Senior Backend Software Engineer (Backend, Go)

Who are we? 

Arenko was founded in 2014 and we are growing rapidly in an emerging sector. We’d describe ourselves as fast-paced and inclusive. Our team are self-motivated problem solvers who take a collaborative approach to help the business develop and grow.

So what do we do?

As we move to the high-renewables and low carbon era, electricity storage is transforming the way the energy industry operates. The energy industry is fast becoming a digital and multidisciplinary sector that provides a fundamental service for modern society, but these needs must be delivered in a socially responsible way. Arenko is using new technology to add flexibility to the grid and secure supply in this fast-changing industry, offering a huge variety of opportunities for the future. At Arenko we are strongly committed to our mission of building a sustainable future by enabling a zero-carbon grid worldwide. Energy storage has a crucial role to play in the energy transition, and our technology enables the transformation of energy systems. We have committed a Sustainability Strategy more details of which can be found on our website at https://arenko.group/sustainability/

Sound like something you care about? Please read on…

What’s the role? 

As a senior software engineer (backend, Go) at Arenko you will be part of a team responsible for building, maintaining and evolving our platform.  This will enable our users to effectively manage some of the most agile, complex and technologically advanced systems in the world.  This software platform allows us to offer responsive, reliable services to Electricity grid operators (National Grid in the UK) while also analysing trading markets to optimise the storage and release of energy (and ultimately the revenue) of assets under our control. Working within an agile environment, you will be a critical part of a dynamic, passionate and talented software team from across disciplines creating a flexible and efficient platform that our users will use to transform the makeup of modern national electricity grids. 

Our primary tech stack & tool chain is: 

• Golang for backend services


• Cassandra, TimescaleDB databases and s3\Athena lake


• Backend microservice architecture with Pulsar, RESTFul and Websocket APIs


• AWS for infrastructure


• GitLab for version control and code management, and CI/CD 
  

As part of the Software team, you’ll be in an agile cross-functional team, working closely with your teammates including the Product Manager and Scrum Master to collaborate with stakeholders from across the business.  As with all high performing teams, you’ll work with a high degree of autonomy to solve interesting problems that will make a real impact in the world of renewable energy usage.

We have a genuine need to operate both personally and technically with real agility to retain our leading position and as thought leaders, as the markets we operate in and the problems we need to solve, are quickly evolving. 

• Technical Leadership: Provide technical leadership within the team, overseeing the construction, maintenance, and evolution of critical components in our cutting-edge platform.


• Software Platform Enhancement: Contribute significantly to the enhancement of our software platform, integral to providing responsive and reliable services for electricity grid operators, including the National Grid in the UK.

• Mentorship and Guidance: Actively engage in mentorship, guiding and fostering the growth of team members, contributing to a collaborative and innovative team culture.


• Collaborative Contribution: Collaborate closely with the Product Manager and Scrum Master, addressing technical challenges while actively participating in shaping a collaborative and innovative team culture.


• Flexible Solution Creation: Focus on creating flexible and efficient solutions that reshape the landscape of modern national electricity grids, ensuring adaptability to evolving industry needs.


• Operational and Technical Agility: Demonstrate and promote operational and technical agility, championing best practices and recognize the importance of staying ahead in rapidly evolving markets and challenges within the renewable energy sector.


• Problem Solving: Address complex technical problems with a high degree of autonomy, contributing to the success of the renewable energy landscape.


• Thought Leadership: Contribute to thought leadership by staying abreast of industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices, ensuring the team remains at the forefront of innovation in the field.


• Strategic Thinking: You will help define and maintain a long term strategic roadmap for the platform.

Who are you? 

Here at Arenko, we appreciate every single employee and the values they bring to the company so you might be completely different to what we expected. That being said, here’s a few things we’d love you to tick the boxes on;

• You’re degree level educated in computer science or related discipline or you’re able to demonstrate equivalent workplace experience.


• You’re an organised and adaptable team player with a track record with helping to define and delivering Tech Strategy.


• You’re a self-motivated individual with a proven background in solving problems pragmatically and collaboratively..


• You have experience in Go or any other strongly typed languages and AWS and cloud native technologies.


