Fullstack Job: Senior Software Engineer

Reach’s new customer value strategy puts our customers and their experience at the heart of everything we do.

We are looking for a Senior Software Engineer to join an agile development team that supports our infrastructure which is in Amazon Web Services and as such we make great use of the different capabilities it provides. Our frontend stacks are either in vanilla JavaScript or React. Our supporting services are built with the appropriate tool as decided by the team. As some examples, we have services in Node.js running on AWS technologies such as AWS Lambda, DynamoDB and ECS. We are strong believers in DevOps principles and infrastructure as code, and we are continuously trying to improve in that direction.

Reports to a Technical Engineering Manager. Works with other software engineers, project managers, designers and QA team members.

The ideal candidate for this position should have strong development experience either backend or frontend or fullstack. You will have experience working collaboratively within a web development team with a non-hierarchical structure, be self-directed and happy to work on your own initiative.

• Acquisition of users from organic search, newsletters, direct registration and social media.
• Features that encourage users to engage and move around our products.
• Features that encourage users of Reach plc's digital news products to interact with editorial staff and each other.
• Commenting on articles and interactive web chats but with the potential to expand into related features.
• Tools to enable our editorial team to build relationships with users via two-way conversations, encouraging user loyalty and increasing return visits.
• Tracking and understanding user journeys across multiple visits, from discovery to loyalty
• Optimising the promotion of features that drive engagement and loyalty.
• Writing maintainable, tested and compliant code.
• Provide secure, scalable solutions with proper monitoring and logging.
• Provide information by analysing and summarising business and development needs.
• Participate in code reviews and guide software engineers to implement the latest programming techniques and tools.
• Mentor junior and mid-level engineers
• Support and develop software engineers by providing advice, coaching and educational opportunities.
• Helping in the interviewing, recruiting and hiring process.

• Must have for Frontend developer: Experience with frontend technologies - HTML, CSS and preprocessors, templating, client-side JavaScript
• Must have for Backend developer: Development experience with server side coding. (we mainly use Node.js and JavaScript)
• Must have: An understanding of HTTP, caching and how the web works
• Must have: Understanding of the different JavaScript versions. Main features of ES6.
• Must have: Working understanding of front end build tools. e.g. Babel, Gulp, Grunt, Webpack
• Must have: Familiarity with automated testing at different parts of the test pyramid
• Should have: Optimising performance to scale to handle large quantities of content data and high volumes of traffic across numerous websites
• Should have: Can-do, positive attitude, proactive approach to problem solving
• Could have: Familiarity with Database (we mainly use DynamoDB, PostgreSQL and MySQL)
• Could have: Java experience would be a plus
• A confident and articulate communicator capable of inspiring strong collaboration within an organisation and between teams.
• Confident at managing multiple projects and deadlines simultaneously.
• A self-starter with a can-do, will-do attitude
• Professional development experience (most relevant experience with JavaScript / Node.js)
• Has led a technical area of complex systems and delivery of multiple complex features and projects and has extensive experience of web development.
• Professional experience of automated testing at different levels of the test pyramid

• Help to save for your retirement - join our pension scheme and we’ll match contributions up to 6%
• 25 days’ holiday per year when you join. After three, five and ten years’ service with Reach, you’ll accrue one additional day of annual leave. We also have a Holiday Purchase Scheme
• Giving back day - an additional day’s leave each year to support a cause close to your heart
• Enhanced family leave - including maternity, paternity and adoption - and you’ll be eligible after just six months’ employment
• Private Healthcare Cash Plan - free health cash plan so you can claim back cash for a range of medical expenses
• A "share" in our future
• As one of the UK’s top 50 Inclusive Employers, everyone’s invited to join our events, programmes and networks to celebrate diversity and build an environment where all our people can thrive
• Wellbeing support - including a 24/7 assistance programme for you and your family, a free subscription to mindfulness app Headspace and access to free mental health coaching through Sanctus
• We are a member of the 30% Club, a global campaign aimed at increasing gender diversity at board and senior management

Reach plc believes diversity brings benefits for our customers, our business and our people. This is why we are committed to being an inclusive employer and encourage applications from all suitable applicants irrespective of background, circumstances, age, disability, gender identity, ethnicity, religion or belief and sexual orientation.

We will be reviewing applications as they are received so please don't delay in submitting your application.