Senior Backend Developer - Utilities

Help us use technology to make a big green dent in the universe! Kraken powers some of the most innovative global developments in energy. We’re a technology company focused on creating a smart, sustainable energy system. From optimising renewable generation, creating a more intelligent grid and enabling utilities to provide excellent customer experiences, our operating system for energy is transforming the industry around the world in a way that benefits everyone. It’s a really exciting time in energy. Help us make a real impact on shaping a better, more sustainable future.

What we do: build the most AI-driven, innovative, forward-thinking platform for energy management. From optimizing resources to delivering cost-effective, exceptional customer experiences through advanced Customer Information Systems (CIS), billing, meter data management, CRM, and AI-driven communications, Kraken is powering the next wave of innovation in the energy industry.

Why we do it: future energy will not look like energy as we know it today. We need to not just think about our future, but build for it. Now.

Our team: All technology is written and maintained by a multi-discipline engineering team of around 500 people globally. Our engineers work in ‘super teams’ which are focused on key areas of our platform as well as other innovative products. This also includes server-side, client-side and mobile engineers working closely with UX experts, copywriters and designers. Teams are empowered to choose a way of working that works for them, often opting for a Kanban-like approach. Notion and Asana are then used to specify and manage work; Github, CircleCI and Terraform Enterprise as part of an immutable-infrastructure, continuous delivery pipeline; and Datadog, Sentry and Cloudwatch to measure performance and monitor production.

We’re Charging Kraken to power utilities beyond energy (think water, broadband) and have created a new business Kraken Utilities. We are building this team from scratch and are looking for experienced engineers to help us build and scale the team, implement a good culture and work on some really exciting tech challenges. As an early tech hire into this team you will have a huge opportunity to impact decision making and growing into leadership roles as the business scales. Together with the rest of the team, you will bring the same revolutionary customer experience, operational excellence and speed of innovation that Kraken is powering across energy retailers to other sectors.

Kraken Utilities: We’re extending the potential of our Kraken platform to serve clients in water and broadband industries and have created a new business; Kraken Utilities. This team has already signed 4 clients; Severn Trent, Leep, Portsmouth Water, and Cuckoo. We are ramping up our capabilities to support these new clients and revamping the existing platform with new business workflows and capabilities. We want to bring all the information within the energy industry to these new industries. Some of our coding conventions are open-source.

Our technology: On the server-side, we mainly use Python. Most of our websites are powered by Django, Django-REST-framework and GraphQL (Graphene). We use AWS heavily as part of a continuous deployment pipeline. Client-side, we use React, htmx and SASS; our mobile apps are built using native code or React Native.

What you'll do: We have lots of difficult design challenges to solve. The UK utilities market is complicated, outdated and process-heavy - there’s an awful lot of domain modelling that we need to get right. Strong attention to detail is essential. Help build and scale the Kraken utilities team by embedding an engineering, problem solving, and customer-first culture. Architect & develop new components of the Kraken platform to serve other utilities. We have challenging technical problems to solve; like processing tens of millions of meter readings a day. We need the right technology in place to handle this smoothly as well as feeding data into a machine learning pipeline that models and predicts consumption. Or thinking about how we adapt Kraken to improve other utilities like water and broadband. There’s a great opportunity for disruption in the UK water and broadband markets. The landscape is changing as we move to more dis-aggregated forms of generation, with less predictability, more dynamism and smarter technology. You’ll be working for a company that’s fighting climate change. Our generation arm is the largest investor in solar generation in the UK, and is funding wind and anaerobic digestion. As a supplier, we’re helping people to use greener technology and renewable energy, all helping move the UK towards a lower carbon future.

What you'll need: We’re looking for someone with a general interest in technology and problem-solving; someone diligent and thoughtful. Experience with the following: Python, Django (or equiv. web framework), Domain modelling, HTTP and REST APIs, Writing robust and fault-tolerant software, Celery and async processing, Postgres. Plus experience in the following would be a bonus: AWS, Terraform, Packer, Consul, React and Redux.

Why else you’ll love it here: Wondering what the salary for this role is? Just ask us! On a call with one of our recruiters it’s something we always cover as we genuinely want to match your experience with the correct salary. The reason why we don’t advertise is because we honestly have a degree of flexibility and would never want salary to be a reason why someone doesn’t apply to Octopus - what’s more important to us is finding the right octofit! Octopus Energy is a unique culture. An organisation where people learn, decide, and build quicker. Where people work with autonomy, alongside a wide range of amazing co-owners, on projects that break new ground. We want your hard work to be rewarded with perks you actually care about! We won best company to work for in 2022, on Glassdoor we were voted 50 best places to work in 2022 and our Group CEO, Greg has recorded a podcast about our culture and how we empower our people. Visit our perks hub - Octopus Employee Benefits.

We would prefer someone who can work in our London office on a hybrid remote policy of 1-2 days a week onsite. You do need to be able to work in the UK. We’re very excited to be growing our team. We’re looking for skills and experience to help shape and define the future of not only our team, but the wider business at a global scale. If you’re reading this and grinning, please apply! There are huge challenges to tackle, and we need amazing people who are keen to get stuck in. If this sounds like you then we’d love to hear from you.

Are you ready for a career with us? We want to ensure you have all the tools and environment you need to unleash your potential. Need any specific accommodations? Whether you require specific accommodations or have a unique preference, let us know, and we’ll do what we can to customise your interview process for comfort and maximum magic! Studies have shown that some groups of people, like women, are less likely to apply to a role unless they meet 100% of the job requirements. Whoever you are, if you like one of our jobs, we encourage you to apply as you might just be the candidate we hire. Across Octopus, we’re looking for genuinely decent people who are honest and empathetic. Our people are our strongest asset and the unique skills and perspectives people bring to the team are the driving force of our success. As an equal opportunity employer, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected attribute. Our commitment is to provide equal opportunities, an inclusive work environment, and fairness for everyone.