Lead Software Engineer - Backend

About the role:

At Holland & Barrett, our mission is to make health and wellness a way of life for everyone — and technology is key to achieving that goal. As we evolve into a truly omni-channel business, we're investing in the innovation and digital capabilities that will deliver speed, convenience, and personalisation to millions of customers worldwide.

We build with purpose. We're collaborative, cloud-first, and committed to delivering meaningful value at pace. We prefer building smart, tailored solutions over buying generic ones — and we integrate automation and testing into every part of our tech stack, from infrastructure to software to data.

As a Senior Backend Engineer, you'll join our Online Customer Experience (OCX) vertical — the team behind our e-commerce platforms across web and mobile. With a large-scale technical transformation nearing completion, we're entering a new and exciting phase: building next-generation digital propositions that align with our mission to be the go-to wellness brand.

This role will see you lead by example — owning software design across key functional areas, mentoring engineers, and delivering high-quality, secure, and scalable systems that enhance the customer experience.

What You'll Be Doing

• Take ownership of designing and delivering backend services, operating independently without technical oversight

• Lead by example to consistently ship high-quality, cross-functional software

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure projects are delivered on time and meet expectations

• Bring fresh thinking and share new techniques across disciplines including product, QA, and UX

• Support and mentor your engineering squad, helping to grow technical capabilities and confidence

• Evaluate the impact of new information and changing priorities, adapting plans accordingly

• Communicate complex concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders

• Understand how your team's work connects to the wider business strategy

• Keep the customer at the heart of what you do — building features and systems that serve their needs

• Take responsibility for security and compliance, planning proactively for operational impact

Key requirements:

Essential Skills:

• Fluent in Java (17+) and frameworks like Spring Boot, Quarkus, or Micronaut

• Deep understanding of RESTful architecture and HTTP

• Strong knowledge of asynchronous programming techniques in Java

• Proficient in SQL, with experience in RDBMS like Postgres or Oracle

• Experience working with Docker and docker-compose

• Familiarity with AWS, particularly services like S3, Aurora, and ElasticCache

• Proficient with CI/CD tools such as GitLab, GitHub Actions, or CircleCI

• Strong testing capabilities using JUnit, RestAssured, or similar frameworks

• Proactive with monitoring, observability, and system health

Desirable Skills:

• Exposure to monitoring platforms like Datadog, Grafana, Prometheus, or PagerDuty

• Familiarity with Python scripting

• Experience with Kubernetes and deployment tools such as Helm

Why Join H&B Tech?

• Help define the future of digital health & wellness in a purpose-led organisation

• Work in an agile, cloud-native tech environment with a clear vision and mission

• Be part of a collaborative, people-first team that encourages continuous learning

• Enjoy a flexible working culture, competitive benefits, and the opportunity to make a real impact

Join us and shape the future of wellness through technology. Apply today and be part of something bigger.

What we offer:

• Pension company contribution = 3%
• Incentive scheme up to 10% of annual salary, based on company performance.
• Your wellbeing is paramount so you can get away and take 33 Days Holiday per year.
• Private Medical Care (Self after 1 year)
• Learning and Development opportunity with Holland & Barrett is a great base for career development long term.
• Career progression.
• Refer and Earn Scheme - as we're growing you can earn money by referring people to join us from your network.
• Epic Extras gives you access to exclusive benefits, free advice and savings from a range of retailers and providers.
• Stay healthy with Discounted Products - from day one you'll get a 25% discount (on top of other promotions) when you shop at H&B on anything that you buy.
• We all need a little help sometimes, so weoffer Free 24/7 Confidential Advice & Colleague Welfare.
• Mental Health First Aiders - we have lots of qualified Mental Health First Aiders because its all about your health & wellbeing.
• Stay active in the Onsite Gym at our Nuneaton Hub!
• We have colleague Reward and Recognition Schemes, so your hard work and loyalty won't go unnoticed.
• And many more!

We're passionate about helping every colleague thrive across all dimensions of wellbeing, and we're committed to having a diverse and inclusive workplace. In line with our EPIC values (Expertise, Pioneering, Inclusive, Caring), we embrace and actively celebrate all our colleagues' unique and varying experiences, backgrounds, identities and cultures - I am me, we are H&B.