Senior Software Engineer (Search)

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

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Competitive salary

Benefits package

Job summary

Moonpig is seeking a Senior Software Engineer to join the Manchester or London team on a hybrid basis. You’ll work across OpenSearch, AWS, React, Node.js, TypeScript, C#, and GraphQL to deliver scalable features for a large product catalog.

You’ll mentor others and champion engineering best practices while collaborating with cross-functional teams. You’ll contribute to backend and frontend development, write robust tests, and help drive AI/ML-driven improvements using internal APIs and external

Qualifications

• Experience with OpenSearch or Elasticsearch and modern search solutions.
• Background in full-stack development across frontend and backend.
• Hands-on experience with AWS serverless architectures.
• Ability to mentor and lead colleagues in engineering best practices.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate in cross-functional teams to design and deliver features.
• Own backend integration with OpenSearch and build scalable services.
• Develop frontend components using React and GraphQL.
• Build infrastructure with Terraform and manage CI/CD pipelines.
• Coach teammates and advocate engineering excellence across teams.
• Partner with client teams for successful integrations and deployments.

Skills

OpenSearch/Elasticsearch experience

Frontend and backend development

AWS serverless

Effective communicator

Tools

React

Node.js

TypeScript

C#

GraphQL

Terraform

GitHub

CI/CD pipelines

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.

Senior Software Engineer | Manchester (ideally) or London – Hybrid (1-2 days a week) | Competitive Salary + Benefits

About the Role

Search helps millions of customers navigate and explore a huge catalogue of products so they can make moments with their loved ones. As a Senior Software Engineer in the Search team, you will help build scalable, resilient experiences using search, AWS, and modern web technologies.

We work collaboratively with teams across Moonpig to deliver innovative features and grow our capabilities. This is an opportunity for a senior engineer, or someone stepping up into a senior role, who wants to learn quickly, work with great technology, and deliver an amazing product for customers.

Our expectations of our Senior Software Engineers

• 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

Key Responsibilities

• Be part of a cross-functional team that designs, implements, and A/B tests new features to provide a better customer experience, using agile principles to scope, track, and deliver work.
• Own, with the rest of the team, the back-end integration with our OpenSearch engine.
• Build and maintain infrastructure on AWS.
• Build and maintain customer-focused features in front-end web pages using React and GraphQL.
• Write good, clean code using technologies including AWS, Terraform, Node.js, .NET, C#, TypeScript, and GraphQL, with GitHub for source control and CI/CD pipelines.
• Build appropriate tests to ensure safety when writing new code and contributing to the codebase.
• Work closely with client teams to support their integration with our services, providing guidance, technical assistance, and tailored solutions for smooth and successful integration.
• Collaborate with engineers and data teams to design and deliver AI/ML-driven features using internal ML inference APIs and external LLMs.
• Actively engage with and coach colleagues to enhance the skills and knowledge in the team, fostering a culture of knowledge-sharing and collaboration.
• Engage with the wider engineering community at Moonpig, championing best practices across teams.

About You

• Strong hands‑on experience with OpenSearch, Elasticsearch or comparable search‑engine technology, with OpenSearch experience particularly valuable for this role
• You bring experience across frontend and backend development and a strong desire to continue growing towards an Engineering Lead role.
• You have experience with some of our technology stack, including AWS serverless, React, Node.js, TypeScript, C#, and GraphQL.
• You can collaborate effectively on complex technical tasks, contribute to design discussions, and deliver high-quality solutions.
• You can communicate and collaborate effectively with non-technical audiences.
• You are keen to learn new processes, techniques, and technologies.
• Experience working with serverless, event-driven systems would be desirable.

Our Tech Environment

• OpenSearch, AWS, .NET, C#, React, Node.js, GraphQL, Terraform, TypeScript, and GitHub for source control and CI/CD pipelines.
• Scalable and resilient architecture supporting a large product catalogue.
• Internal ML inference APIs and external LLMs for AI/ML-driven features.

How we get there

• We work in cross-functional teams and use agile principles to scope, track, and deliver work.
• We build appropriate tests into our development process to keep changes safe.
• We share knowledge, coach colleagues, and champion engineering best practices across teams.
• We collaborate closely with client, engineering, and data teams to make integrations and customer experiences successful.

Our Interview Process

Stage 1: Recruiter Screening Call 15‑30mins

Stage 2: Take home tech test

Stage 3: Pairing interview 60‑90mins

Stage 4: System design interview 60mins

Stage 5: Final culture/team fit interview 30mins

Offer!

Please note: Our interview process may vary depending on the specific role, hiring team availability or other business needs. As part of our Connected Working approach, at least one stage of the interview process will take place in person, giving us the chance to meet face‑to‑face and get to know