Staff Software Engineer- Customer Support

Marks and Spencer; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

20% colleague discount across M&S

Discretionary bonus schemes

Defined contribution pension

Life assurance

Job summary

Marks & Spencer is seeking a backend-focused Staff Software Engineer to lead technical direction across our Contact Centre, delivering reliable, scalable services built around CCaaS platforms such as Zendesk and Twilio. The role is hands-on and requires strong Java backend expertise.

You will collaborate with product, architecture, data and security teams to solve complex problems, design distributed systems, and ensure high-quality software across customer support experiences and colleague

Qualifications

• Significant experience designing, developing and operating production software at scale.
• Strong understanding of software engineering principles, distributed systems and modern delivery practices.
• Deep backend engineering experience with Java and its associated frameworks, architecture patterns and testing practices.
• Experience designing integrations with third-party SaaS platforms; knowledge of Azure, Google, Zendesk, Twilio or another CCaaS platform is particularly relevant.
• Experience leading technical direction across more than one team or product area, with the influence to bring people with you.

Responsibilities

• Set and communicate technical direction for Contact Centre technology, aligning near-term delivery with a coherent longer-term architecture.
• Design, build and operate secure, resilient, observable services and platforms that can evolve as the business changes.
• Stay hands-on with production-quality code, technical discovery, design decisions, reviews and complex problem solving.
• Lead the design of distributed systems, APIs, integrations and event-driven workflows where appropriate.
• Define robust integration patterns for Zendesk, Twilio and other CCaaS capabilities across telephony, messaging, case management and customer data.

Skills

Distributed systems

Backend Java

Technical leadership

CCaaS integrations

API design

Tools

Azure

Google Cloud

Zendesk

Twilio

Job description

Staff Software Engineer- Customer Support

About M&S

Marks & Spencer is transforming how it operates as a digital-first, engineering-led retailer. Our Digital & Tech teams build the services, platforms and experiences used by millions of customers and thousands of colleagues across stores, websites, apps and support functions.

We are ambitious about the future of retail. We aim to raise standards, do the right thing and create inclusive teams where people can bring their whole selves to work.

About The Role

We are looking for a backend-focused Staff Software Engineer to provide technical leadership across our Contact Centre. This is a hands-on, high-leverage engineering role: you will solve the most complex technical problems, shape direction across teams and evolve the services, integrations and customer experiences built around Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS) platforms such as Azure, Google, Zendesk and Twilio.

You will work closely with engineering, Product, Architecture, Data, Security and Customer Service colleagues to turn customer and colleague needs into reliable, scalable and measurable technology. This includes customer FAQ and self-service experiences, colleague tooling and responsible AI automation. The role is primarily focused on backend engineering in Java, while providing technical direction for frontend experiences built with React and Next.js.

What You’ll Do

• Set and communicate technical direction for Contact Centre technology, aligning near-term delivery with a coherent longer-term architecture.
• Design, build and operate secure, resilient, observable services and platforms that can evolve as the business changes.
• Stay hands-on with production-quality code, technical discovery, design decisions, reviews and complex problem solving.
• Lead the design of distributed systems, APIs, integrations and event-driven workflows where appropriate.
• Define robust integration patterns for Zendesk, Twilio and other CCaaS capabilities across telephony, messaging, case management and customer data.

Who you are

• Significant experience designing, developing and operating production software at scale.
• Strong understanding of software engineering principles, distributed systems and modern delivery practices.
• Deep backend engineering experience with Java and its associated frameworks, architecture patterns and testing practices.
• Experience designing integrations with third-party SaaS platforms; knowledge of Azure, Google, Zendesk, Twilio or another CCaaS platform is particularly relevant.
• Experience leading technical direction across more than one team or product area, with the influence to bring people with you.

What’s In It For You

• 20% colleague discount across M&S products and selected third-party brands after probation.
• Competitive holiday entitlement, with the option to buy additional days.
• Discretionary bonus schemes linked to personal and business performance.
• Defined contribution pension scheme and life assurance.
• Tailored induction, training and development opportunities.
• Discounts and wellbeing support through the M&S Choices portal.
• Family-friendly parental, adoption and neonatal policies.
• Wellbeing support, including virtual GP access and support for you and your family.
• One paid charity volunteering day each year.

Benefits and eligibility are subject to the applicable M&S terms and policies.

Everyone’s welcome

We are ambitious about the future of retail. We’re disrupting, innovating and leading the industry into a more conscientious, inspiring digital era. We’re transforming how we work together and offering our most exciting opportunities yet. Mark’s & Spencer strives to be an inclusive organisation, trusted and admired by our colleagues, customers and suppliers. Join us and make change happen.

We are committed to building diverse and representative teams, where everyone can bring their whole selves to work and be at their best. We support each other and work together to win together.

If you feel you'd benefit from any support or reasonable adjustments during any stage of the recruitment process, please don't hesitate to let us know when completing your application. This information will be picked up by our team, so we can try and put steps in place to help you be at your best through this process.