Senior Software Engineer (Search)

We’re the Moonpig Group – home to Moonpig, Greetz, Red Letter Days and Buyagift – and we’re on a mission to make people feel loved, celebrated and remembered. Whether it’s a card that gets them laughing out loud or a gift that makes their day, we help people stay close, no matter the miles.

We’re proud to be leading the online gifting revolution, with brilliant products, clever tech and a whole lot of heart. Our platform makes it easy to create moments that matter – packed with personal touches and delivered with care. We’re not just about selling cards or gifts – we’re here to spread joy, spark smiles and make every celebration feel extra special. And with values that guide how we work and support one another, we’ve built a place where people (and ideas) can truly thrive.

If you’re looking to make an impact, bring your spark and be part of something meaningful – we’d love to have you on the team. 🌙🐷

Senior Software Engineer |📍Manchester (ideally) or can be London – Hybrid (1-2 days a week) | 💰Competitive Salary + Benefits

About the Role

Search helps millions of customers navigate and explore a huge catalogue of products so they can make moments with their loved ones. As a Senior Software Engineer in the Search team, you will help build scalable, resilient experiences using search, AWS, and modern web technologies. We work collaboratively with teams across Moonpig to deliver innovative features and grow our capabilities. This is an opportunity for a senior engineer, or someone stepping up into a senior role, who wants to learn quickly, work with great technology, and deliver an amazing product for customers.

Our expectations of our Senior Software Engineers:

• Good engineering comes first - You’ll have a great technical knowledge base and the experience to know what works and what doesn’t. We expect you to apply these skills in making the right decisions and applying best practices wherever possible.
• Technical mentoring and leadership - You’ll be collaborative, inclusive and spreading knowledge wherever possible. People will be looking up to you for technical guidance and part of your role will be to help them on that journey. You will also be responsible for creating the right forums to drive engineering principles and practices across all of engineering. You have the autonomy to drive decisions, but it’s your responsibility to ensure everyone is involved.
• Community Mindset - Engage with the engineering community within Moonpig, sharing knowledge and contributing to the continuous improvement of our practices.
• Culture and Advocacy - You will play a key role in contributing to a supportive, inclusive, and growth-oriented culture. This includes encouraging knowledge sharing, creating opportunities for collaboration and learning, and helping to represent and advocate for our values both within the organisation and in the wider community. This is important to us because we believe in growing and succeeding together.

Key Responsibilities:

• Be part of a cross-functional team that designs, implements, and A/B tests new features to provide a better customer experience, using agile principles to scope, track, and deliver work.
• Own, with the rest of the team, the back-end integration with our OpenSearch engine.
• Build and maintain infrastructure on AWS.
• Build and maintain customer-focused features in front-end web pages using React and GraphQL.
• Write good, clean code using technologies including AWS, Terraform, Node.js, .NET, C#, TypeScript, and GraphQL, with GitHub for source control and CI/CD pipelines.
• Build appropriate tests to ensure safety when writing new code and contributing to the codebase.
• Work closely with client teams to support their integration with our services, providing guidance, technical assistance, and tailored solutions for smooth and successful integration.
• Collaborate with engineers and data teams to design and deliver AI/ML-driven features using internal ML inference APIs and external LLMs.
• Actively engage with and coach colleagues to enhance the skills and knowledge in the team, fostering a culture of knowledge-sharing and collaboration.
• Engage with the wider engineering community at Moonpig, championing best practices across teams.

About You:

• Strong hands-on experience with OpenSearch, Elasticsearch or comparable search-engine technology, with OpenSearch experience particularly valuable for this role.
• You bring experience across frontend and backend development and a strong desire to continue growing towards an Engineering Lead role.
• You have experience with some of our technology stack, including AWS serverless, React, Node.js, TypeScript, C#, and GraphQL.
• You can collaborate effectively on complex technical tasks, contribute to design discussions, and deliver high-quality solutions.
• You can communicate and collaborate effectively with non-technical audiences.
• You are keen to learn new processes, techniques, and technologies.
• Experience working with serverless, event-driven systems would be desirable.

Our Tech Environment:

OpenSearch, AWS, .NET, C#, React, Node.js, GraphQL, Terraform, TypeScript, and GitHub for source control and CI/CD pipelines. Scalable and resilient architecture supporting a large product catalogue. Internal ML inference APIs and external LLMs for AI/ML-driven features.

How we get there:

We work in cross-functional teams and use agile principles to scope, track, and deliver work. We build appropriate tests into our development process to keep changes safe. We share knowledge, coach colleagues, and champion engineering best practices across teams. We collaborate closely with client, engineering, and data teams to make integrations and customer experiences successful.

Our Interview Process:

Stage 1: Recruiter Screening Call 15-30mins Stage 2: Take home tech test Stage 3: Pairing interview 60-90mins Stage 4: System design interview 60mins Stage 5: Final culture/team fit interview 30mins Offer! 🎉

Please note: Our interview process may vary depending on the specific role, hiring team availability or other business needs.

As part of our Connected Working approach, at least one stage of the interview process will take place in person, giving us the chance to meet face-to-face and get to know each other better. We'll let you know which stage this will be as you move through the process and keep you updated on any other changes along the way.

What's in it for you?

We believe in empowering our team to do their best work. Enjoy:

• 💰 Competitive Pay & Bonuses: Plus, generous pension plans & staff discounts.
• 💆🏽 Wellbeing First: Private healthcare (UK) and mental health support
• 🏖️ Flexible Working & Time Off: Generous holidays, hybrid working (1-3 days in office, depending on role/team) & up to 20 days of international working.
• 📈 Career Growth: Learning allowances, coaching & development programs.

Want to know more? Explore our full benefits package: here Check out our podcast, tech blog and product blog to hear more about how we work and what we're building!

Our Ways of Working:

We trust our colleagues to do what’s right and offer flexibility to support a balance between work and life. At the same time, face-to-face office time is an important and expected part of working at Moonpig Group. We believe regular in-person working supports collaboration, alignment, and effective decision-making. Candidates will have regular and ongoing time working from the office as part of their role, which will be discussed during the recruitment process.

Moonpig Group's Commitment to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusivity:

At Moonpig Group, we’re all about creating a workplace where everyone feels they truly belong. We celebrate what makes each of us unique, whether that’s our background, how we work best, or what matters most to us.

From working parents who need flexible hours to neurodiverse colleagues with specific working styles, we’re here to support our people in ways that work for them. Because when you feel valued and included, you can thrive, and so can we.

We’re proud to have a number of employee-led groups driving this forward, including our LGBTQ+, Gender Balance, Neurodiversity and EMBRACE (Educating Myself for Better Racial Awareness and Cultural Enrichment) communities, plus our Group-wide EDI committee. These teams help make sure every voice is heard and every idea has a place.

We know that diversity fuels creativity, innovation and connection, and that’s why we’ll keep pushing for progress. Together, we’re building a culture where everyone feels safe, supported, and free to be their brilliant, authentic selves.

If you have a preferred name, please use it to apply and share your pronouns if you are comfortable to do so😊 - If you have any reasonable adjustment requests throughout the interview process please let us know on your application or speak to the Recruiter.