Senior Software Architect

United Living Group's investment enables Heatly to enhance our capabilities, broaden our product scope and accelerate our market expansion efforts with a core focus on the regulatory global decarbonisation of heat, initially through heat pump roll out and with £1.8m of UK Gov development funding already injected. We have developed a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform that is currently at the MVP stage and is now starting to operationalise and commercialise having gained enterprise “proof of concept” contracts with two of the largest energy companies. Our focus is on delivering net zero emissions from domestic heating which is aligned with the UK government’s ambition.

We are seeking a versatile and skilled Technical Architect. The successful candidate will be responsible for the development and implementation of our platform and application services, ensuring they meet the highest standards of quality, security, and performance. You will sit across two cross-cutting technical pods, providing heavyweight hands-on assistance and guidance where necessary.

Key Responsibilities

• Software Development: Design and develop software solutions: Write clean, maintainable, and efficient code for our platform and applications. This includes developing new features, fixing bugs, and optimising existing code.
• Implement features and enhancements: Collaborate with product managers and other developers to implement new features and improve existing ones. Participate in design discussions and provide input on technical feasibility and best practices.
• Ensure security by design: Integrate security best practices into the development process to ensure that software is secure from the ground up. Conduct regular code reviews and security assessments to identify and mitigate potential vulnerabilities.
• Optimise for performance and scalability: Design and implement solutions that can dynamically scale to meet varying demands and ensure high performance and availability. Use profiling tools to identify performance bottlenecks and optimise code accordingly.
• Develop APIs and microservices: Design and implement APIs and microservices to support the platform’s functionality. Ensure that APIs are secure, scalable, and well-documented.

Quality Assurance:

• Develop and execute test plans: Assist in the creation of comprehensive test plans and test cases to ensure that software meets quality standards. This includes functional, regression, performance, and security testing.
• Automate testing processes: Assist with the drive to automate much of functional, regression, and performance testing. Ensure that automated tests are integrated into the CI/CD pipeline and run regularly.
• Conduct code reviews: Review code written by other developers to ensure it meets quality and security standards. Provide constructive feedback and suggest improvements.
• Identify and resolve defects: Work closely with developers to identify, document, and resolve software defects. Use bug tracking tools to manage and prioritise issues.

Experience with CI/CD:

• Implement and manage CI/CD pipelines: Set up and maintain continuous integration and continuous deployment pipelines to ensure efficient and reliable software delivery.
• Integrate security into the CI/CD process: Implement security checks and controls at every stage of the pipeline to ensure secure software delivery. Use tools to perform static code analysis, vulnerability scanning, and compliance checks.

Agile Development:

• Participate in agile ceremonies: Engage in sprint planning, daily stand-ups, and retrospectives to ensure effective and efficient development cycles.
• Collaborate with team members to refine requirements, estimate tasks, and plan sprints.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams: Work closely with product managers and other developers to deliver high-quality software solutions. Foster a culture of collaboration and knowledge sharing within the team.
• Continuously improve processes: Identify and implement improvements to development and testing processes to increase efficiency and quality. Stay up-to-date with industry best practices and emerging technologies.

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science or a related field.
• Experience: Proven experience as a senior Software Developer in a tech start-up or fast-paced environment. Strong background in agile development methodologies. Experience with DevOps practices and CI/CD pipeline implementation. Experience with API (RESTful/Sockets/GraphQL), microservice architecture and development. Experience with cloud-native platform patterns. Some experience in consuming/feeding AI pipelines would be advantageous.
• Technical Skills: Advanced skills with SQL, including schema design and optimisation. WebGL whilst not essential, would be preferable. Experience with testing frameworks and tools. Knowledge of CI/CD tools. Familiarity with security tools and practices. Strong experience with designing RESTful APIs and microservices. Experience with data scraping, modelling and security.
• Soft Skills: Excellent problem-solving and analytical skills. Strong communication and collaboration abilities. Ability to work in a fast-paced, dynamic environment and manage multiple priorities. Attention to detail and a proactive approach to identifying and addressing issues. Experience working on mission-critical or SaaS services is desirable.