<p><strong>About the Role</strong></p> <p>As a&nbsp;Staff Engineer, you'll be a hands-on technical leader who drives engineering excellence across multiple teams. You’ll work on complex, high-scale systems, design solutions that support millions of customer interactions, and help teams deliver high‑quality, robust and scalable products.</p> <p>This is a role for someone who loves solving tough problems, mentoring engineers, influencing technical direction, and operating across a broad architecture landscape. You’ll work closely with engineering leaders, peers and stakeholders to set strategic direction, raise engineering standards, and deliver real value for our customers.</p> <p>You’ll also help us leverage AI and automation to scale our capabilities and enhance both colleague and customer experiences.</p> <p><strong>What You’ll Be Doing</strong></p> <ul> <li>Shaping strategic technical direction alongside the Senior Head of Engineering.</li> <li>Partnering with engineering teams to evaluate decisions, influence design, and guide delivery.</li> <li>Acting as a coach and mentor to engineers at all levels, promoting strong engineering practices.</li> <li>Providing hands-on development expertise where it matters most.</li> <li>Working across domains in Sainsbury’s Tech to build reusable, consistent and scalable solutions.</li> <li>Being a trusted technical point of contact, supporting teams to achieve their best work.</li> <li>Helping expand our engineering career pathways and improving how we attract and develop talent.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Why Join Us?</strong></p> <p>We’re a 150‑year‑old organisation with the mindset of a modern tech company.</p> <ul> <li>We run over 1,000+ microservices in AWS, Azure and GCP</li> <li>Stream billions of Kafka messages across our platforms</li> <li>Serve 10+ million Nectar users</li> <li>Power Argos — one of the UK’s biggest retail websites</li> <li>Operate large-scale supply chain systems delivering products across the UK</li> </ul> <p>You’ll broaden your technical knowledge, solve complex engineering challenges and make a genuine impact at enterprise scale.</p> <p><strong>Essential Criteria</strong></p> <p>Technical Expertise</p> <ul> <li>Significant hands-on engineering experience across backend and frontend technologies.</li> <li>Strong proficiency in at least one modern programming language (e.g.&nbsp;Java, React, Next.js).</li> <li>Proven experience designing and implementing scalable, robust and secure systems.</li> <li>Strong knowledge of cloud platforms (AWS, Azure or GCP) and modern distributed architectures.</li> <li>Proven ability to guide teams in best practices, engineering principles and solution design.</li> </ul> <p>Leadership & Influence</p> <ul> <li>Ability to mentor, coach and technically inspire engineers at all levels.</li> <li>Experience influencing technical decisions and aligning teams around a clear engineering vision.</li> <li>Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.</li> </ul> <p>Ways of Working</p> <ul> <li>Solid understanding of Agile methodologies and the ability to support high‑performing, long‑lived teams.</li> <li>Ability to evaluate risk, drive continuous improvement and support teams through change.</li> </ul> <p>Mindset</p> <ul> <li>Customer‑obsessed, adaptable and eager to embrace new challenges.</li> <li>Passionate about innovation, learning, and delivering high‑quality solutions.</li> </ul> <p><strong>What’s in It for You</strong></p> <ul> <li>Flexible working tailored to your lifestyle</li> <li>Colleague discount across Sainsbury’s, Argos and Habitat</li> <li>Health cover and wellbeing support</li> <li>Competitive holiday allowance</li> <li>Bonus scheme and pension plan</li> <li>Exclusive discounts on gyms, restaurants, travel, retail and more</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;If you’re ready to take the lead, push boundaries and help shape the future of technology at Sainsbury’s, we’d love to hear from you.</p>