At a Glance
- Tasks: Enhance search and discovery for members, optimising performance and personalisation.
- Company: Join Blue Light Card, supporting heroes with meaningful digital experiences.
- Benefits: Hybrid work, 25 days leave, discounts, and wellness support.
- Other info: Collaborative culture with strong learning opportunities and a commitment to diversity.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on member experiences while working with cutting-edge technologies.
- Qualifications: Experience in React, Node.js, TypeScript, and search technologies like Algolia or Elasticsearch.
The predicted salary is between 56700 - 69300 £ per year.
At Blue Light Card, we are on a mission to support millions of members with meaningful digital experiences. Following a major platform transformation, we have created strong foundations for exciting greenfield initiatives and continued innovation across the member experience.
As part of a collaborative agile squad, you will work closely with Product and Engineering teams to enhance search and discovery capabilities, helping members find what they need quickly and intuitively. The team focuses on delivering outcomes across personalisation, engagement, member growth, share of wallet and platform evolution, with search playing a critical role in that journey.
What You’ll Do
- Own and evolve the search and discovery experience for members, from indexing through to ranking, relevance and overall search performance.
- Design and optimise search relevance, including query understanding, synonyms, boosting, faceting and ranking, using tools such as Algolia, Elasticsearch or similar platforms.
- Run experiments on search and relevance changes, measuring success through key metrics such as click-through rates, engagement and zero-result rates.
- Partner with Product to define and deliver exceptional member experiences, including autocomplete, typo tolerance and personalised search journeys.
- Build and maintain the data pipelines that power search, ensuring indexes remain accurate, fresh and scalable.
- Take ownership of the search domain, leading solution design and delivery of mid-sized engineering initiatives while driving continuous improvement.
- Contribute to a collaborative engineering culture by sharing expertise, challenging assumptions and supporting innovation.
- Mentor junior engineers and help maintain robust continuous delivery practices that enable efficient and reliable software releases.
What You’ll Bring
- Strong commercial experience with modern technologies including React, Node.js and TypeScript.
- Proven experience building and integrating search functionality within production applications using Algolia, Elasticsearch, OpenSearch or similar technologies.
- Solid understanding of information retrieval principles, including relevance scoring, indexing strategies, query optimisation and ranking methodologies.
- Experience leveraging search analytics, experimentation and performance metrics to identify opportunities and drive continuous improvements.
- Hands-on experience with AWS services including Cognito, DynamoDB, Lambda, S3, EventBridge, AppSync, API Gateway and SQS.
- Experience building and deploying cloud-native applications using serverless architectures within AWS environments.
- Excellent communication skills with the ability to influence and collaborate effectively across technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Strong mentoring, problem-solving and adaptability skills, with the ability to thrive in ambiguity and an interest in emerging search technologies such as semantic and vector search.
Our Culture
Our mission is simple: make heroes happy. Our members are the real-life heroes who keep us all safe, cared for and thriving. It’s what drives us to create exceptional experiences, deliver unrivalled discounts, innovative products and world-class service.
We don’t follow the usual path. We look for smarter, bolder ways to create impact, take ownership, move quickly and work together to build something special. We’re committed to building a diverse and inclusive environment where everyone feels they belong. Different perspectives help us innovate, grow and better serve our communities.
We promote hybrid working and value in-person collaboration, with offices in Leicestershire and London (Holborn). While flexibility is important, fully remote working is not available.
What We Offer
- Hybrid working and flexible hours.
- Free parking and EV charging onsite at HQ.
- 25 days annual leave, birthday leave and holiday buy/sell scheme.
- Company bonus scheme.
- Blue Light Card membership with access to thousands of discounts.
- Regular social events, team activities and company celebrations.
- Company-wide recognition programmes, including Lights Up and Shine awards.
- Relaxed dress code and modern office facilities with complimentary snacks and drinks.
- Onsite gym facilities at HQ, including free fitness classes.
