Engineering Lead

Moonpig; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive pay & bonuses

Private healthcare (UK)

Hybrid working

Staff discounts

Job summary

Moonpig Group seeks an Engineering Lead for the Search domain, based in Manchester or London with hybrid flexibility. You’ll lead hands-on technical initiatives, guide a team of engineers, and deepen OpenSearch expertise while staying close to code.

You’ll own backend integration with OpenSearch, build scalable AWS/Terraform-backed infrastructure, and collaborate with Product, Data Science and Design to shape the Search roadmap.

Qualifications

• Strong hands-on experience with OpenSearch, Elasticsearch or comparable search-engine technology, with OpenSearch experience particularly valuable for this role.
• Strong understanding of how search engines work and how search models rank products.
• Strong hands-on software engineering experience, including C#/.NET.
• Experience with AWS serverless, React, TypeScript, GraphQL and Terraform.

Responsibilities

• Write clean, high-quality code and remain hands-on with the day-to-day technical delivery of Search initiatives.
• Own and develop our backend integration with OpenSearch, alongside the wider team.
• Build and maintain scalable, resilient infrastructure using AWS and Terraform.
• Build and maintain customer-facing features using technologies including .NET/C#, React, Node.js, TypeScript and GraphQL.
• Collaborate with engineers and data teams to design and deliver AI/ML-driven features using internal ML inference APIs and external LLMs.

Skills

OpenSearch / Elasticsearch

C#/.NET

AWS

Leadership / Mentoring

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or equivalent

Tools

Terraform

React

GraphQL

TypeScript

GitHub / CI/CD

Job description

We’re the Moonpig Group – home to Moonpig, Greetz, Red Letter Days and Buyagift – and we’re on a mission to make people feel loved, celebrated and remembered. Whether it’s a card that gets them laughing out loud or a gift that makes their day, we help people stay close, no matter the miles.

We’re proud to be leading the online gifting revolution, with brilliant products, clever tech and a whole lot of heart. Our platform makes it easy to create moments that matter – packed with personal touches and delivered with care.

We’re not just about selling cards or gifts – we’re here to spread joy, spark smiles and make every celebration feel extra special. And with values that guide how we work and support one another, we’ve built a place where people (and ideas) can truly thrive.

If you’re looking to make an impact, bring your spark and be part of something meaningful – we’d love to have you on the team.

Engineering Lead – Search | Manchester or London – Hybrid (1–2 days per week) | Competitive Salary + Benefits

About the Role

Search helps millions of customers navigate and explore our huge catalogue of products, making it easier to find the right way to connect with the people they care about. It’s a core capability for Moonpig, and you’ll help us build and deliver search experiences that support customer engagement and growth.

This is a hands‑on technical leadership role. You’ll spend around 50–75% of your time coding and delivering initiatives, while also helping the team plan, manage dependencies and understand how Search fits into larger projects.

You don’t need years of Engineering Lead experience. We’re looking for a strong senior‑level engineer with deep OpenSearch or comparable search‑engine experience, who wants to take the next step into engineering leadership. You’ll help guide a team of engineers while remaining close to the code. Line management will continue to sit with the Senior Engineering Manager.

Our expectations of our Engineering Leads

Good engineering comes first – You’ll have a great technical knowledge base and the experience to know what works and what doesn’t. We expect you to apply these skills in making the right decisions and applying best practices wherever possible.

Technical mentoring and leadership – You’ll be collaborative, inclusive and spreading knowledge wherever possible. People will be looking up to you for technical guidance and part of your role will be to help them on that journey. You will also be responsible for creating the right forums to drive engineering principles and practices across all of engineering. You have the autonomy to drive decisions, but it’s your responsibility to ensure everyone is involved.

Community Mindset – Engage with the engineering community within Moonpig, sharing knowledge and contributing to the continuous improvement of our practices.

Culture and Advocacy – You will play a key role in contributing to a supportive, inclusive, and growth‑oriented culture. This includes encouraging knowledge sharing, creating opportunities for collaboration and learning, and helping to represent and advocate for our values both within the organisation and in the wider community. This is important to us because we believe in growing and succeeding together.

