Senior Staff Engineer

Naked Wines; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

An innovative wine company in Greater London seeks a Senior Staff Engineer to shape the technical landscape. You will lead system design, define best practices, and coach engineers while improving software performance and reliability. The role emphasizes collaboration across teams to deliver high-impact projects. The ideal candidate has over 10 years of experience in software engineering and possesses strong leadership and communication skills. Join us to make a meaningful impact as we redefine how people enjoy wine.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Annual bonus opportunity

Personal Healthcare

26 days holiday plus bank holidays

£300 annual personal development budget

£450 annual wine budget

Paid volunteer leave

Wellbeing support including mindfulness resources

Enhanced parental leave

Honeymoon leave for newlyweds

Thoughtful gifts

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in software engineering.
• Proven experience leading system design and architecture reviews.
• Strong coaching and mentoring capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead architecture, system design, and technical strategy.
• Define and embed technical standards and best practices.
• Oversee engineering workflows and act as a technical escalation point.

Skills

Leadership

System Design

Technical Strategy

Problem Solving

Communication

Job description

About Us

In a nutshell, we’re all about making the world of wine a better place. We fund and source directly from independent winemakers to bring customers better quality wine for a better price. No thirsty middlemen as far as the eye can see.

It’s a different way of doing things, sure. But it works. We’re one of the UK’s favourite wine clubs, shipping over 1 million (!) cases a year to curious wine lovers. And with an ambitious road ahead, we’ve got no plans on plugging the cork on growth.

Our global team (we have offices in the US and Australia, too) is entrepreneurial by nature, obsessive about customer experience and driven by performance. All things that make Naked a great place to grow both personally and professionally. And yes, we like wine. A lot.

It takes a village to be Naked and now our Engineering team is looking for a Senior Staff Engineer. You’ll be stepping into a high-impact role where your ideas shape the way we build, scale and evolve our technology. From guiding cross-team architecture to enabling faster, safer delivery, you’ll influence some of the most important technical decisions we make. If you’re motivated by solving meaningful problems and raising the engineering bar, you’ll thrive here. So if you’re keen to help us take the guesswork out of enjoying great wine (that’s what we’re passionate about), there’s a Naked welcome pack with your name on it. Together, we’ll take Naked Wines to the next level – and share our not‑so‑well‑kept secret with the world.

Location & Flexible Working - Hybrid - Norwich or London (1-2 days per week at primary office)

Requirements

What you’ll do :

• Lead architecture, system design and technical strategy across several squads
• Define and embed technical standards, patterns and best practices
• Improve software performance, reliability, security and maintainability
• Oversee engineering workflows, including release processes and architecture review
• Act as a technical escalation point for complex issues and cross-team decisions
• Partner with product and technology leaders to prioritise work and allocate resources
• Facilitate design reviews, workshops and knowledge‑sharing sessions
• Provide hands‑on engineering support for high‑impact or high‑risk projects
• Manage, coach and mentor engineers at all levels
• Lead hiring, onboarding and development for your direct reports
• Join squads when needed to deliver strategically important initiatives
• Help evaluate and adopt new tools, technologies and processes
• Shape cross‑discipline architecture and contribute to company‑wide technology strategy

What you’ll bring :

• 10+ years of experience in software engineering (backend, frontend or full‑stack)
• Strong knowledge of modern architectures (API‑first, microservices, composable)
• Proven experience leading system design, architecture reviews and technical decision‑making
• Ability to debug, optimise and improve complex distributed systems
• Experience with modern engineering practices (CI / CD, automation, DevOps principles)
• Clear and inclusive communication skills with technical and non‑technical stakeholders
• Ability to influence decisions, build alignment and collaborate across squads
• Strong coaching and mentoring capabilities, especially for senior engineers
• Strong planning, estimation and forecasting skills
• Steady judgement and calmness during high‑stakes or time‑critical incidents
• A strategic mindset, understanding how technical decisions impact business outcomes
• Breadth across the full technology stack (backend, frontend, mobile)
• Ability to set and guide multi‑year technical direction
• Ability to navigate complex organisational environments and build trusted relationships

You have…

• Ambition (dream big) : you translate the strategy into action (projects, tasks and processes)
• Judgement (make good decisions) : you identify the need for tactical change and lead on implementation
• Discipline (adhere to high standards) : you follow results closely and adapt plans as necessary
• Influence (have a big impact) : you facilitate collaboration and manage talent efficiently
• Accountability (take full responsibility) : you deliver results and identify issues, setting up ways to avoid them

And finally you live by our Naked values…

• You support all stakeholders from the Winemaker, through to the Customer. We are Naked Together
• You embrace growth, pushing yourself out of your comfort zone to overcome obstacles
• You always start with our customers and winemakers
• You keep it simple and are data‑led, from the wine itself to the ways of working
• You do the right thing, holding yourself accountable with honesty and openness

Recruitment Process

• Screening interview >
• System Design Interview with Engineering Leaders >
• Team Leadership Interview with Staff Engineers >
• Final Interview with Head of Engineering

Benefits

As part of the Naked family, we want you to know we've got your back. Here are a few of the perks you'll enjoy when you join the team…

• A competitive salary (depending on experience) plus annual bonus opportunity
• Personal Healthcare
• 26 days holiday and bank holidays (you can buy or sell holiday too)
• A £300 annual personal development budget – we’re passionate about supporting people to follow their dreams inside or outside of Naked
• £450 every year to treat yourself to some of our delicious wines…all in the name of research, of course
• We want to do our bit for the community and give everyone paid leave to volunteer
• We have wellbeing support and access to mindfulness resources including the Headspace app
• Enhanced parental leave
• Honeymoon leave – newlyweds get an extra week of annual leave
• We like to surprise and delight you with lovely thoughtful gifts including Naked Wine and lots more…

Equal Opportunities

At Naked Wines, we recognise the value of diversity and inclusivity in fostering a truly remarkable experience for all our winemakers and customers. Our commitment extends beyond wine to building a workforce that reflects the wide array of perspectives and experiences found across the UK. We believe that embracing diversity in our teams enables us to provide exceptional service and innovation. We are dedicated to ensuring all our employees are treated fairly and equitably at work, with a strong commitment to promoting equity in both physical and mental health for everyone. To achieve this, Naked Wines encourages applications from individuals of disadvantaged socio‑economic backgrounds, disabled persons, LGBTQ+ community members, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, and those with lived experiences of discrimination.

Accessibility and Adjustments

Naked Wines is committed to providing reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment process. We strive to be as accommodating as possible to ensure all candidates can participate fully. If you have specific requirements or need adjustments at any stage of the application or interview process, please do not hesitate to get in touch. In your application, feel free to indicate your preferred pronouns (for example – she / her / hers, he / him / his, they / them / theirs, etc) to help us better address and respect your identity throughout the process.