Software Engineer in Edinburgh

You've found your footing. You can build features end-to-end with timely guidance, you're starting to see how the bigger systems fit together, and you're getting a feel for which technical choices will hold up. That's the moment we want you in. You'll join a squad doing real engineering on a platform that legal teams across the world rely on, and the AI shift in software is something you'll be living and shaping, not just reading about. You can grow toward Senior and beyond. Internal progression is the default at Opus 2, and we hire externally only when there's no internal alternative.

What you'll do

• Deliver well-scoped features end-to-end. Small to mid-size pieces of work with timely guidance. You break down tasks, ship in slices, and see them land for users.
• Partner with Product and Design. Translate intent into pragmatic, well-scoped technical work. Ask the questions that surface tradeoffs early.
• Pull others up while you grow. Help juniors. Review their code well. The mentoring habit starts here, not at senior.
• Use AI tools well across the SDLC. Daily workflow, exploration, knowledge-sharing. Bring back what you find to the team.
• Improve the system. Documentation that was missing, a flaky test, observability you wish you'd had. You leave things better than you found them.

The shape we're hiring for

• We're growing engineers toward a T-shape: broad across the stack, with depth starting to form in at least one area. At this level, breadth comes first; depth begins to emerge.
• Generalist breadth across the team's stack. You're not blocked by "that's not my layer" when a feature spans frontend, API, data, and deployment.
• Depth starting to form. You're developing a stronger area, the one your colleagues come to you for. By the upper end of this band, that's noticeable.
• Ownership of the work you commit to. Outcomes, not just output. You finish what you start, and ambiguity is something you push through rather than something that stalls you.
• Pragmatism. You favour simple, testable solutions and ask for help when complexity gets ahead of you.
• Coaching the level below. You answer questions clearly. You give code review feedback that grows people rather than feedback that's just correct.
• Change disposition. You treat change in tools and ways of working as part of the job. You learn fast and bring it back to the team.

You'll be a strong fit if

• You've shipped real production code and can tell the story of how it was used and how it failed.
• You're comfortable across the team's stack (backend, frontend, data, deployment) even if you have a stronger area.
• You're using AI tooling in your daily workflow and curious about where it fits in the product.
• You enjoy improving the work around you (code, docs, processes), not just adding to it.
• You've grown through code review and feedback, and you give it back generously.

You might be a less good fit if

• You want fully specified tickets and nothing else.
• You're not interested in helping more junior engineers grow.
• You'd rather specialise narrowly and not stretch outside your comfort zone yet.
• You'd rather hold off on AI tooling until others have proven what works. At this level, adopting and shaping it is part of the day job.
• You find rapid change in tools and ways of working draining rather than energising.

Requirements

Opus 2 builds the platform that leading legal teams use to run their most complex work: a distributed, multi-tenant SaaS platform with API-first surfaces, where security, privacy, and compliance are first-class concerns. The stakes for our customers are real, so we care about quality. We also move fast and ship, because the alternative is irrelevance.

How we work

• Strong ownership. Squads own their products end-to-end, from the customer outcome through to operating them in production.
• Pragmatic engineering. We favour simple, testable solutions over premature abstraction. We use data where it informs a real decision.
• A learning and improvement culture. We're building an engineering organisation that learns and adapts at the pace AI is forcing on the work. That's the bar for hiring, growth, and how we run the team.
• Coaching as part of seniority. Senior engineers help juniors, mid-levels, and each other grow. We protect that time on calendars.

A work in progress

Opus 2 is in real transition. AI is reshaping how our customers work and how we build software, and we're investing in the engineering organisation to keep pace. Some of that is already settled; other parts are still being shaped.

If you want a fully paved path, this isn't it yet. 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. We're hiring people who'll help us shape this, not just slot into it.

Tech you'll work with

• Backend: Python, Go, TypeScript (where we're investing); Java and PHP (established services)
• Frontend: React
• Deployment: Kubernetes primary; serverless where it's the better fit
• Cloud: AWS
• Data: Postgres, MongoDB, OpenSearch / Elasticsearch, vector stores
• AI: GenAI features already in production (LLMs, retrieval, agentic workflows), with more on the way

You don't need to know all of these on day one. You should be ready to learn what you don't.

Benefits

• Working for Opus 2
• Engineering work at a company where AI is real, in production, and a core part of how customers get value. Not a side-of-desk experiment.
• A focused engineering organisation where your work is visible, your decisions matter, and the path from idea to customer is short.
• Investment in your growth: coaching, learning time, exposure to challenging problems, and a clear path to Senior when you're ready.
• 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.
• Cycle 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.