• You’re experienced with a range of database technologies and can communicate complex solutions to technical and non-technical stakeholders.


• You have experience in working with cloud-based, microservice architectures with a focus on continuous integration and delivery.


• You’re interested in making a real impact on climate change with innovative technology and have a passion for creatively solving real-world problems by writing excellent code that makes a real difference


• You have a proven background in solving problems pragmatically and collaboratively and can mentor colleagues effectively.


• You can communicate effectively with stakeholders to identify needs and evaluate alternative technical solutions and strategies.


• [Optional] You’re open to retaining or moving into Line Management.

So what’s in it for you? 

Hopefully the first thing is you love what we do and want to be part of the mission but let’s be honest…that’s probably not why you’re getting up to work everyday.

We know that rewarding our employees is the best way to make them feel valued. This is a journey we’d love you to take with us and as we grow we look forward to finding more ways to reward and thank you for your commitment to our mission. We currently offer the following benefits with more to come in future; 

• 25 days holidays in addition to public holidays, carry over flex and festive office closure (a pretty decent annual leave allowance even if we do say so ourselves!)


• A genuine approach to flexible working - the vast majority of our employees spend at least a day or 2 each week in the office but we’re open to making this work for everyone, their personal circumstances and their workloads


• Enhanced parental leave offerings with 6 months of full salary for the primary caregiver and 1 month for the secondary caregiver


• A yearly salary review for all employees


• We are proud to support the continuous professional growth of our employees by providing a personal annual learning and development budget and fully covering the costs of professional membership fees and subscriptions relevant to your role


• Access to MindTools on us


• Bike to Work Scheme (because it wouldn’t be very on brand if we didn’t encourage you to think about how your travel affects the environment)


• Octopus EV Scheme (see above!) 


• A commitment to your wellbeing, with access to our Employee Assistance Programme and complimentary eye tests in partnership with Specsavers


• Internal working groups to focus on the things that matter to you like our “Women of Arenko”, “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” and “Parents of Arenko” groups


• As part of our DEI efforts, we are currently in partnership with MotherBoard which enable us to be committed to improving the working lives of parents at Arenko


• Regular opportunities to blow off some steam engage with our team, including quarterly socials, the big Festive Gathering and the Summer Party. We’re also working on our wellness initiatives to support your Physical, social, mental and financial wellbeing. 

Our selection process

We designed our interview process to be straightforward and efficient; all the stages are described below. You can email us at any point if you have any questions or feedback; we are here to help and ensure that you have all the information you need! 

Initial Call (30 minutes) is an informal chat with one of our Engineering Leaders. It’s an opportunity for us to understand your motivations for joining Arenko, share more about who we are and ensure that we are a good fit for each other. We’ll ask about how you like to work and discuss a project you’re most proud of, so please come prepared to talk about it.

Take-Home Technical Test (~2 hours). We believe in assessing real-world problem-solving, not memorised coding challenges. We’ll provide a take-home test that reflects the kind of problems we solve and will show us your approach to coding and problem-solving. The test will be energy-related and designed to take just a couple of hours. 

Technical Interview (1 hour) builds on your take-home test. We’ll discuss your code; why you made certain decisions, what alternatives you considered and your overall approach. Be prepared to share your code on screen and talk us through it. This is also your chance to meet your future colleagues, and we encourage you to use this opportunity to ask lots of questions about the role, team and company culture.

Final Round (1 hour). Here, you’ll meet your future line manager for a behavioural and leadership interview. We’ll discuss real-world situations you’ve encountered and how you approached them. Using the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) technique can help structure your responses. Leadership is a quality we value in everyone, so we’d love to hear about moments when you’ve stepped up or inspired others.

Decision. True to our startup mentality, we aim to provide feedback quickly. If we’re a match, we’ll make you an offer and hope that you’ll join us! No matter the outcome, we'll always make an effort to provide constructive feedback because it’s the right thing to do.

Want to join us?

​​Here at Arenko, we want every employee and candidate to feel valued, comfortable, and able to be their own free self at work. Together, we are committed to building a diverse and inclusive culture that encourages, supports, and empowers the authentic voices of all our employees. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age or any other aspect that makes you unique.