Staff Engineer Engineering London

Wheely; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 144,000 - 176,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Office in West London

Salary £160k+

ESOP

Private medical

Life insurance

MacBook Pro

Monthly travel credit

Cycle to Work

Relocation & visa sponsorship

Job summary

Wheely is seeking a Staff Engineer to lead the Platform team, building the foundation for fast, reliable back-end systems and guiding migrations from a Ruby monolith. You will champion scalable infrastructure and high engineering standards across the org.

You will collaborate with product, data, and infrastructure leaders to ensure low latency, global performance, and robust reliability while growing and mentoring high-performing teams.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of backend software engineering experience.
• Experience designing and operating large-scale distributed systems.
• Experience in consumer-scale platforms or marketplaces.

Responsibilities

• Define the technical vision, architecture, and standards across backend systems
• Ensure system reliability, scalability, and performance at global consumer scale
• Make high-quality architectural decisions across distributed systems, APIs, and data infrastructure
• Improve system performance, latency, and fault tolerance
• Foster a culture of ownership, accountability, and engineering excellence
• Support domain-based team structures (e.g. pricing, matching, supply engagement)

Skills

Backend engineering

Distributed systems

Platform architecture

Leadership

Performance

Job description

Wheely is redefining premium transportation across major cities in Europe, the US, and the Middle East. We blend cutting-edge technology with the craft of five-star chauffeuring to deliver an experience trusted by more than 100,000 active riders and 1,200 corporate accounts.

We’re a profitable, fast-growing scale-up with $43M raised and over $100M in annual revenue. Having recently launched in New York City, we’re expanding rapidly across the US and EMEA. If you take pride in your craft and want to help shape the next chapter of our growth, we'd love to hear from you.

About The Role

We are looking for a Staff Engineer to join our Platform team that creates the foundation that allows our entire engineering organisation to move fast. This means building shared tooling, managing migrations (including our move from a Ruby monolith), and evolving our infrastructure.

This is a senior leadership role for a deeply technical leader who combines strong backend and infrastructure expertise with the ability to build and scale high-performing teams. You will be responsible for the architecture, reliability, and performance of all backend systems powering Wheely’s platform.

You will work closely with product, data, and infrastructure leaders to ensure our systems are fast, resilient, and scalable — enabling us to deliver the most reliable and premium ride-hailing experience in the world.

Responsibilities

• Define the technical vision, architecture, and standards across backend systems
• Ensure system reliability, scalability, and performance at global consumer scale
• Make high-quality architectural decisions across distributed systems, APIs, and data infrastructure
• Improve system performance, latency, and fault tolerance
• Foster a culture of ownership, accountability, and engineering excellence
• Support domain-based team structures (e.g. pricing, matching, supply engagement)

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in software engineering, with strong backend expertise
• Proven track record of designing and operating large-scale distributed systems
• Deep understanding of backend architecture, infrastructure, and platform concerns
• High technical judgment and attention to detail
• Experience in consumer-scale products or marketplaces
• Background in performance-critical systems (low latency, high availability)

What We Offer

• Office-based role in West London, four days a week with flexible start and finish times, plus one remote day of your choice
• Salary starting from £160,000
• Employee stock options plan
• Private medical and dental insurance
• Life and critical illness cover
• Latest-generation MacBook Pro and 4k display
• Monthly credit towards Wheely journeys
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Relocation support, including visa sponsorship and allowance

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