Senior Software Engineer C++ (Fixed Term Contract)

Microlise; Nottingham; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private medical insurance

25 days holiday

Mental health support

Employee Assistance Program

Costco membership

Staff awards

Job summary

Microlise, a Midlands-based software company, is seeking a Senior Software Engineer (C++) in Nottingham for a 12-month fixed-term contract. You’ll join an established team of 150 professionals, contribute to diverse projects, participate in sprint reviews, and support product releases while mentoring juniors.

The role emphasizes modern C++11+ practices, memory management, templates, concurrency and STL; experience with C# and the .NET ecosystem is advantageous.

Qualifications

• A degree in Computer Science or a closely related technical discipline.
• Strong CS fundamentals and ability to apply them to real-world engineering challenges.
• Demonstrable hands-on experience delivering high quality, maintainable software in a commercial environment.
• Significant experience with modern C++ (C++11 and later) including memory management, templates, concurrency, and STL.
• Experience with C# and .NET is advantageous for cross-language work.

Responsibilities

• Participate in stand-ups, fix bugs, work on projects and design discussions, and mentor junior team members.
• Take part in sprint reviews, product release cycles, and generate technical reports.

Skills

Modern C++

Memory management

Concurrency

STL

C# / .NET

OOP concepts

SOLID principles

SQL Server

Unit testing

Design patterns

Mentoring

Team collaboration

Code reviews

Agile

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Git

Job description

Within your role as Senior Software Engineer C++ no two days will look the same; with a variety of projects there’s always something new to learn. You will be joining an already established and talented team, which is currently 150 strong and comprised of Apprentice Engineers through to Solution Architects. You will be provided a clear, individual career path with full training, support and mentorship as required to ensure you are reaching your full potential.

You will be involved in a variety of projects within the Software Engineering team such as regular stand ups, fixing bugs, project, and design, and supporting junior members of the team. Additionally, you will also be part of sprint reviews and demos, product release cycles and reports, to name a few of your responsibilities.

At Microlise we know the importance of a good work/life balance, so offer flexible working opportunities with a low overtime culture; there’s a reason our average length of service is 7+ years! If you are looking for a new challenge and have a strong technical background then we want to hear from you!

As a 12-month fixed-term contract, this role offers the opportunity to make a significant impact on key business-critical projects while working with modern technologies and a highly collaborative engineering team.

Ways of Working:

• Monthly: Contribute to stakeholder demonstrations and product reviews, support the product release cycle, generate technical reports, participate in mobile development activities, and provide engineering input across ongoing projects.
• Fortnightly: Take part in planning sessions, retrospectives, sprint reviews, and team demos, helping to shape delivery priorities and drive continuous improvement.
• Weekly: Engage in public code reviews, engineering dojos, and refinement sessions to enhance code quality, shared understanding, and team capability.
• Daily: Participate in stand‑ups, perform unit testing, submit and review pull requests, conduct code reviews, resolve defects, reduce technical debt, monitor system performance, contribute to design work, and collaborate through katas and pair programming.

What we're looking for:

• A degree in Computer Science or a closely related technical discipline.
• A strong understanding of fundamental computer science principles and be able to apply them effectively to real-world engineering challenges.
• Demonstrable hands‑on experience working as a Senior Software Engineer, including responsibility for delivering high quality, maintainable software in a commercial environment.
• Significant industry experience with modern C++ (such as C++11 and later), including practical knowledge of memory management, templates, concurrency, and the standard library.
• Experience with C# and the .NET ecosystem is advantageous, particularly in scenarios involving cross language integration or tooling.

Strong knowledge of modern C++ development practices, including smart pointers, move semantics, lambda expressions and effective use of the Standard Template Library (STL).

Experience developing, debugging and maintaining complex C++ applications, with the ability to diagnose issues relating to memory usage, performance, threading and application stability.

Experience using C++ debugging, profiling and performance analysis techniques to identify bottlenecks and improve application efficiency.

Experience working with existing or legacy C++ codebases and confidently modernising, refactoring and improving code while maintaining system stability

Proven capability to work effectively within an established software development lifecycle, including code reviews, design discussions, and collaborative delivery.

• Strong understanding of object‑oriented programming concepts including encapsulation, inheritance, polymorphism, and abstraction. This should extend to a clear understanding of SOLID principles and the ability to apply them to create robust and extensible software designs.
• Proficiency in SQL, specifically using Microsoft SQL Server, with the ability to write efficient queries, analyse execution plans, and collaborate with database specialists where necessary.
• Experience in implementing and maintaining unit tests across multiple layers of an application, including user interface, back‑end services, and database components.
• Working knowledge of widely used software design patterns, optimisation techniques, performance profiling, and implementation strategies for high throughput or low latency systems.
• Experience mentoring and coaching engineers at various stages of their career development. This includes providing technical guidance, assisting with setting development goals, and supporting colleagues in improving their engineering practices.
• Ability to contribute positively to team culture, encouraging knowledge sharing, continuous improvement, and collaborative problem solving.
• Enthusiastic, initiative‑taking, and enthusiastic about technology, with a strong desire for continuous learning and professional growth
• Motivated to succeed, with a commitment to delivering exacting standards of quality and contributing to a positive and productive engineering environment.

Recruitment Process

For successful candidates, interviews will take place whilst the advert is still live, via telephone, in person and video conferencing.

As part of the Microlise interview process, you’ll need to attend an in-person interview at our Head Office in Eastwood, Nottingham, for at least one of the interview stages.

Why Microlise?

Proudly Midlands-based, Microlise has been operating for over thirty years, and recently became a Publicly Listed Company with shares trading on the London Stock Exchange. Our growing business is guided by our culture which drives the way we behave, the way we work, the way we connect with our customers, and the way we support and develop our people.

• Full support and training to ensure you are well equipped to succeed in your role
• Great Place to Work certified – We have been recognised by the global authority on workplace culture, so come be a part of our success!
• Private medical insurance with Vitality Health including rewards for members such as: Apple Watch, discounted gym membership and many more!
• 25 days holiday, excluding bank holidays, increasing with service
• Invested in employee health and well-being with over 20 mental health first aiders in the business
• Employee Assistance Programmes
• Free Costco membership, 20% off EE mobile and line rental, and other local discounts
• Great staff extras: Easter eggs, yearly BBQ, Christmas gifts and annual staff awards

Recruitment Agencies

Whilst we make every effort to directly source candidates for our live roles, we do have a very small, preferred supplier list on the occasion we may require additional support. We therefore do not accept speculative CVs and/or cold calls to our Recruitment Team or Hiring Managers. Any queries should be directed to [e-mail] in the first instance.