- Strong learning and development culture.
- Group pension scheme.
- Enhanced parental and absence leave.
- Company-funded private medical insurance.
- Healthcare cashback plan.
- Employee assistance programme, mental health support and mental health first aiders.
Senior Full Stack Engineer - Search - hybrid in London employer: Blue Light Card
At Blue Light Card, we pride ourselves on being an exceptional employer that champions the happiness of our members and employees alike. Our vibrant work culture fosters collaboration and innovation, with a strong emphasis on personal growth through a dedicated development fund and flexible working arrangements. Located in Leicestershire or London, we offer a range of benefits including generous annual leave, private medical insurance, and a supportive environment that values diversity and inclusion.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Senior Full Stack Engineer - Search - hybrid in London
✨Join Local Tech Meetups
Get out there and mingle with fellow developers by joining local tech meetups. It’s a fantastic way to meet people who might be working at Blue Light Card or know someone who does. Plus, you can pick up some trendy tech skills and trends while you're at it!
✨Contribute to Open Source Projects
Show off your coding chops by jumping into open-source projects. Not only does this give you practical experience, but it also gets you noticed in the dev community. You'll create a killer portfolio that speaks volumes about your skills to Blue Light Card.
✨Tap into Online Developer Communities
Don’t underestimate the power of online developer communities like GitHub, Stack Overflow, and even Reddit. Participate in discussions, share your projects, and build your visibility. We can often find opportunities through these channels that can lead to a full-time gig at companies like Blue Light Card.
✨Explore Job Boards Specifically for Tech Roles
Keep your eyes peeled on job boards that focus on tech roles. Sites like TechCareers or Stack Overflow Jobs can often have listings for companies like Blue Light Card that might not show up on broader job sites. Make it a habit to check these regularly, and don’t hesitate to apply directly through our website!
We think you need these skills to ace Senior Full Stack Engineer - Search - hybrid in London
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show off your coding skills:When applying for a software engineering role, it's super important to showcase your coding skills. Make sure your CV includes your tech stack, any relevant programming languages you’re comfortable with, and examples of projects you've worked on. If you have a GitHub profile, link it up! We love to see code in action.
Tailor your portfolio:For a full-time role, we’d expect to see some solid examples of your work in your portfolio. Make sure to include at least two or three projects that highlight your problem-solving skills and your ability to work with different technologies. Focus on the projects that are most relevant to the position at Blue Light Card.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at Blue Light Card and how your skills align with the role. Show us your passion for software development. We dig enthusiastic candidates who understand the value of collaboration and continuous learning!
Be clear and concise:When it comes to writing your CV and cover letter, clarity is key. Avoid jargon that could confuse us and stick to simple, direct language. Highlight your achievements with quantifiable results where possible, and keep everything easy to read. A well-organised application goes a long way!
How to prepare for a job interview at Blue Light Card
✨Brush Up on Your Coding Skills
For a full-time software engineering role, it's crucial that we stay sharp with our coding abilities. Expect technical questions that might involve solving problems on the spot or discussing algorithms. Practise on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to get comfortable with the types of questions that often come up.
✨Know Your Tools and Frameworks
Make sure we’re well-acquainted with the tools and technologies listed in the job description. Familiarise ourselves with any specific frameworks or programming languages mentioned. If Blue Light Card uses React or Node.js, for instance, be ready to discuss how we’ve used them in previous projects or coursework.
✨Showcase Your Projects
Bring along a portfolio that highlights our best work. This could be code samples, GitHub repositories, or any side projects we’ve built. Make sure we can talk through our thought process for each project, especially the challenges we faced and how we solved them—this shows our problem-solving skills in action.
✨Prepare for Behavioural Questions
While technical skills are key, full-time positions also require cultural fit. Be ready to discuss our previous experiences and how we handle teamwork, conflict, and deadlines. Brush up on the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—to clearly articulate our past experiences when discussing how we've contributed to a team.
