Senior Software Engineer - UK

Senior Software Engineer Description Location: Remote/Hybrid UK-based) Team: Engineering Reports to: VP of Engineering About SourceWhale Financial Timesʼ fastest-growing software company in Europe 2025, SourceWhale is a group of really smart people solving productivity problems for people-intensive industries using AI and automation. Founded in 2020, we are currently focused on automating the manual, tedious parts of sales and recruitment activities, empowering companies and their employees to get more done. The platform consolidates every stage of the industry's work-flows into one sleek, integrated tool. Building alongside cutting-edge LLMs, SourceWhale is poised to be the company that puts the AI 'agent' in recruitment agencies. Voted one of The Sunday Timesʼ Best Places to Work 2025, we pursue innovation, champion employee wellbeing and offer fast-paced growth in a supportive transatlantic culture. Our engineering team is a group of thoughtful, collaborative professionals who value quality, continuous improvement, and meaningful product outcomes over outputs. As we enter our next stage of growth, weʼre on the lookout for a Senior Software Engineer who wants to make an impact on a platform used all day, every working day, by thousands of people. The Role This is a senior role focused on technical leadership, stream-level delivery, and engineering excellence. Youʼll own complex technical work end-to-end, guide architectural and implementation decisions, mentor engineers across the stream, and help shape how we build software at SourceWhale. While this role remains hands-on, impact is measured not only by the code you write, but by how effectively you improve the quality, reliability, and effectiveness of the wider team. Youʼll work closely with Product Managers, QA Engineers, Designers, and Software Engineers to deliver scalable, high-quality solutions across a platform that includes: Python backend services Svelte/jQuery frontend applications AWS cloud infrastructure CRM integrations Chrome and email extensions OpenAI-powered workflows and automation This role is ideal for someone who enjoys solving technically complex problems while helping others grow and improving how teams operate. What Youʼll Do Lead complex technical delivery Own the delivery of complex features and systems end-to-end. Break ambiguous product problems into scalable technical solutions. Balance speed, maintainability, reliability, and customer value in decision-making. Guide implementation decisions and technical trade-offs across the stream. Drive technical excellence Write maintainable, predictable, scalable code. Perform thoughtful technical reviews that improve both code quality and engineer capability. Shape patterns, standards, and approaches that improve consistency across the stream Identify and resolve systemic technical issues, not just isolated bugs. Influence architecture & design Design efficient, scalable systems with long-term maintainability in mind. Evaluate architectural trade-offs across integrations, APIs, infrastructure, and product workflows. Anticipate scaling challenges and operational risks early. Contribute to broader engineering discussions through technical leadership and peer influence. Mentor & elevate engineers Coach junior engineers on implementation, debugging, design patterns, and engineering practices. Provide timely, actionable technical feedback. Support a culture of collaboration, ownership, accountability, and continuous improvement. Lead through example by modelling strong engineering judgement and professionalism. Improve reliability & operations Improve deployment reliability, monitoring, and observability across the stream. Participate in and lead production incident response where needed. Drive actionable post-mortems and operational improvements. Advocate for proactive quality practices that reduce long-term operational risk. Collaborate cross-functionally Partner closely with Product and QA to ensure the team understands what is being built, why it matters, and how quality is maintained. Simplify complex technical concepts for non-technical stakeholders. Communicate risks, dependencies, and trade-offs clearly and early. What Weʼre Looking For Technical experience Strong professional experience with backend development using Python. Experience building modern frontend applications Svelte and/or jQuery preferred). Strong understanding of APIs, distributed systems, integrations, and Scalable application design. Experience working across complex product ecosystems and multiple Technical surfaces. Experience with any of the following is beneficial: AWS cloud infrastructure Browser/email extensions CRM integrations OpenAI APIs / LLM-powered applications Observability and operational tooling How we expect Senior Engineers to operate - At SourceWhale, Senior Engineers are expected to create impact beyond individual contribution. You will likely thrive here if you: Drive impact through technical leadership and execution Hold high standards for quality, maintainability, and delivery Coach and elevate engineers around you Think deeply about systems, scalability, and operational resilience Communicate clearly and proactively Take ownership of outcomes, not just tasksSenior Software Engineer - Job Description4 Balance pragmatism with craftsmanship Care about the product and customer impact behind the work What Success Looks Like Over time, successful Senior Engineers at SourceWhale: Become trusted owners of complex systems and delivery areas Improve engineering quality across the wider stream, not just their own work Lead complex technical initiatives involving multiple engineers Raise standards through mentoring, reviews, and technical leadership Make sound technical trade-offs that improve both delivery and long-term maintainability Build trust with stakeholders through clear communication and predictable delivery Reduce operational risk through thoughtful design and engineering discipline Growth Path This role can evolve in multiple directions depending on your strengths and interests, including: Principal Engineer — deep technical expertise and cross-stream technical standards Systems Architect — broader architectural ownership and systems strategy Technical Leadership — stream leadership, people development, and operational stewardship Our Engineering Principles These principles guide how we work and grow together: Teamwork: We collaborate openly, communicate honestly, and celebrate shared success. Product quality: We take pride in delivering robust, high-impact solutions for our users. Peer leadership: We foster continuous learning, feedback, and accountability. Our teams focus on sustained product outcomes, not one-off projects. We deliver continuous value, evolve based on feedback, minimise dependencies, and operate with transparency and collective responsibility. Benefits 25 days annual leave (plus public holidays) MacBook + any additional tech or software you need Flexible working arrangements Private Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance through Aviva Income Protection Insurance Extended mental health cover and Employee Assistance Programme Compassionate leave policy Private pension contributions Royal London) Monthly company social events Regular in-person hackathons Apply To This Job