At a Glance
- Tasks: Build and maintain innovative loyalty platform services for millions of customers.
- Company: Join the iconic M&S brand, transforming into a digital-first organisation.
- Benefits: Enjoy discounts, competitive holidays, and 24/7 wellbeing support.
- Other info: Be part of a diverse team committed to innovation and excellence.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in a dynamic team while advancing your engineering skills.
- Qualifications: Experience in distributed systems and modern backend development is essential.
The predicted salary is between 60000 - 80000 € per year.
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 engineers and 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.
As a Senior Software Engineer, your expertise will help us on this journey—creating customer-facing capabilities that are robust, scalable, observable, and grounded in best-in-class engineering practice. The M&S Loyalty team is looking for a Senior Software Engineer to join our dynamic, high-impact engineering group. You will provide technical expertise, ship thoughtful solutions, and operate with excellence. Creative, curious, and fearless, you will be an integral part of our empowered, self-managing engineering team, pushing the boundaries of our Sparks loyalty experiences and underpinning systems.
Our team owns the Loyalty Platform—services that underpin the customer journeys and functional capabilities used across the Sparks ecosystem. We enable product teams to ship faster, safer, and with higher quality by providing a world-class customer and developer experience foundation. In this role, you will help us drive our ambition to build a best-in-class software engineering team, culture, and environment. Join our community of engineers to build a modern digital ecosystem, improve the experience for millions of customers, and do the best work of your career.
What You'll Do
- Build, evolve, and maintain Loyalty platform services, ensuring they enable secure, scalable, and high-performance interactions for customers across Sparks journeys.
- Take end-to-end ownership of features—from design and development through testing, deployment, documentation, and production monitoring.
- Contribute to the technical direction of the Loyalty team, shaping solutions that balance user experience, scalability, maintainability, and operational excellence.
- Write clean, maintainable, well‑tested code and champion engineering best practices across the organisation.
- Work closely with engineers across multiple domains to understand needs, reduce friction, and improve customer and developer experience.
- Participate in our support rota and take shared responsibility for the reliability, observability, and operational health of Loyalty services.
- Contribute to code reviews, pair programming, tech discussions, working groups, and documentation to share knowledge and continually raise engineering standards.
- Influence and advocate for foundational engineering improvements, modernisation initiatives, and enhancements across the Sparks ecosystem.
- Mentor engineers at different levels through coaching, pairing, and structured feedback.
Qualifications
- Experienced in building and scaling distributed systems.
- Familiar with JVM‑based languages or backend service frameworks (Micronaut is a plus but not essential).
- Hands‑on experience with DevOps, CI/CD, automated testing, and operating what you build.
- Familiarity with modern event‑driven technologies, particularly Kafka.
- Experienced in cloud environments (preferably Azure) and container platforms such as Kubernetes.
- Strong understanding of modern backend development, platform‑adjacent standards, and scalable architectural patterns.
- Pragmatic, collaborative, and comfortable working in a high‑autonomy team with strong engineering culture.
- Passionate about enabling other engineers and improving engineering experience at scale.
Tech Stack
- Java, node.js
- JUnit, Mockito, testcontainers
- Micronaut, GraphQL, gRPC
- Azure Cloud, Kubernetes
- GitHub Actions, Dynatrace
- Snyk, Semgrep, Wiz
- Java, Spring, Micronaut
- SQL Server, MongoDB
- Redis, Ignite
Benefits
- 20% colleague discount on all M&S products and many third‑party brands.
- Competitive holiday allowance with the option to buy more.
- Discretionary performance‑based bonus schemes.
- Strong pension and life assurance.
- Tailored induction and continuous development support.
- Exclusive perks and savings through our M&S Choices portal.
- Market‑leading, family‑friendly policies (parental, adoption, neonatal leave).
- 24/7 wellbeing support including virtual GP and mental health services.
- One paid volunteer day per year.
Working at M&S means being part of something bigger—helping deliver quality, value, and service to millions every day. We're inclusive, fast‑moving, and always evolving, with a strong sense of purpose and a focus on doing the right thing.
Diversity and Inclusion
Everyone's Welcome. We are ambitious about the future of retail—disrupting, innovating, and leading our industry into a more conscientious, inspiring digital era. We're transforming how we work together and offering our most exciting opportunities yet. 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 support or reasonable adjustments during any stage of the recruitment process, please let us know when completing your application so we can ensure you are set up for success.
Senior Software Engineer - Loyalty employer: M& S
Joining M&S as a Senior Software Engineer means becoming part of a historic brand that values ethical practices and innovation. With a strong focus on employee growth, you will have access to tailored development support, a competitive benefits package, and a vibrant work culture that champions diversity and inclusion. This role offers the unique opportunity to shape customer experiences for millions while working in a collaborative, high-autonomy environment that prioritises engineering excellence.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Senior Software Engineer - Loyalty
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to current or former employees on LinkedIn, especially those in the M&S Software Engineering team. A friendly chat can give you insider info and maybe even a referral!
✨Tip Number 2
Show off your skills! Prepare a portfolio or GitHub repository showcasing your best projects. When you get that interview, having tangible examples of your work can really set you apart.
✨Tip Number 3
Practice makes perfect! Get comfortable with common technical interview questions and coding challenges. Use platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to sharpen your skills before the big day.
✨Tip Number 4
Apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen by the right people. Plus, it shows you’re genuinely interested in being part of the M&S family!
We think you need these skills to ace Senior Software Engineer - Loyalty
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your Application:Make sure to customise your CV and cover letter to highlight your experience with distributed systems and JVM-based languages. We want to see how your skills align with our mission at M&S!
Showcase Your Projects:Include examples of past projects where you've built scalable solutions or worked with cloud environments like Azure. This helps us understand your hands-on experience and how you can contribute to our Loyalty platform.
Be Clear and Concise:When writing your application, keep it straightforward and to the point. We appreciate clarity, so make sure your achievements and skills shine through without unnecessary fluff.
Apply Through Our Website:We encourage you to submit your application directly through our website. It’s the best way for us to receive your details and ensures you’re considered for this exciting opportunity with M&S!
How to prepare for a job interview at M& S
✨Know Your Tech Stack
Familiarise yourself with the technologies mentioned in the job description, like Java, Micronaut, and Azure. Be ready to discuss your experience with these tools and how you've used them in past projects. This shows you’re not just a fit on paper but also have practical knowledge.
✨Showcase Your Problem-Solving Skills
Prepare to discuss specific challenges you've faced in software engineering and how you overcame them. Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to structure your answers. This will demonstrate your ability to think critically and adapt in a fast-paced environment.
✨Emphasise Collaboration
Since the role involves working closely with other engineers, be ready to share examples of how you've collaborated in previous roles. Talk about your experiences with code reviews, pair programming, or mentoring others. Highlighting your teamwork skills will resonate well with their culture.
✨Ask Insightful Questions
Prepare thoughtful questions about the team dynamics, the engineering culture, and the future direction of the Loyalty platform. This not only shows your genuine interest in the role but also helps you assess if the company aligns with your values and career goals.
