Senior Software Engineer (LABs)

Checkatrade; City Of London; On-site; GBP 125,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading home improvement platform is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to develop early-stage products rapidly. You will work in a collaborative environment focusing on fast builds and learning. Ideal candidates should have experience with modern stacks like Node.js and React, and a passion for solving real-world problems. Competitive salary, annual bonus, and various wellness benefits are offered in this role based in London.

Benefits

Competitive salary + annual bonus

Health, well-being and learning support

Gym membership

Birthday/Special day leave

Buy & sell holiday scheme

1 week's paid charity leave

Qualifications

• Experience in fast-paced environments.
• Ability to work collaboratively.
• Strong problem-solving skills.
• Willingness to learn modern software stacks.

Responsibilities

• Deliver greenfield builds from zero to MVP quickly.
• Identify smarter shipping methods and the right tools.
• Collaborate with product partners to launch experiments.
• Ensure builds are fast and focused on real learning.

Skills

Experience building early-stage products

Collaborative attitude

Strong communication skills

Confidence with modern stacks (Node.js, TypeScript, React)

Job description

Overview

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Join us as a Senior Software Engineer (LABs)

Want to do work that really matters?

At Checkatrade, we're building the UK's go-to home improvement marketplace. Every day, we help millions of homeowners find the right tradesperson for the job, fast, fair, and without the faff.

As our next Senior Software Engineer (LABs), you'll shape and deliver the technology, tools, and innovations that connect homeowners with the right trades, making every job simpler, faster, and more reliable. You'll be part of our experimental product team, where we launch early-stage products with startup speed, but with the backing of a household name. You'll build MVPs, test bold ideas, and own products end to end. No big backlogs. No long handoffs. Just autonomy, creativity, and code that actually ships.

Responsibilities

• Delivering greenfield builds that go from zero to MVP in days, not months.
• Spotting ways to ship smarter, choosing the right tools, frameworks and architecture for speed and scale.
• Collaborating with a product partner to define, test and launch new marketplace experiments.
• Making sure every build is fast, functional, and focused on learning something real.

Requirements / What you'll bring

• Experience building early-stage or greenfield products in fast-paced environments.
• A collaborative, roll-up-your-sleeves attitude.
• Strong communication skills and a love of solving real-world problems.
• Confidence with modern stacks (Node.js, TypeScript, React) or the hunger to learn fast.

Benefits

• Competitive salary + annual bonus
• Health, well-being and learning support
• Gym membership, Smart Tech Scheme and Cycle Scheme
• Birthday/Special day leave
• Buy & sell holiday scheme
• 1 week's paid charity leave and much more!

Hiring process

• Screening call with one of our Talent Acquisition Partners
• 1st stage interview with our Engineering Manager
• 2nd Stage interview with our Principal Engineer and Full Stack Engineer
• 3rd interview will include a technical task with our VP of Labs and Director of Product Engineering

If you require any reasonable adjustments during our interview process, please discuss them with your Talent Acquisition Partner.

Take it from one of our current engineers: "No two days look the same in Labs - one day I'm building an MVP from scratch using Next.js and Firebase, the next I'm pairing with our product lead to design an experiment or jumping on calls with real users to test assumptions. I get to own the tech end-to-end, choose the right tools for the job, and move at startup speed - but with the support and reach of a trusted brand behind me. It's the most autonomy I've had in any role - and the most fun I've had shipping." - Senior Engineer, Labs @ Checkatrade

If this sounds like the place where you can do your best work, we'd love to hear from you, even if you don't tick every box

About us

We're Checkatrade - the UK's leading platform for finding a tradesperson. With more than 50,000 trades listed and over 6 million reviews, we help homeowners get jobs done right and help tradespeople grow their business.

We're growing fast, with big plans to become the go-to brand for home improvements. If you care about great work, take pride in the details, and want to make an impact, you'll fit right in.