At a Glance
- Tasks: Design and build secure, scalable identity services for millions of users.
- Company: Join M&S, a dynamic and inclusive retail leader transforming digital experiences.
- Benefits: Enjoy 20% discount, competitive holidays, and amazing wellbeing support.
- Other info: Be part of a diverse team committed to innovation and excellence.
- Why this job: Make a real impact on customer experiences with cutting-edge identity solutions.
- Qualifications: Experience in large-scale systems, Java/Kotlin, and cloud-native environments required.
The predicted salary is between 60000 - 80000 £ per year.
All the details
We're looking for a Senior Software Engineer within the Personalised Search team to play a pivotal role in evolving M&S's Identity Platform.
This team provides the critical software capabilities that power authentication, authorisation, and identity management across M&S digital channels, enabling secure and seamless experiences for millions of customers and thousands of colleagues.
Your customers are product teams, engineers, business stakeholders, and millions of M&S customers and colleagues and your mission is to enable them through secure, scalable platforms, resilient services, and exceptional engineering practices.
This is a role for an engineer who is excited by building large-scale identity solutions, modernising authentication platforms, and delivering secure digital experiences that sit at the heart of every customer and colleague interaction with M&S.
About the Team
Our engineering teams enable product, engineering, and business teams to build and deliver digital experiences with speed and confidence.
We create reliable, scalable, and secure platforms rooted in strong engineering standards, automation, and continuous improvement.
You will join the Identity Platform team, responsible for the services and capabilities that manage authentication, authorisation, and user identity across the M&S ecosystem.
What You'll Do
Your key accountabilities will include
- Design, build, and evolve secure, scalable, and high-performance authentication and identity services used by millions of customers and colleagues.
- Own features end-to‑end, taking responsibility for solution design, development, testing, deployment, monitoring, and production support.
- Help shape the technical direction of the Identity Platform, balancing customer experience, security, performance, and developer usability.
- Develop resilient APIs and backend services that enable secure authentication, authorisation, and identity management capabilities across the organisation.
- Champion engineering excellence through clean, maintainable, and well‑tested code, helping establish best practices across teams.
- Actively participate in code reviews, technical discussions, pair programming, and knowledge‑sharing initiatives.
Who You Are
- A senior software engineer with significant experience building and operating large‑scale distributed systems serving millions of users.
- Strong experience with Java and/or Kotlin and modern backend development frameworks.
- in designing and delivering secure, scalable services within cloud‑native environments.
- Strong understanding of Dev Ops principles, CI/CD pipelines, automation, and operational ownership.
- Comfortable designing systems that balance security, usability, resilience, and performance.
- Experience with identity and access management technologies, OAuth 2.0, Open ID Connect, or similar authentication standards is highly desirable.
- What's in it for you
Being a part of M&S is exactly that - playing your part to bring the magic of M&S to our customers every day.
We're an inclusive, dynamic, exciting, and ever‑evolving business built on doing the right thing and bringing exceptional quality, value, service to every customer, whenever, wherever, and however they want to shop with us.
Here are some of the benefits we offer that make working for M&S just that little bit more special.
- After completing your probationary period, you'll receive 20% colleague discount across all M&S products and many of our third‑party brands for you and a member of your household.
- Competitive holiday entitlement with the potential to buy extra holiday days.
- Discretionary bonus schemes awarded based on how you achieve your personal objectives and our performance as a business.
- A generous Defined Contribution Pension Scheme and Life Assurance.
- A dedicated welcome to our teams with a tailored induction and a wide range of training programmes to develop your skills.
- Amazing perks and discounts via our M&S Choices portal to maximise your financial and personal wellbeing.
- Industry‑leading parental, adoption and neonatal policies, providing support and flexibility for your family.
- Access to a fantastic range of wellbeing support for all colleagues including access to our 24/7 Virtual GP and PAM Assist to support you and your family.
- A charity volunteer day to support a charity or cause you're passionate about through a dedicated day away from work.
- 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.
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 win together.
If you'd benefit from any support or reasonable adjustments during any stage of the recruitment process, please let us know when completing your application.
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Senior Software Engineer - Personalisation employer: Marks and Spencer
Marks and Spencer is an exceptional employer that fosters a culture of innovation and collaboration, particularly within the Corporate HR technology team. Employees benefit from a supportive environment that prioritises professional growth and development, alongside competitive remuneration and benefits. Working in a dynamic location, you will have the opportunity to lead impactful projects that enhance the colleague experience throughout their journey with the company.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Senior Software Engineer - Personalisation
✨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 Marks and Spencer 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 Marks and Spencer.
✨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 Marks and Spencer.
✨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 Marks and Spencer 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 Software Engineer - Personalisation
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 Marks and Spencer.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at Marks and Spencer 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 Marks and Spencer
✨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 Marks and Spencer 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.
