Senior Software Engineer in City of London

Our Vision and Our Company Etiquette

Our vision is to be the world’s most thoughtful villa company. To achieve our vision, we are thoughtful, we work with integrity, and we take a principled, considerate, proactive, and passionate approach to what we do. Every day.

What we do

We manage an exclusive collection of luxury villas around the Mediterranean. Our knowledgeable sales team personally chats with our clients to match them with the perfect villa. We then arrange everything they need for their stay, including private chefs, experiences, boat trips, cooking courses, wine-tasting, and access to local secrets. The Engineering team builds all the tools we need to make this process as seamless as possible. We recently received investment from Piper (Mindful Chef, Bloom & Wild) and were awarded B Corp status last year.

The role

Build and maintain test-driven systems that power our client journey and business workflows. You’ll work with stakeholders from across the business to continuously deliver reliable changes. Using your experience, you’ll thoughtfully understand the complex requirements of the teams and our clients, breaking them down into manageable tasks that deliver the most impact through achievable actions. This is a backend-leaning product engineering role, focused on building tools that are consumer-like for our teams to use, enabling them to deliver exceptional quality to our clients. 

Engineering at The Thinking Traveller

Founded 21 years ago, we've witnessed significant technological advancements over the last two decades and have implemented a variety of systems to meet our current needs. Now, we're on a mission to prepare for the future.

This presents an incredible opportunity to take ownership of many of the new systems we require. We're transitioning to Next.js hosted on Vercel, and Ruby on Rails with PostgreSQL hosted on GCP. Our new systems are developed using a trunk-based repository with CI/CD, and our goal is to achieve double-digit deployments per day. The existing team consists of two frontend roles, two offshore backend roles, and a database administrator. Additionally, we have a design team and external agencies to provide support as needed.

You can read more about what we’re working on here: Engineering at The Thinking Traveller (

What you'll be doing

• Build and maintain the systems that power our client journey and business workflows
• Build systems for payments handling tens of thousands of pounds per transaction for our clients and partners
• Continuously improve our testing infrastructure and operations tools
• Maintain existing systems and build in observability
• Release new features using feature flagging and A/B testing
• Collaborate effectively with stakeholders to understand their needs and clients’ needs to develop our tools with a continuous feedback loop
• Own features from concept all the way through to production

Your skills and experience

• A passion for software engineering for the Web
• Experience with Ruby on Rails or similar modern MVC web framework
• Can strike a balance between getting things done and taking on too much technical debt
• The first thing you think is ‘how do I test this’ before you dive in
• You want to work in an environment with high levels of ownership
• You enjoy getting your work in front of the people that will use it and happy to listen to and implement feedback
• Pivot around issues to get things shipped, negotiating and managing expectations around deadlines
• You can prototype to demonstrate ideas to get buy in and support from other departments
• Love working as part of a team collaborating with other engineers and in other non-technical disciplines
• You want to continue your career as an individual contributor
• Act as an advocate for engineering in the business, be able to communicate with non-technical teams about engineering decisions and compromises
• A growth mindset

Nice to have

• Experience working with event-driven architecture
• Experience working with commonly used marketing tools for the Web and CRMs
• Experience in e-commerce
• An appreciation of good UX and design
• You love travel!

Please still apply if you don’t have as many nice to haves as you think you need. We love having a team made up of various strengths from a range of backgrounds, and we’d love you to apply if you bring something different.

Process

1. Application Review: Our team will review your application and CV
2. Initial Interview: Selected candidates will be invited for a brief call to get to know you
3. Second-Stage Interview: Shortlisted candidates will be invited to attend an in-person interview at our offices in Shoreditch, where there will be a short task to be prepared in advance and present on the day
4. Final Decision: Successful candidates will receive an offer, and we will provide feedback to all interviewed applicants

We aim to keep the process efficient and transparent, however on occasion it may be adjusted. In the event of any change we will notify candidates promptly.

What we can offer you

• A modern, spacious and comfortable office environment in the heart of Shoreditch
• Social events organised by our Thinkers Social Committee
• Monthly office lunch
• Epic annual party
• Bupa cashplan with access to 24/7 Employee Assistance Program
• Life Assurance
• Season ticket loan scheme
• Cycle to work scheme
• Staff Discount on our villas
• Choice of a MacBook Pro or a Dell Inspiron
• Hybrid working (3 days’ in the office / 2 days’ from home)
• Work-from-home project weeks, allowing you to focus on particular tasks or projects
• Working From Abroad Allowance
• Volunteering Days

Our Commitment to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

At The Thinking Traveller, we value and prioritise diversity and inclusion within our workplace, recognising the importance of ongoing improvement in this area. Our goal is to cultivate a thoughtful culture where every individual feels genuinely appreciated, respected, and included.

We firmly believe that by attracting a diverse group of talented individuals, we can benefit from a wide range of perspectives, experiences, and ideas. This diverse tapestry of Thinkers enables us to deliver exceptional results to our esteemed clients. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds, irrespective of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, or disability.

If you are considering joining our team, we encourage you to apply and inform us if any adjustments are required during our recruitment processes. Your unique perspective and potential contributions are valued, as we strive to create an environment that is inclusive and supportive to all.