Senior Product Engineer

Location: Remote

Salary: £70,000 - £75,000

At Arbor, we’re on a mission to transform the way schools work for the better. We believe in a future of work in schools where being challenged doesn’t mean being burnt out and overworked. Where data guides progress without overwhelming staff. And where everyone working in a school is reminded why they got into education every day. Our MIS and school management tools are already making a difference in over 12,000 schools and trusts, giving time and power back to staff, turning data into clear, actionable insights, and supporting happier working days.

At the heart of our brand is a recognition that the challenges schools face today aren’t just about efficiency, outputs and productivity — but about creating happier working lives for the people who drive education every day: the staff. We want to make schools more joyful places to work, as well as learn.

We are looking for an experienced and driven Senior Product Engineer to join our Engineering team and help lead and drive the successful completion of high-impact features, specifically contributing to the advancement of Arbor products. The remit and focus of the role is to contribute towards the development of the company’s core systems and processes, as well as implement strategies to enhance and optimise product quality and lead time across the entire team.

It’s a broad and exciting role, so we’re looking for someone up for a challenge — if you’re a collaborative and enthusiastic Engineer, this is the role for you.

Core responsibilities

• Work closely with the Engineering Manager, Tech Lead, QA Engineer, and Product Manager to help solutionise feature requests
• Lead the creation of detailed documentation for new feature developments, incorporating diagrams for comprehensive project understanding
• Drive the development and implementation of advanced tests around new features, ensuring the highest standards of test coverage and reliability
• Demonstrate expertise in producing well-architected, efficient, and scalable code using industry-leading design patterns and methodologies
• Take a leadership role in code reviews and pair programming sessions, guiding and mentoring colleagues towards excellence
• Lead and actively participate in tech-talks, workshops, and team-based learning initiatives, ensuring knowledge is disseminated effectively across the team

Requirements

• Extensive and demonstrated experience with Object-Oriented languages and software development
• Considerable experience in software development, specifically with PHP
• Advanced understanding and application of best practices and software engineering principles, including SOLID, DRY, etc.
• Expertise in relational database technologies
• Proactive problem-solving approach with a strategic mindset
• Proven experience in designing and writing APIs and services within a service-oriented environment
• Leadership qualities demonstrated through collaboration and mentorship
• A team player, willing to muck in and help others when needed, driven personality who asks questions and actively participates in discussions
• Good written and spoken English so you can present your ideas — our HQ is based in London

Bonus skills

• Past experience with enterprise solutions and large-scale systems
• Familiarity with Scrum methodology or other agile development processes
• Experience with cloud computing
• Experience with Docker and containerisation
• Familiarity with software best practices such as Refactoring, Clean Code, Domain-Driven Design, Test-Driven Development, etc.

Benefits

The chance to work alongside a team of hard-working, passionate people in a role where you’ll see the impact of your work every day. We also offer:

• A dedicated wellbeing team who champion initiatives such as mindfulness, lunch n learns, manager training, mental health first aid training and much more
• 32 days holiday (plus Bank Holidays). This is made up of 25 days annual leave plus 7 extra company-wide days given over Easter, Summer & Christmas
• Life Assurance paid out at 3x annual salary
• Comprehensive wellness benefit provided by AIG Smart Health, which provides a 24/7 virtual GP service, Mental…