• Write clean, high‑quality code and remain hands‑on with the day‑to‑day technical delivery of Search initiatives.
• Own and develop our backend integration with OpenSearch, alongside the wider team.
• Build and maintain scalable, resilient infrastructure using AWS and Terraform.
• Build and maintain customer‑facing features using technologies including .NET/C#, React, Node.js, TypeScript and GraphQL.
• Design, implement and A/B test new features as part of a cross‑functional team, using agile principles to scope, track and deliver work.
• Build appropriate tests into new development and contribute to the ongoing quality and safety of the codebase.
• Collaborate with engineers and data teams to design and deliver AI/ML‑driven features using internal ML inference APIs and external LLMs.
• Work closely with Product, Design, Data Science and engineering teams to understand priorities, dependencies and how Search contributes to wider initiatives.
• Support client teams integrating with our services by providing technical guidance and practical solutions.
• Help shape the Search team roadmap with Engineering, Product and Design stakeholders, constructively challenging plans where needed.
• Provide delivery estimates, explain the thinking behind them and identify the ongoing engineering work needed to keep our services operating effectively.
• Stay closely involved in technical execution, including estimation, planning and backlog refinement.
• Help the team make pragmatic technical decisions, including when to build something ourselves and when to use existing solutions.
• Create clear communication within and outside the team so dependencies, decisions and delivery plans are understood.
• Advocate for the Search team in wider discussions and help communicate its technical context, priorities and constraints.
• Support a collaborative environment where engineers have ownership of how they work rather than imposing a preferred process.
• Coach and support colleagues, encouraging knowledge sharing and helping build technical capability across the team.
• Identify opportunities to improve delivery processes while working with the Senior Engineering Manager to maintain appropriate standards.
• Engage with Moonpig’s wider engineering community and champion effective engineering practices across teams.
• Provide relevant input and feedback to Engineering Managers on engineers working within your area.

• Strong hands‑on experience with OpenSearch, Elasticsearch or comparable search‑engine technology, with OpenSearch experience particularly valuable for this role.
• Strong understanding of how search engines work and how search models rank products.
• Understanding of model building and how engineers can build on and integrate with search models.
• Strong hands‑on software engineering experience, including C#/.NET.
• Experience across frontend and backend development.
• Experience with some of our wider technology stack, which includes AWS serverless, React, Node.js, TypeScript, GraphQL and Terraform.
• Ability to collaborate on complex technical work, contribute to design discussions and deliver high‑quality solutions.
• Experience working cross‑functionally with Product, Design, Data Science and other engineering teams.
• Ability to communicate technical topics clearly with both technical and non‑technical stakeholders.
• Experience planning technical delivery, managing dependencies and providing clear, reasoned estimates.
• Comfortable balancing hands‑on engineering with wider team and stakeholder responsibilities.
• Collaborative leadership style, with the confidence to challenge constructively, listen to different perspectives and advocate for the team.
• Interest in coaching others, sharing knowledge and helping engineers develop.
• Keen to keep learning new processes, techniques and technologies.
• Motivation to take the next step from senior engineering into a broader engineering leadership role.
• Experience with serverless, event‑driven systems would be beneficial.

• OpenSearch
• AWS serverless
• .NET / C#
• React
• Node.js
• TypeScript
• GraphQL
• Terraform
• GitHub and CI/CD pipelines
• Internal ML inference APIs and external LLMs

What's in it for you?

• Competitive Pay & Bonuses: Plus, generous pension plans & staff discounts.
• Wellbeing First: Private healthcare (UK) and mental health support
• Flexible Working & Time Off: Generous holidays, hybrid working (1-3 days in office, depending on role/team) & up to 20 days of international working.
• Career Growth: Learning allowances, coaching & development programs.

Our Ways of Working:

We trust our colleagues to do what’s right and offer flexibility to support a balance between work and life. At the same time, face‑to‑face office time is an important and expected part of working at Moonpig Group. We believe regular in‑person working supports collaboration, alignment, and effective decision‑making. Candidates will have regular and ongoing time working from the office as part of their role, which will be discussed during the recruitment process.

Moonpig Group's Commitment to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusivity:

At Moonpig Group, we’re all about creating a workplace where everyone feels they truly belong. We celebrate what makes each of us unique, whether that’s our background, how we work best, or what matters most to us.

From working parents who need flexible hours to neurodiverse colleagues with specific working styles, we’re here to support our people in ways that work for them. Because when you feel valued and included, you can thrive, and so can we.

We’re proud to have a number of employee‑led groups driving this forward, including our LGBTQ+, Gender Balance, Neurodiversity and EMBRACE (Educating Myself for Better Racial Awareness and Cultural Enrichment) communities, plus our Group‑wide EDI committee. These teams help make sure every voice is heard and every idea has a place.

We know that diversity fuels creativity, innovation and connection, and that’s why we’ll keep pushing for progress. Together, we’re building a culture where everyone feels safe, supported, and free to be their brilliant, authentic selves.

If you have a preferred name, please use it to apply and share your pronouns if you are comfortable to do so - If you have any reasonable adjustment requests throughout the interview process please let us know on your application or speak to the Recruiter.

Want to know more?

Explore our full benefits package: here

Check out our podcast, tech blog and product blog to hear more about how we work and what we’re building!