Senior Software Engineer in Edinburgh

Senior engineering at Opus 2 is hands-on, high-trust, and end-to-end. You'll lead complex, often ambiguous work from problem to production, raise the bar on the team around you, and help shape how we build software in a moment where AI is changing the work week to week. We're not looking for someone who'll watch that change from the sidelines. You can grow toward Staff or Principal from here. This is an IC role, and the day-to-day is engineering with influence, not management.

What you'll be doing:

• Lead complex, often ambiguous features and projects end-to-end. Discovery, breakdown, shipping in slices, and seeing it land for customers.
• Partner with Product and Design to translate user needs into pragmatic, well-scoped technical work. Call tradeoffs early. Keep the roadmap honest about what's feasible.
• Raise the bar on the team around you, and beyond. Thoughtful code review, pairing where it helps, mentoring mid-level and junior engineers.
• Own quality and operability. CI/CD, test automation, observability, post-incident learning.
• Make architectural and tech-stack calls that hold up. Favour maintainable, scalable, simple solutions over clever ones.
• Use AI to raise quality, speed, and productivity.
• Help shape engineering strategy with Tech Leads and Engineering Managers.

The shape we're hiring for:

• We're hiring T-shaped engineers: broad across the stack, deep in at least one area (backend, frontend, data, infra, AI/ML, or another domain where you can show real expertise).
• Depth in something. You can name a domain where you're the person colleagues come to.
• Breadth that lets you ship end-to-end.
• Ownership that runs from idea to production and into how it operates.
• Steadiness under pressure. You're a stabilising presence when delivery is uncertain or the goal is moving.
• Coaching disposition. You explain things clearly, give review feedback that grows people.
• Change disposition. You treat the AI-driven shift in software as the job rather than disruption to it.

You'll be a strong fit if:

• You've shipped, operated, and iterated on real software at meaningful scale.
• You're comfortable across the stack with at least one of: TypeScript, Python, Java, or Go.
• You've worked with cloud platforms (AWS preferred) and understand the operational side of running services in production.
• You enjoy working with Product and Design as partners who shape what gets built.
• You're curious about AI tooling and product applications.

You might be a less good fit if:

• You want to specialise narrowly and not branch outside your home stack.
• You'd prefer fully-specified tickets you can implement without much conversation.
• You'd rather not spend time growing colleagues.
• You're sceptical of AI tooling on principle.
• You find rapid change in tools and ways of working draining rather than energising.
• You're looking for a fast track to management.

How we work:

• Opus 2 builds the platform that leading legal teams use to run their most complex work.
• Strong ownership. Squads own their products end-to-end.
• Pragmatic engineering. We favour simple, testable solutions over premature abstraction.
• A learning and improvement culture.
• Coaching as part of seniority.

A work in progress:

• Opus 2 is in real transition. AI is reshaping how our customers work and how we build software.
• If you want to be an agent of change in a team that's clear about where it's going and pragmatic about how to get there, there's real leverage here.

Tech you'll work with:

• Backend: Python, Go, TypeScript; Java and PHP.
• Frontend: React.
• Deployment: Kubernetes primary; serverless where it's the better fit.
• Cloud: AWS.
• Data: Postgres, MongoDB, OpenSearch / Elasticsearch.
• AI: GenAI features already in production.

Working for Opus 2:

• Senior engineering work at a company where AI is real, in production.
• A focused engineering organisation where your work is visible.
• Investment in your growth: coaching, learning time, exposure to challenging problems.
• Contributory pension plan.
• 33 days annual holidays, flexible working, and length of service entitlement.
• Health Insurance.
• Loyalty Share Scheme.
• Enhanced Maternity and Paternity.
• Employee Assistance Programme.
• Electric Vehicle Salary Sacrifice.
• Cyle to Work Scheme.
• Calm and Mindfulness sessions.
• A day of leave to volunteer for charity or dependent day.
• Regular Company Social Events.
• Yearly Development Retreat.