Staff Software Engineer- (Optimizely Analytics, Backend)

Optimizely; London; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading data-driven solutions company in London is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to lead the architecture of scalable backend systems. You will mentor engineers, ensure operational excellence, and collaborate closely with cross-functional teams. Ideal candidates have over 8 years of software development experience, expertise in distributed systems, and proficiency in Java. Join us for a dynamic environment focused on innovation and growth.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of software development experience.
• 5+ years of backend experience with large-scale distributed systems.
• Deep expertise in API design and performance tuning.

Responsibilities

• Design and evolve the architecture of scalable distributed systems.
• Drive technical excellence across the engineering organization.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams for impactful feature delivery.

Skills

Software development

System design

Distributed systems

Mentorship

Cloud-native architectures

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or equivalent

Tools

Java

CI/CD pipelines

Job description

Overview

Optimizely Analytics is the industry leading warehouse native analytics platform. We are used by Canva, Grammarly, Alaska Airlines, and many more to unlock data-driven decisions for experiment analysis, product analytics, sales analytics and beyond. You will work in a small, nimble team. Our team prides itself on shipping with speed and having our engineers be make product and design decisions with ownership and autonomy. As the newest addition to the Optimizely product portfolio, with a rapidly growing customer base there is tremendous opportunity to work on exciting and impact areas of the product.

Job Responsibilities

• As a Staff Software Engineer, you will be a technical leader responsible for shaping the foundation of Optimizely Analytics’ backend systems and scaling them to meet the needs of our rapidly growing customer base. You will:
• Design and evolve the architecture of highly scalable, reliable, and secure distributed systems.
• Drive technical excellence across the engineering organization by setting standards for code quality, system design, observability, and operational best practices.
• Collaborate closely with Product, UX, and Application Engineering teams to deliver impactful features while ensuring architectural soundness and scalability.
• Mentor and guide senior and mid-level engineers, fostering technical growth and elevating the overall team’s capabilities.
• Anticipate and address complex system challenges such as performance optimization, fault tolerance, and data-intensive workloads.
• Influence product direction, leveraging deep technical insight to shape road

Knowledge and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, or equivalent practical experience.
• 8+ years of software development experience with strong foundations in data structures, algorithms, and distributed systems.
• 5+ years of backend experience building, deploying, and operating large-scale distributed systems in production.
• Deep expertise in system design, API design, scalability, and performance tuning.
• Proficiency in at least one modern backend programming language (Java preferred).
• Hands-on experience with cloud-native architectures, containerization, orchestration, and CI/CD pipelines.

We Would Love to See

• Prior experience as a technical lead or staff engineer, driving large cross-functional initiatives to completion.
• Experience building enterprise-grade backend infrastructure that handles high-volume, low-latency workloads.
• Proven ability to influence architecture and technical strategy across multiple teams.
• A track record of mentoring engineers and scaling engineering organizations.
• Passion for working in fast-paced environments where you wear multiple hats and influence both product and technology.

Education

• Bachelor’s Degree (Computer Science or engineering preferred) or equivalent work experience
• Displaying Technical Expertise
• Communicating Effectively
• Solving Complex Problems
• Demonstrating Initiative
• Delivering High Quality Work

Optimizely is committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace. Optimizely is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, or other legally protected status.