Staff Full Stack Engineer

ZipRecruiter; London; On-site; GBP 125,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

An innovative company is seeking a Staff Full-Stack Engineer to lead engineering efforts in a dynamic tech environment. This role focuses on enhancing the accuracy of risk quotes through advanced algorithms and data analysis. You will collaborate with multi-disciplinary squads, tackle complex technical challenges, and influence architectural decisions. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in Kotlin, Java, or Python, and React, with hands-on experience in full-stack development. Join a forward-thinking team that values diversity and continuous improvement, and be part of a mission to revolutionize the insurance industry.

Qualifications

• Professional experience with Kotlin, Java, or Python and React.
• Expertise in leading architectural design for complex backend systems.

Responsibilities

• Partner with Tech Leads to guide architectural decisions.
• Collaborate across squads on discovery initiatives and technical direction.

Skills

Kotlin

Java

Python

React

Cloud Infrastructure

Continuous Integration

Version Control (Git/GitHub)

Infrastructure as Code

Build Tools (Maven)

Tools

Maven

Git/GitHub

Job description

Job Description

Who are we?

Look at the latest headlines and you will see something Ki insures. Think space shuttles, world tours, wind farms, and even footballers’ legs. Ki’s mission is simple. Digitally disrupt and revolutionise a 335-year-old market. Working with Google and UCL, Ki has created a platform that uses algorithms, machine learning and large models to give insurance brokers quotes in seconds, rather than days. Ki is proudly the biggest global algorithmic insurance carrier. It is the fastest growing syndicate in the Lloyd's of London market, and the first ever to make $100m in profit in 3 years. Ki’s teams have varied backgrounds and work together in an agile, cross-functional way to build the very best experience for its customers. Ki has big ambitions but needs more excellent minds to challenge the status-quo and help it reach new horizons.

What’s the role?

You’ll be primarily focused on the “Portfolio and Digital Underwriting” area of the Tech group. This is a set of 10 multi-disciplinary squads, consisting of Software, Data and Full Stack Engineers, as well as Algorithmic Engineers and Data Scientists. These squads exist to advance our ability to provide accurate quotes for risks based on vast data sets and fine-tuned algorithmic capabilities.

The squads own a variety of different systems, including single page applications, data pipelines, backend APIs, and algorithmic models.

We’re looking for a Staff Full-Stack Engineer to partner with other Staff level individuals to act as an Engineering leader in this area. You’ll support the Tech Leads in the squads you work with and will look broadly across the wider organisation to raise the bar for Ki’s quality of Software Engineering. You’ll be expected to work through hands-on contribution and technical knowhow, but also through forming relationships with Product Managers and Tech Leads, as well as through influencing skills.

Principal Accountabilities:

1. Partner with Tech Leads to guide architectural decisions and ensure robust, highly available systems.
2. Tackle complex technical challenges with hands-on contributions and build strong relationships within squads.
3. Bring a broad engineering perspective to system design discussions.
4. Advocate for continuous improvement and mentor team members in both technical and business domains.
5. Collaborate across squads on discovery initiatives, technical direction, and long-term strategies for maintainable systems.
6. Work closely with Product teams to align end-user requirements with effective technical solutions.
7. Promote best practices, minimize inefficiencies, and introduce emerging technologies to enhance team capabilities.

Required Skills and Experience:

1. Professional experience with Kotlin, Java or Python and React.
2. Proven experience as an Engineer working across multiple squads.
3. Demonstrated ability to drive technical and behavioural improvements across teams.
4. Expertise in leading architectural design for complex backend systems.
5. Skilled in influencing and implementing changes across squads.
6. Hands-on experience building full stack web applications.
7. Proficient with cloud infrastructure, infrastructure as code, and standard logging/monitoring tools for issue investigation.
8. Strong background in continuous integration, with a preference for continuous delivery.
9. Familiarity with build tools (e.g., Maven) and version control systems (e.g., Git/GitHub).
10. Experience collaborating within multi-disciplinary squads, including Data Engineers and Data Scientists.

Our culture

& is at the heart of our business at Ki. We recognise that in diversity, gender, physical ability, thought and social background bring richness to our working environment. No matter who you are, where you’re from, how you think, or who you love, we believe you should be you.

You’ll get a highly competitive remuneration and benefits package. This is kept under constant review to make sure it stays relevant. We understand the power of saying thank you and take time to acknowledge and reward extraordinary effort by teams or individuals.