Software Engineer - Java; Supply Chain

Are you energised by solving complex technical challenges? Do you want to influence engineering at scale and shape the future of how millions of customers shop with us every day?

If so, you could be the perfect fit for our Staff Engineer role in the Supply Chain Technology space.

This is your chance to work on high-impact, strategically important initiatives while staying hands‑on with cutting‑edge engineering. Join us and play a key role in delivering innovative, scalable solutions across one of the UK’s most advanced retail technology ecosystems.

As a Staff Engineer, you'll work across multiple engineering teams, driving technical design, elevating engineering standards and ensuring sound decision-making across the broader Sainsbury’s Tech ecosystem.

You’ll be deeply involved in the architecture and delivery of mission‑critical solutions, from microservices and integration layers to cloud‑hosted platforms powering our highly complex supply chain systems.

You’ll also act as a coach, mentor and technical guide to engineering teams — helping shape talent, influence direction and drive continuous improvement.

• Partnering with the Head of Engineering to define and deliver strategic outcomes across Supply Chain.
• Influencing and guiding technical decisions to ensure scalable, maintainable and secure solutions.
• Using your hands‑on engineering expertise to tackle the most challenging problems and unblock teams.
• Coaching and mentoring engineers at all levels to help them perform at their best.
• Promoting strong engineering practices, design principles and high technical standards.
• Leverage AI and intelligent automation to modernise our systems, streamline decision‑making, and ensure the organisation remains future‑fit in a rapidly evolving technology landscape.
• Working with peers across Sainsbury’s Tech to deliver cross‑domain solutions and encourage reusability.
• Supporting our engineering entry and development programmes, helping us attract and grow top talent.

We’re a 150+ year-old business operating with the mindset of a modern tech organisation:

• 10 million+ Nectar customers providing rich data insights
• Argos ranking as one of the UK’s busiest online retailers
• End‑to‑end supply chain technology operating at huge national scale

Our engineering teams build and run:

• 1,000+ microservices across AWS, Azure and GCP
• Event‑driven systems streaming billions of Kafka messages
• Scalable APIs and integrations powering real‑time decisioning

You’ll broaden your technical expertise, work with smart people and solve problems that truly matter.

Java | Python | React | AWS | Kafka | Microservices | APIs | Integration | Agile

• Significant hands‑on engineering experience in backend, frontend or platform technologies.
• Strong proficiency in one or more key languages (e.g.,
  Java, Python, React
  ).
• Proven experience designing and delivering scalable microservices and cloud‑native solutions.
• Understanding of distributed systems, integration patterns and event‑driven architecture.
• Ability to evaluate technical decisions, spot risks and guide teams towards strong design choices.

• Proven experience coaching, mentoring or guiding engineers across multiple levels.
• Ability to influence engineering direction across teams and domains.
• Strong communication skills, capable of building trust and alignment across stakeholders.

• Proven experience working in Agile environments and supporting high‑performing, long‑lived teams.
• Ability to proactively identify improvement opportunities and drive them to completion.

• Passionate about engineering excellence and continuous learning.
• Comfortable working across diverse systems and domains.
• Adaptable, collaborative and motivated by solving complex problems that deliver real value.

• Flexible working with a balanced approach to home and office
• Colleague discounts across Sainsbury’s, Argos and Habitat
• Private health cover
• Generous holiday allowance
• Bonus scheme
• Pension plan
• Discounts on gyms, restaurants, holidays, retail and more

If you’re ready to shape the…