Backend Developer

Our team

All technology is written and maintained by a multi-discipline engineering team of around 100 people. This includes server-side, client-side and mobile engineers working closely with UX experts, copywriters and designers. 

We follow a Kanban-like approach, using Google docs and Asana to specify and manage work; Github, CircleCI and Terraform Enterprise as part of an immutable-infrastructure, continuous delivery pipeline; and Loggly, Sentry and Cloudwatch to measure performance and monitor production. 

Some of our coding conventions are open-source . 

Octopus is a great place to learn, work with some talented engineers and level-up your skills.  

Our technology

On the server-side, we mainly use Python. Most of our websites are powered by Django, Django-REST-framework and GraphQL (Graphene).  

We use AWS heavily, employing most of the "Hashistack" (eg Packer, Consul, Terraform) as part of a continuous deployment pipeline. See, for example, Django, ELB health checks and continuous delivery. 

Client-side, we use React, Redux and SASS; our mobile apps are built using native code or React Native.

What you'll do

• We have lots of difficult design challenges to solve. The UK energy market is complicated, outdated and process-heavy - there's an awful lot of domain modelling that we need to get right. Strong attention to detail is essential.
• We have difficult technical problems to solve. With the advent of smart meters, we'll soon be processing millions of meter readings a day. We need the right technology in place to handle this smoothly as well as feeding data into a machine learning pipeline that models and predicts consumption.
• There's a great opportunity for disruption in the UK energy market. The big suppliers still dominate, but are not exactly popular. The energy landscape is changing as we move to more dis-aggregated forms of generation, with less predictability, more dynamism and smarter technology. Octopus Energy were the first UK supplier to introduce a "tracker" tariff whose prices track the daily wholesale prices: http://www.cleanenergynews.co.uk/news/efficiency/octopus-offers-transparency-with-wholesale-price-tariff
• You'll be working for a company that’s fighting climate change. Our parent company is the largest investor in solar generation in the UK, and are funding wind and anaerobic digestion. As a supplier, we're helping people to use greener technology and renewable energy, all helping move the UK towards a lower carbon future.

What you'll have

• We're looking for someone with a general interest in technology and problem-solving; someone diligent and thoughtful. It would be helpful to have experience/expertise in the following (in rough priority order):
• Python
• Django (or equiv. web framework)
• Domain modelling
• HTTP and REST APIs
• Writing robust and fault-tolerant software
• Celery and async processing
• Postgres
• Plus experience in the following would be a bonus:
• AWS
• Terraform, Packer, Consul
• React and Redux

Why you'll love it here

• Wondering what the salary for this role is? Just ask us! On a call with one of our recruiters it's something we always cover as we genuinely want to match your experience with the correct salary. The reason why we don't advertise is because we honestly have a degree of flexibility and would never want salary to be a reason why someone doesn't apply to Octopus - what's more important to us is finding the right octofit!
• Octopus Energy is a unique culture. An organisation where people learn, decide, and build quicker. Where people work with autonomy, alongside a wide range of amazing co-owners, on projects that break new ground. We want your hard work to be rewarded with perks you actually care about! We won best company to work for in 2022, on Glassdoor we we're voted 50 best places to work in 2022 and our Group CEO, Greg has recorded a podcast about our culture and how we empower our people 
• Visit our perks hub - Octopus Employee Benefits

We would prefer someone who can work in our London office but will consider remote candidates (warning: the bar is much higher). You do need to be able to work in the UK without a VISA though.

Above all, we’re looking for someone who thrives on providing alternative opinions, challenging those around them and being challenged.

If this all sounds like you then we'd love to hear from you.

At Octopus, we're looking for genuinely decent people who are honest and empathetic. Our commitment is to provide equal opportunities, a diverse and inclusive work environment, and fairness for everyone. You are welcome to apply no matter your age, disability, gender, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy and maternity status, race, religion or belief, or sexual orientation.