Associate Software Engineer - 2027 Graduate Programme

Phorest Software; United Kingdom; On-site; GBP 27,000 - 38,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private healthcare

Wellness Days

Employee assistance

Pension

Share scheme

Bike to work

Tax saver tickets

Maternity/Paternity leave

Learning & development

Job summary

Phorest Software in the United Kingdom invites you to join its 2027 Graduate Programme as an Associate Software Engineer. You’ll start with well-scoped tasks, learn from experienced engineers and contribute to features our customers love.

You’ll build foundations in coding, testing and collaboration, use AI as part of the workflow, and grow towards greater independence through pair programming, code reviews and mentoring.

Qualifications

• Third-level education in a related field or certification supported by strong evidence of personal projects.
• To have completed your qualification within the last two years, with no more than two years' experience in a related role.

Responsibilities

• Build your engineering foundations: Develop your coding, debugging, testing and version-control skills through practical, hands-on work.
• Contribute to real products: Work on bug fixes and small enhancements that help improve the software our customers rely on.
• Understand our customers: Build a strong understanding of the hair, beauty and medspa businesses we serve and the challenges they face.
• Learn with AI: Use AI tools as a core part of our engineering workflow to support your learning, build your skills and develop your judgement.
• Learn from experienced engineers: Take part in pair programming, code reviews and coaching, asking questions and putting feedback into practice.
• Discover how software gets delivered: Join team planning, daily check-ins and retrospectives as you learn how teams collaborate, solve problems and deliver improvements.
• Develop good engineering habits: Practise writing clean, maintainable code, testing your work and documenting your solutions in line with team conventions.
• Grow your independence: Take ownership of your tasks, learn from mistakes and gradually take on more responsibility as your skills develop.

Skills

Java

Kotlin

JavaScript

REST APIs

Relational databases

Unit testing

Code reviews

Pair programming

Version control

Education

BSc in CS

Job description

Who we are

Phorest started in 2002 on a busy salon reception desk as a simple text-reminder tool.

Today, we're a SaaS company and a trusted partner to over 155,000 hair, beauty and medspa professionals worldwide. Our all-in-one software and AI-driven tools help them manage bookings, take payments, market their services, grow their client base and get the best from their teams.

Everything we build helps the salon and medspa industry thrive.

We're also a Certified B Corp, and 25% of the company is owned by Phoresters. When the company grows, everyone has a stake in that.

The Opportunity

We are inviting Associate Software Engineers to join our 2027 Graduate Programme, ready to build their skills, learn from experienced teammates and begin contributing to building great features our customers love.

You'll join a Product & Engineering community that cares about the businesses we serve, the quality of our work and each other. You'll learn how software is developed in a team, from understanding a problem and writing code to testing solutions and improving them through feedback.

You won't be expected to know everything from day one. You'll start with well-scoped tasks, supported by experienced engineers, and build towards more complex work as your skills and confidence develop.

What you'll get to do

• Build your engineering foundations: Develop your coding, debugging, testing and version-control skills through practical, hands-on work.
• Contribute to real products: Work on bug fixes and small enhancements that help improve the software our customers rely on.
• Understand our customers: Build a strong understanding of the hair, beauty and medspa businesses we serve and the challenges they face.
• Learn with AI: Use AI tools as a core part of our engineering workflow to support your learning, build your skills and develop your judgement.
• Learn from experienced engineers: Take part in pair programming, code reviews and coaching, asking questions and putting feedback into practice.
• Discover how software gets delivered: Join team planning, daily check-ins and retrospectives as you learn how teams collaborate, solve problems and deliver improvements.
• Develop good engineering habits: Practise writing clean, maintainable code, testing your work and documenting your solutions in line with team conventions.
• Grow your independence: Take ownership of your tasks, learn from mistakes and gradually take on more responsibility as your skills develop.

To be eligible, you'll need:

• Third-level education in a related field, or a relevant certification supported by strong evidence of personal projects.
• To have completed your qualification within the last two years, with no more than two years' experience in a related role.

More about you

You don't need to arrive as a fully independent engineer. We're looking for a solid foundation, curiosity and a genuine enthusiasm for learning.

You'll bring:

• Familiarity with at least one programming language, such as Java, Kotlin or JavaScript.
• An understanding of programming fundamentals and object-oriented design.
• An awareness of concepts such as REST APIs and relational databases.
• Some experience of coding, testing or collaborative development through your studies, personal projects, an internship or another learning experience.
• Curiosity, a willingness to ask questions and an openness to feedback.
• Clear communication, a collaborative approach and an interest in the people who use what you build.
• A sense of ownership over your learning and assigned tasks, with the flexibility to adapt as you develop.

Room to grow, support to get there

At Phorest, we're passionate about growing our own timber. We know every career has its own path, and we're here to help you along yours. Through hands-on guidance, pair programming, code reviews and coaching, you'll build confidence step by step, moving from well-defined tasks towards greater independence.

Across Phorest, we also offer dedicated Learning Days, a mentoring programme, career coaching, development programmes and learning tools to help you shape your career.

Our aim is to help you build the technical skills, collaborative habits and confidence to grow into an effective software engineer.

Benefits

• Your wellbeing is important to us - we provide private healthcare, 2 Wellness Days, an employee assistance program and a free online GP service.
• As part of our Financial Wellbeing, we provide competitive Compensation, an Employee Share Purchase Scheme, Pension, Life Assurance, and Income Protection.
• We help you travel by providing a bike to work scheme as well as tax saver transport tickets.
• We support the women who work in Phorest by offering 2 weeks leave for Fertility Treatment, Pregnancy Loss and Menopause.
• We care for your family and provide Enhanced Maternity and Paternity Benefits.
• We grow our own timber! We provide a great learning environment and extensive development opportunities. We run development programs and provide access to many online resources including LinkedIn learning.
• Moving house? Phorest employees get 3 moving days.

Want to learn more about Phorest? Check out nothingventured.rocks for our blog and Insights on building an evergreen company from the team here at Phorest.

Phorest is an equal opportunity employer.

Research shows that while men apply to jobs when they meet an average of 60% of the criteria, women and other marginalised folks tend to only apply when they check every box. So if you think you have what it takes, but don't necessarily meet every single point on the job description, please still get in touch. We'd love to have a chat and see if you could be a great fit.