Software Engineer - Java - Engine by Starling

The Engine; Cardiff; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading SaaS company in Cardiff is looking for passionate individuals to help build internal tooling and contribute to an award-winning platform. Java programming knowledge is beneficial, and the role emphasizes clean coding and collaborative project ownership. The company offers generous benefits including 33 days holiday, private medical insurance, and opportunities for professional growth. If you are curious and ready to make an impact in transforming banking technology, we would love to hear from you.

Benefits

33 days holiday

Extra day off for your birthday

Generous family-friendly policies

Private Medical Insurance

Volunteering time

Qualifications

• Experience in Java programming is desirable.
• Familiarity with cloud services like AWS or GCP is a plus.
• Understanding of microservice architecture and containerization.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to the platform and internal tooling.
• Build features and products from scratch.
• Share knowledge, contributing to the learning culture.

Job description

We have built our entire banking platform in house and mostly in Java. We are looking for people who want to work on building the tooling that is used by our engineers on a daily basis. The main part of our Backend Tech Stack is listed below; we don’t ask that you have experience in all of this, but if you do, that’s great!

Backend Tech Stack

• Java, which makes up the majority of our backend codebase
• AWS & GCP – we’re cloud‑native
• Microservice based architecture
• Kubernetes (EKS)
• TeamCity for CI / CD (with multiple production releases per day)
• Terraform and Grafana

Interview Process

• Initial interview with an Engineer – ~45 minutes
• Take home technical test to be discussed in the next interview
• Technical interview with some Engineers – ~1.5 hours
• Final interview with our CTO / deputy CTO – ~45 minutes

We’re open‑minded when it comes to hiring and we care more about aptitude and attitude than specific experience or qualifications. We are very open about how we deliver software. For the most part we code in Java, but you need not be an expert when you join us! We believe in clean coding, simple solutions, automated testing and continuous deployment. If you care enough to find elegant solutions to difficult technical problems, we’d love to hear from you.

About Engine by Starling

Engine is Starling’s software‑as‑a‑service (SaaS) business. The technology that powers Starling was built in-house, and two years ago we spun out as a separate business. Engine provides this technology to banks and financial institutions around the world, enabling them to benefit from innovative digital features and efficient back‑office processes. Everyone is expected to roll up their sleeves to deliver great outcomes for our clients. We are an engineering‑led company, and we’re looking for people who will be excited by the potential for Engine’s technology to transform banking worldwide. Our purpose is underpinned by five values: Listen, Keep It Simple, Do The Right Thing, Own It, and Aim For Greatness.

Role Overview

• Contribute to our award‑winning platform and internal tooling.
• Build new features and products from scratch in a configurable way.
• Share your knowledge with those around you, contributing to our learning culture.
• Own your projects, working in small teams across the bank to deliver collaboratively.
• Aim for greatness in everything you do, staying curious and inquisitive.
• Be part of a scaling team and organisation as we change banking for good.

Benefits

• 33 days holiday (including public holidays, which you can take when it works best for you)
• An extra day’s holiday for your birthday
• Annual leave increases with length of service, and you can choose to buy or sell up to five extra days off
• 16 hours paid volunteering time a year
• Salary sacrifice, company‑enhanced pension scheme
• Life insurance at 4x your salary & group income protection
• Private Medical Insurance with VitalityHealth, including mental health support and cancer care. Partner benefits include discounts with Waitrose, Mr & Mrs Smith and Peloton
• Generous family‑friendly policies
• Incentives refer‑a‑friend scheme
• Perkbox membership giving access to retail discounts, a wellness platform for physical and mental health, and weekly free and boosted perks
• Access to initiatives like Cycle to Work, Salary‑Sacrificed Gym partnerships and Electric Vehicle (EV) leasing

Engine by Starling is an equal‑opportunity employer, and we’re proud of our ongoing efforts to foster diversity & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment at Engine by Starling are considered without regard to race, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. When you provide us with this information, you are doing so at your own consent, with full knowledge that we will process this personal data in accordance with our Privacy Notice. By submitting your application, you agree that Engine by Starling and Starling will collect your personal data for recruiting and related purposes. Our Privacy Notice explains what personal information we will process, where we will process it, its purpose, and the rights you can exercise over our use of your personal information.