Staff Agentic Engineer

John Lewis plc; City of Westminster; Hybrid; GBP 104,000 - 127,000; Full time

Job summary

John Lewis plc in London is seeking an experienced software engineer to join a hybrid role blending home and office work. You will work on complex retail technology, collaborating with business users to translate needs into scalable solutions.

The role emphasizes Agentic AI, cloud platforms (GCP, Snowflake), and modern Java/Kotlin development in a large commercial environment. Expect a competitive salary up to £115,000, a 35-hour week, and the chance to influence critical business processes.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience of software engineering using Java (or Kotlin) in a complex commercial environment.
• Experience of Agentic Engineering including working with agentic coding environments and automated engineering workflows.
• Experience of building & implementing agentic systems using agent orchestration & frameworks and advanced prompt/context engineering.
• Understanding of state & memory Management, deterministic guardrails & evaluation (Evals), tool & API integration, agentic protocols including MCP, A2A, UCP.
• Experience of working with cloud based data platforms (we use Snowflake).
• Experience of deploying/running solutions on cloud based infrastructure (we use GCP).
• Proven ability to translate raw data into actionable insights that drive problem-solving
• Excellent communicator and influencer with the ability to question and challenge stakeholders to identify the root causes of problems.

Responsibilities

• Working directly with business users as part of a small team to understand poorly defined operational business problems and to identify opportunities to radically improve business processes.
• Using your excellent communication and influencing skills to quickly build rapport with business colleagues and to influence key decision makers.
• Using your excellent systems thinking, agentic AI and data analysis skills to work collaboratively with business colleagues to understand underlying business problems and friction points.
• Using your excellent Agentic AI, Software Engineering and Architecture skills to identify and explore options for addressing the most important business issues.
• Exploring short term solutions which drive immediate business value by creating and iterating prototypes in close collaboration with business users, Using your insights into how key parts of the business operate to inform architecture and/or product roadmaps.

Skills

Java

Kotlin

Agentic Engineering

Agentic AI

Cloud platforms

Snowflake

GCP

Data insights

Communication

Tools

Snowflake

GCP

Job description

ABOUT THE ROLE

John Lewis and Waitrose are complex businesses that use technology to retail large volumes of a wide variety of products through multiple retail channels with annual sales exceeding £13billion. Our engineering practice includes 80+ teams, working on everything from Cloud platforms to mobile apps, from e-commerce functionality to agentic engineering. Take a quick look at our Engineering best practices, hear our engineers talk about their experience and opportunities to learn and grow, and check out our Tech stack. Reach out if you have any questions. Visit - https://www.jlpjobs.com/engineering-jobs/

At a glance

Expected Salary: up to £115,000 (depending on experience) Flexible Working: This is a hybrid working role; therefore, your time will primarily be split between working from home (in the UK) and our London Office. However, there will also be an expectation to visit other locations as the need arises. Our Engineers currently work from the office roughly twice a week to connect and, on a more ad-hoc basis, to attend key meetings, but again the frequency is dependent on the business needs. Our offices are open five days a week for those who prefer to work from the office more regularly.

Key Responsibilities

• Working directly with business users as part of a small team to understand poorly defined operational business problems and to identify opportunities to radically improve business processes.
• Using your excellent communication and influencing skills to quickly build rapport with business colleagues and to influence key decision makers.
• Using your excellent systems thinking, agentic AI and data analysis skills to work collaboratively with business colleagues to understand underlying business problems and friction points.
• Using your excellent Agentic AI, Software Engineering and Architecture skills to identify and explore options for addressing the most important business issues.
• Exploring short term solutions which drive immediate business value by creating and iterating prototypes in close collaboration with business users, Using your insights into how key parts of the business operate to inform architecture and/or product roadmaps.

Essential skills/experience you’ll need

• Extensive experience of software engineering using Java (or Kotlin) in a complex commercial environment.
• Experience of Agentic Engineering including working with agentic coding environments and automated engineering workflows.
• Experience of building & implementing agentic systems using agent orchestration & frameworks and advanced prompt/context engineering.
• Understanding of state & memory Management, deterministic guardrails & evaluation (Evals), tool & API integration, agentic protocols including MCP, A2A, UCP.
• Experience of working with cloud based data platforms (we use Snowflake).
• Experience of deploying/running solutions on cloud based infrastructure (we use GCP).
• Proven ability to translate raw data into actionable insights that drive problem-solving
• Excellent communicator and influencer with the ability to question and challenge stakeholders to identify the root causes of problems.

Desirable skills/experience you may have

• Using data science techniques to extract actionable insights and meaningful patterns from raw data.
• Experience of using systems thinking techniques to solve complex, dynamic problems and find the leverage points.
• Domain knowledge of retail is useful but not mandatory.

Important points to note

• It’s important to note that some of our roles are subject to pre-employment vetting (which may include DBS checks for successful candidates).
• If required, you’ll be informed and provided with information about vetting during the recruitment process and we encourage you to complete any vetting documents quickly to avoid delays.
• Any DBS checks required will be carried out by a third-party registered body and financial probity checks may also be required for some of our roles.
• We also recommend that you apply as soon as possible as vacancies can close early if we see a high number of applicants.
• We want all of our Partners to have a good work-life balance and we support flexible working.
• This might mean flexible or compressed hours, job sharing or short-hour contracts, where possible.

Where You’ll Be Working

London Central Office, 1 Drummond Gate, London, , SW1V 2QQ

About the Partnership

We’re the largest employee owned business in the UK and home of our cherished brands, John Lewis and Waitrose. We’re not just employees, we’re Partners, driven by our purpose to build a happier world.

As we look to our future, there’s never been a more exciting time to join us. We’re ruthlessly focused on being brilliant at retail. We continue to innovate, adapt and diversify. Never Knowingly Undersold on price, quality and service in John Lewis and passionately serving food-lovers in Waitrose. As Partners we all share the responsibility of ownership and in its rewards. We use our voices to contribute to our success, working together through the good and challenging times, holding true to our behaviours and treating everyone with kindness and respect.

We all own making the Partnership somewhere we belong. Embracing our differences and creating an environment where we’re free to be ourselves and can THRIVE. Growing ourselves individually, and as a collective. As Partners, we make all the difference. And, we all own it.

John Lewis and Waitrose are complex businesses that use technology to retail large volumes of a wide variety of products through multiple retail channels with annual sales exceeding £13billion. Our engineering practice includes 80+ teams, working on everything from Cloud platforms to mobile apps, from e-commerce functionality to agentic engineering. We’re not just employees; we’re co-owners, and that’s why we’re called Partners. Being a Partner means not only do we all collectively share the responsibilities of being the UK’s largest employee-owned business, but we also share in its rewards and successes. It’s this ownership model that makes the Partnership a very unique place to work.

Closing Date: November 29, 2026 Pay: £62,900.00 - £115,000.00 Annual Contract Type: Permanent Hours of Work: 35 Job Level: Partnership Level 6