Back End Developer

Team: Data & Insights

Ref.: VN1132

Type: Permanent

Location: Hatfield

Back End Developer – Ocado Hub Product

Contract type:Permanent

Location:Hatfield (Hybrid working – 3 days in the office)

Working hours per week:40 hours – Full-Time

Level:Senior

Application Closing Date:Friday 28th November

About us

Our mission is to deliver joy in every shop, through unbeatable choice, unrivalled service, and reassuringly good value.

We're Ocado Retail, a market-leading joint venture between Ocado Group and M&S, and the world's largest dedicated online supermarket, Not only is the only place to shop a full range of M&S food online, it's also the home to the widest online supermarket range in the UK and champion of small, independent brands. We're also the brains behind Zoom by Ocado, our same-day grocery delivery service.

About the team and the role

As part of our strategic development of product management within ORL, we are creating a dedicated Product Pod for the Ocado Hub. This new, agile team will own the development and innovation roadmap for a suite of critical supplier-facing applications, including Supplier Hub, Promotions, JBP, Ads Manager, and Beet (Ocado's self-serve data platform).

We are looking for a skilled Back End Developer to join this new pod. You will be a crucial member of the engineering team, responsible for building and maintaining the core application logic, server-side APIs, and critical data integrations that power our application suite. You will be responsible for ensuring the foundation of our applications is reliable, scalable, and performant, enabling the team to deliver a seamless experience for our valued supplier partners and internal stakeholders.

What you'll do

Back-End Development & API Design

• Design, build, and maintain efficient, reusable, and reliable back-end code and services.
• Develop and manage robust, scalable, and secure server-side APIs (e.g., RESTful).
• Implement and manage data integrations with various internal and external systems (e.g., BigQuery, Our Bespoke Retail Platform & other GCP services).
• Write and maintain unit and integration tests to ensure code quality, application robustness, and data integrity.
• Focus on application performance, scalability, and security, actively identifying and resolving bottlenecks.

Technical Implementation and Delivery

• Collaborate with the Product Manager, Lead Developer, and other engineers to translate product requirements into technical solutions.
• Participate actively in the team's agile sprint-based workflow, from planning and design through to testing and deployment.
• Ensure all code and deployment artefacts align with Ocado Retail's technology standards, principles, and architectural vision.
• Contribute to the continuous improvement of the team's development practices and CI/CD pipeline.

Collaboration and Problem-Solving

• Work closely with front-end developers to define and build the APIs they need to consume.
• Collaborate with Data Engineers to ensure data flows are reliable, performant, and meet the needs of the applications.
• Participate in code reviews, providing and receiving constructive feedback to improve code quality and share knowledge.
• Troubleshoot and resolve complex technical issues across back-end services and data pipelines.

Who you are

Essential

• Proven experience as a Back End Developer, with a strong track record of building and delivering scalable web applications.
• Extensive hands-on experience with back-end languages and frameworks, such as
• Strong experience in designing, building, and maintaining RESTful APIs.
• Proficiency with SQL databases (e.g., PostgreSQL, MySQL).
• Strong knowledge of cloud platforms (GCP or AWS) and their core services.
• Experience in version control systems (e.g. Git).
• Demonstrable expertise in Agile software development methodologies and working in product-focused teams.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders.
• A solid understanding of back-end performance, security standards, and data protection best practices.

Desirable

• Experience with data engineering concepts and tools (e.g., data pipelines, ETL/ELT).
• Knowledge of Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) tools like Terraform.
• Familiarity with containerisation (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes) and CI/CD principles.
• Ability to design and deploy serverless applications (e.g., GCP Cloud Functions, Cloud Run, AWS Lambda).
• Experience with integration platforms such as Mulesoft.
• Familiarity with front-end technologies like Angular, as you will be supporting them.
• Experience in the e-commerce or retail sectors, particularly with supplier-facing platforms or data platforms.

What's in it for you

By joining Ocado Retail, you'll have the chance to experience life at the world's largest online retailer, work with an amazing bunch of people who challenge what's possible each day, and grow your skills and career in online retail.

If that's not enough to tempt you, you'll also get access to loads of great benefits to sweeten the deal. Here's a taste of what we offer:

Health & Wellbeing: Private medical insurance with option to add your family, Digital GP appointments, market-leading family policies, mental health support, discounted gym memberships, dental insurance, and more.

Spend & Save: Annual bonus scheme split between personal and business objectives, recognition with reward platform, up to 7% matched pension contributions, 15% Ocado discount, 20% M&S discount, free breakfast every day in the office, electric vehicle leasing scheme, and free shuttle bus from Hatfield station to the office.

Never miss the moments that matter: Hybrid working, 26 days holiday plus 8 flexible bank holidays, options to buy extra holiday, 2 weeks work from anywhere, and lifestyle break opportunities.

Our Hiring Process

Lucky for us, we receive a high volume of applications and genuinely appreciate the time and effort invested by every candidate. To ensure a fair and thorough process, every application is reviewed by a member of our team. If your skills and experience are a strong match, a Talent Partner will contact you to discuss the role and guide you through the next steps of our hiring process.

Your Application and AI

In the spirit of innovation, we welcome you to use AI tools in your application, just as we use them in our own business at Ocado Retail. However, as you leverage this technology, please don't lose sight of the most important element: your unique self. Your experiences, passions, and personality are what truly set you apart. Ensure that your application still authentically conveys who you are and why you're a great fit for us.

Everyone's welcome

We're an equal opportunities employer, which means that we make sure all potential colleagues are treated fairly and equally. We want to ensure everyone has a fair chance to apply; if you need this job description in an alternative format (e.g., larger print, different document type, etc.), please reach out to us at and we'll be happy to assist you, and if you require reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know on the application form.