JUNIOR SOFTWARE ENGINEER

Volcore; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 31,000 - 37,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus scheme

Job summary

Volcore in Manchester is hiring for a software-focused role in our on-site technical team. You will solve real-world energy problems, ingest data, test hypotheses and develop proof-of-concepts for real-time forecasting.

You’ll document results, maintain our software stack (Python, Node/TypeScript, PostgreSQL) and contribute to fast, reliable libraries. No energy sector experience is required, but you’ll need strong coding and analytics and be eligible to work in the UK.

Qualifications

• No energy expertise required; learn quickly.
• Strong Python, SQL and backend TypeScript skills.
• Excellent statistical/mathematical knowledge.
• Ability to document thinking clearly in knowledge base and code.
• Ownership of projects from start to finish.
• Eligible to live and work full-time in the UK.
• Previous longer-term employment and software development outside academics.
• Experience with meteorological data manipulation and real-time forecasting, especially time-series.

Responsibilities

• Solve real-world energy problems through collaboration and research.
• Ingest and document relevant data for the internal knowledge base.
• Test hypotheses and develop proof-of-concepts for real-time forecasting.
• Document and visualise results, sharing insights with the team.
• Develop, deploy and maintain software with speed and accuracy.
• Improve shared libraries and workflows to be fast and reliable.
• Become a trusted expert in your focus areas.

Skills

Strong software development

Time-series forecasting

Statistical knowledge

Education

No energy sector experience required

Tools

Python

SQL

TypeScript

PostgreSQL

DuckDB

Rust

Node.js

Job description

At Volcore, our team of wholesale electricity traders and technical experts work together to make real-time decisions that support increasing renewable generation and keep the electricity system stable. We are a profitable and ambitious scale-up, with several full-time, on-site openings in our technical team to underpin our rapid growth.

LOCATION

Manchester City Centre, On-site

EMPLOYMENT TYPE

Permanent Full-Time

What You’ll Do

Solve real-world energy problems, often requiring novel approaches developed through team collaboration and original research.

Identify and ingest relevant data, ensuring thorough documentation in our internal knowledge base.

Iteratively test hypotheses and develop proof-of-concepts to solve real-time forecasting problems.

Document and visualise results, sharing insights with the team.

Develop, deploy and maintain our software with a focus on speed and accuracy.

Continually improve our shared libraries and workflows to ensure they are fast, accurate and a delight to use.

Become a trusted expert in the topics you work most deeply on.

Why Volcore?

Uncapped career development: Deliver value, and you’ll be recognised and rewarded, regardless of title or experience. We offer continuous opportunities for growth and new challenges.

Fast-growing scale-up: We’re a profitable, ambitious company on a rapid growth trajectory, giving you the opportunity to play a key role in shaping our future.

Impactful problem solving: You will be trusted with significant projects that can immediately, visibly affect our success and the industry more broadly, leading to innovative solutions in areas that haven’t been tackled before.

Minimal bureaucracy: Your ideas and feedback matter. We prioritise time for you to focus on what you do best, while still providing support from the wider team.

Modern tech stack: Including Python, Node JS / Typescript, PostgreSQL, DuckDB and Rust.

Colleagues instead of customers: Everything you build will be used by people sitting next to you.

High-performing, friendly team: Work alongside bright, driven people who are trusted to deliver and enjoy socialising after a successful day.

About You

No energy expertise required, but you must quickly learn new concepts and think independently.

Strong software development fundamentals, including optimisation of performance and implementation of complex algorithms from scratch. Ideally this should be demonstrated through passion projects or work experience beyond coursework.

Strong modelling and analysis skills using Python, SQL and backend Typescript (or two of the three and the ability to very quickly upskill with targeted support).

Excellent, practical statistical/mathematical knowledge.

The ability to document and communicate your thinking clearly, including in our knowledge base, notebooks, comments and code itself.

Ownership of projects from start to finish, with intrinsic drive to deliver high-quality work quickly.

By the time this role commences, be eligible to live and work full-time in the UK.

Previous longer-term employment, even where not directly related to this role, e.g. hospitality and labouring.

Software development outside of academic study, including personal projects and professional work.

Meteorological data manipulation and physical systems modelling.

Real-time and online forecasting, especially time-series.

Starting salary: £34,000 + participation in our bonus scheme for high-performers.