Staff Software Engineer - Warehouse Automation

As part of the M&S Software Engineering team, you'll be joining a well-loved historic brand, working on solutions that serve millions of loyal customers and thousands of colleagues. With ethical values that run right through the company's core and technology leaders that truly understand software engineering, it's an exciting time as we're redefining ourselves into a digital-first and engineering-led organisation, with the quality of our engineering team being a key differentiator.

This role sits within our Warehouse Automation team, supporting the Fashion, Home & Beauty (FH&B) Supply Chain & Logistics sub-domain, a core part of M&S's growth plans. You will help shape the integrations between our Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) and warehouse automation partners such as Beumer, Dematic and Geek+, building robust, scalable solutions with strong observability, clear metrics and best-in-class engineering practices. You'll play a key role in driving technical direction, improving interface quality and ensuring the operational reliability required to deliver automation safely and effectively within live warehouse environments.

Due to high interest, this role may close earlier than advertised. We recommend applying as soon as possible.

What You'll Do

Your key accountabilities will include

• Develop, test and debug software solutions, setting the standard for engineering excellence and championing best coding practices across the team.
• Provide technical leadership on complex projects, ensuring software solutions align with technology strategy, architectural standards and engineering best practices.
• Lead the design and implementation of scalable software solutions and third-party integrations, partnering closely with Architecture teams to deliver robust and adaptable systems.
• Conduct thorough code reviews to ensure maintainability, automated testing coverage, performance and code quality, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
• Collaborate with product managers, business stakeholders and engineering teams to understand requirements and deliver effective technical solutions.
• Mentor and coach engineers at all levels, sharing knowledge and supporting their professional growth and development.
• Drive operational excellence by ensuring systems are effectively monitored, alerting is in place, incidents are investigated efficiently and learnings are incorporated into future development activities.

Who You Are

Your skills and experience will include

• Proven track record in full-stack engineering, delivering high-performing, scalable user interfaces, backend systems and complex integrations.
• Deep understanding of software engineering principles, patterns and best practices, with a focus on building maintainable, adaptable and resilient software.
• Strong knowledge of automated testing and performance testing approaches across unit, integration and system testing layers for both front-end and back-end technologies.
• Proven hands-on experience implementing DevSecOps practices across enterprise-scale applications and technology platforms.
• Technical proficiency across a range of programming languages and technologies, including Java, SQL, JavaScript and modern CI/CD tooling.
• Experience designing, building and operating scalable cloud-native applications with a strong focus on reliability, security and performance.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to a variety of audiences.
• A strong mentoring mindset with a genuine passion for supporting engineers and enabling high-performing teams.
• Good knowledge of AI/ML technologies and GenAI tools such as Copilot, including hands-on experience implementing AI-enabled solutions across the software development lifecycle.
• Knowledge of the retail domain, particularly Supply Chain and Warehouse Management Systems such as Blue Yonder Dispatcher.

Desirable Experience

• Experience implementing Warehouse Management System (WMS) integrations with Warehouse Control Systems (WCS), automation platforms and material handling solutions within large-scale operational environments.

Tech Stack

The team uses a variety of technologies, including:

• Languages & Frameworks: Java (Spring Boot),.NET, Angular, AngularJS, React, TypeScript, Playwright, Cucumber, JMeter, Python and AI/ML technologies.
• Cloud & Infrastructure: Azure IaaS and PaaS services, Docker, Kubernetes, Helm and Terraform.
• Data & Messaging: Kafka (Confluent), IBM MQ/MQFTE and SFTP.
• Databases: SQL Server on Azure.
• API & Integration: Apigee, REST APIs and Windows Services.
• Observability: Dynatrace, PagerDuty and Helix.
• CI/CD & Quality: GitHub Actions, SonarQube, Semgrep, Snyk, Prisma, GitHub Advanced Security and Qualys.
• Analytics: Power BI.

What's in it for you?

Working at M&S means being part of something bigger - helping to deliver quality, value and service to millions of customers every day. We're inclusive, fast-moving and always evolving, with a strong sense of purpose and a focus on doing the right thing.

Here are just a few of the benefits that make working here even more rewarding:

• 20% colleague discount on all M&S products and many third-party brands for you and someone in your household, available once you've completed your probation.
• Competitive holiday allowance with the option to buy more.
• Discretionary bonus schemes linked to your performance and ours.
• Strong pension and life assurance to help plan for the future.
• Tailored induction and training to support your development from day one.
• Exclusive perks and savings through our M&S Choices portal.
• Market-leading family policies, including parental, adoption and neonatal leave.
• 24/7 wellbeing support, including virtual GP access and mental health services.
• One paid volunteer day a year to support a cause that matters to you.

Everyone's Welcome

We are ambitious about the future of retail. We're disrupting, innovating and leading the industry into a more conscientious, inspiring digital era. We're transforming how we work together and offering our most exciting opportunities yet. Marks & Spencer strives to be an inclusive organisation, trusted and admired by our colleagues, customers and suppliers. Join us and make change happen.

We are committed to building diverse and representative teams, where everyone can bring their whole selves to work and be at their best. We support each other and work together to win together.

If you feel you'd benefit from any support or reasonable adjustments during any stage of the recruitment process, please don't hesitate to let us know when completing your application. This information will be picked up by our team, so we can try and put steps in place to help you be at your best through this process.

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