Backend Developer - Utilities

Kraken powers some of the most innovative global developments in energy.

We’re a technology company focused on creating a smart, sustainable energy system. From optimising renewable generation, creating a more intelligent grid and enabling utilities to provide excellent customer experiences, our operating system for energy is transforming the industry around the world in a way that benefits everyone.

It’s a really exciting time in energy. Help us make a real impact on shaping a better, more sustainable future.

Our team

All technology is written and maintained by a multi-discipline engineering team of around 700 people globally. Our engineers work in ‘super teams’ which are focused on key areas of our platform as well as other innovative products. This also includes server-side, client-side and mobile engineers working closely with UX experts, copywriters and designers.

Teams are empowered to choose a way of working that works for them, often opting for a Kanban-like approach. Notion and Asana are then used to specify and manage work; Github, CircleCI and Terraform Enterprise as part of an immutable-infrastructure, continuous delivery pipeline; and Datadog, Sentry and Cloudwatch to measure performance and monitor production.

We’re Charging Kraken to power utilities beyond energy (think water, broadband,..) and have created a new business Kraken Utilities. We are building this team from scratch and are looking for experienced engineers to help us build and scale the team, implement a good culture and work on some really exciting tech challenges.

As an early tech hire into this team you will have a huge opportunity to impact decision making and growing into leadership roles as the business scales.

Together with the rest of the team, you will bring the same revolutionary customer experience, operational excellence and speed of innovation that Kraken is powering across energy retailers to other sectors.

Some of our coding conventions are open-source .

Kraken is a great place to learn, work with some talented engineers and level-up your skills.

Our technology

On the server-side, we mainly use Python. Most of our websites are powered by Django, Django-REST-framework and GraphQL (Graphene).

We use AWS heavily as part of a continuous deployment pipeline. See, for example, Django, ELB health checks and continuous delivery.

Client-side, we use React, htmx and SASS; our mobile apps are built using native code or React Native.

What you'll do

• We have lots of difficult design challenges to solve. The UK utilities market is complicated, outdated and process-heavy - there's an awful lot of domain modelling that we need to get right. Strong attention to detail is essential
• Help build and scale the Kraken utilities team by embedding an engineering, problem solving, and customer-first culture.
• Architect & develop new components of the Kraken platform to serve other utilities.
• We have challenging technical problems to solve; like processing tens of millions of meter readings a day. We need the right technology in place to handle this smoothly as well as feeding data into a machine learning pipeline that models and predicts consumption. Or thinking about how we adapt Kraken to improve other utilities like water and broadband
• There's a great opportunity for disruption in the UK water and broadband markets. The landscape is changing as we move to more dis-aggregated forms of generation, with less predictability, more dynamism and smarter technology
• You'll be working for a company that’s fighting climate change. Our generation arm is the largest investor in solar generation in the UK, and is funding wind and anaerobic digestion. As a supplier, we're helping people to use greener technology and renewable energy, all helping move the UK towards a lower carbon future
  
  
  

What you'll need

• We're looking for someone with a general interest in technology and problem-solving; someone diligent and thoughtful. It would be helpful to have experience/expertise in the following (in rough priority order):
• Python
• Django (or equiv. web framework)
• Domain modelling
• HTTP and REST APIs
• Writing robust and fault-tolerant software
• Celery and async processing
• Postgres
  
  
  

Plus experience in the following would be a bonus:

• AWS
• Terraform, Packer, Consul
• React and Redux
  
  
  

Why else you'll love it here

• Wondering what the salary for this role is? Just ask us! On a call with one of our recruiters it's something we always cover as we genuinely want to match your experience with the correct salary. The reason why we don't advertise is because we honestly have a degree of flexibility and would never want salary to be a reason why someone doesn't apply to Octopus - what's more important to us is finding the right octofit!
• Octopus Energy is a unique culture. An organisation where people learn, decide, and build quicker. Where people work with autonomy, alongside a wide range of amazing co-owners, on projects that break new ground. We want your hard work to be rewarded with perks you actually care about! We won best company to work for in 2022, on Glassdoor we we're voted 50 best places to work in 2022 and our Group CEO, Greg has recorded a podcast about our culture and how we empower our people
• Visit our perks hub - Octopus Employee Benefits
  
  
  

This team will require candidates to work on a hybrid remote basis, coming into our office in Oxford Circus 1-2 days a week. You do also need to be able to work in the UK.

We're very excited to be growing our team. We're looking for skills and experience to help shape and define the future of not only our team, but the wider business at a global scale. If you're reading this and grinning, please apply! There are huge challenges to tackle, and we need amazing people who are keen to get stuck in.

If this sounds like you then we'd love to hear from you.

Are you ready for a career with us? We want to ensure you have all the tools and environment you need to unleash your potential. Need any specific accommodations? Whether you require specific accommodations or have a unique preference, let us know, and we'll do what we can to customise your interview process for comfort and maximum magic!

Studies have shown that some groups of people, like women, are less likely to apply to a role unless they meet 100% of the job requirements. Whoever you are, if you like one of our jobs, we encourage you to apply as you might just be the candidate we hire. Across Octopus, we're looking for genuinely decent people who are honest and empathetic. Our people are our strongest asset and the unique skills and perspectives people bring to the team are the driving force of our success. As an equal opportunity employer, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected attribute. Our commitment is to provide equal opportunities, an inclusive work environment, and fairness for everyone.