Work closely with cross-functional stakeholders, including product managers, designers, and other engineers, to help gather requirements, develop features, and address user needs.
• Show best practices in development, demonstrating a strong balance between rapid iteration and high-quality output.
• Participate in code reviews, architectural discussions, and continuous improvement initiatives to foster a culture of technical excellence.
• Champion a lean mindset and agile methodologies, contributing to sprint planning, daily stand-ups, and retrospectives.
• Engage with the product and users to understand their needs, ensuring that the solutions delivered align with business goals and enhance the customer experience.

Must Haves:

• Proven track record in software development using Python or similar languages.
• Cloud experience, ideally with AWS (e.g., Lambda, S3, SNS, SQS, DynamoDB); however, similar expertise in GCP or Azure is also highly valued.
• Hands-on experience with automated testing practices and CI/CD tools such as CircleCI, Jenkins, GitHub Actions, or cloud-native solutions like AWS CodePipeline.
• Ability to thrive in a startup environment, embracing change, iteration, and rapid development cycles.
• Strong understanding of RESTful APIs, with experience in building, consuming, and optimising them.
• Experience or familiarity with OpenAI APIs or other LLMs, with an interest in integrating these technologies into products.
• Excellent collaboration and communication skills, enabling smooth work across engineering and non-engineering teams.
• Experience working in agile teams and familiarity with agile development practices.
• A passion for building products that deliver real value to users and a strong customer-centric approach.

Nice to Haves:

• Experience with serverless frameworks (e.g., Serverless Framework, AWS SAM) or equivalent technologies on GCP/Azure.
• Familiarity with infrastructure as code (IaC) tools like AWS CloudFormation, Terraform, or equivalent tools in other cloud environments.
• Experience with containerisation (e.g., Docker) and orchestration tools like Kubernetes or ECS.
• Experience or interest in building AI agents (e.g: Langchain)
• Background in event-driven architecture.
• Understanding of Python web frameworks such as Flask or FastAPI.
• Experience optimising applications for cloud performance, cost-efficiency, and scalability.
• Hands-on experience with monitoring and logging tools (e.g., AWS CloudWatch, Datadog, ELK stack).
• An understanding of lean software development principles and practices focused on delivering value quickly.
• A passion for mentoring and sharing knowledge, contributing to a culture of continuous learning and growth.

Our Mission

In 2016 Sam’s mum died suddenly in a car accident. The experience that followed was overwhelming - with mountains of paperwork, sitting on hold and navigating financial stress. All at a time when he needed the space to navigate grief.

Death is difficult enough, without everything else that comes with it. Octopus Legacy was created to make the experience of losing someone easier for those left behind - so that they can focus on what matters.

Since then we have helped over 700,000 people plan for death and find support after a loss and are now the second largest estate planner in the UK.

When people think about planning for death they think about wills, life insurance and funerals. These small but mighty acts make a huge difference to the people we love. But why stop there?

We take these cold processes and turn them into something more human. We help customers share more than just money. Encouraging them to leave voice notes, music, recipes. So they can shape a legacy that connects them with the people they love while they’re here. And after they’re gone.

 

Benefits:

• Octopus share incentive scheme.
• Hybrid working (London Bridge).
• Flexible holiday + extra day off for your Birthday.
• Work from anywhere in the world for up to 4 weeks per year.
• Vitality Health & Life Insurance. 
• Pension scheme.
• Enhanced parental leave.
• Free Will & LPAs + discounts on other Octopus services.
• 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.
• Dog friendly office.
• Breakfast every day, snacks and wellness activities.

 

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.