Staff Engineer

About Us

In a nutshell, we're all about making the world of wine a better place. We fund and source directly from independent winemakers to bring customers better quality wine for a better price. No thirsty middlemen as far as the eye can see.

It's a different way of doing things, sure. But it works. We're one of the UK's favourite wine clubs, shipping over 1 million (!) cases a year to curious wine lovers. And with an ambitious road ahead, we've got no plans on plugging the cork on growth.

Our global team (we have offices in the US and Australia, too) is entrepreneurial by nature, obsessive about customer experience and driven by performance. All things that make Naked a great place to grow both personally and professionally. And yes, we like wine. A lot.

It takes a village to be Naked and now our Engineering team is looking for a Staff Engineer to take on a key technical leadership position. You'll work across multiple product squads, guide architectural decisions, raise engineering standards, and support others through coaching and mentoring. You'll also contribute hands on to high impact technical work and help us adopt modern technologies in a safe, scalable way. This is an ideal role for someone who enjoys system design, solving complex problems, influencing engineering direction, and helping others grow. So if you're keen to help us take the guesswork out of enjoying great wine (that's what we're passionate about), there's a Naked welcome pack with your name on it.

Together, we'll take Naked Wines to the next level - and share our not so well kept secret with the world.

Location & Flexible Working - Hybrid - Norwich or London (1-2 days per week at primary office)

What you'll do

• Lead architecture, system design and technical strategy across several squads
• Define and embed technical standards, engineering patterns and best practices
• Solve complex technical challenges, improve performance and maintain system reliability
• Provide hands on engineering support for complex or high risk initiatives
• Strengthen software security, scalability, quality and maintainability
• Manage, coach and mentor engineers at multiple levels
• Contribute to hiring, onboarding and development of engineers
• Work closely with Staff Engineers, Product Managers and cross functional squads
• Evaluate and adopt new tools, technologies and processes
• Communicate design decisions clearly and create high quality documentation

What you bring

• 10+ years' experience in software engineering (backend, frontend or full stack)
• Strong background in modern architectures (API first, microservices, composable)
• Proven experience in system design, architectural decision making and technical leadership
• Ability to debug, optimise and enhance complex distributed systems
• Familiarity with modern engineering practices (CI/CD, automation, DevOps principles)
• Clear and inclusive communication skills across technical and non technical groups
• Experience coaching engineers, leading technical discussions and fostering alignment
• Strong judgement, resilience under pressure and ability to balance hands on work with leadership
• A strategic mindset - understanding how technical choices influence business outcomes

You have

• Ambition (dream big): you translate the strategy into action (projects, tasks and processes)
• Judgement (make good decisions): you identify the need for tactical change and lead on implementation
• Discipline (adhere to high standards): you follow results closely and adapt plans as necessary
• Influence (have a big impact): you facilitate collaboration and manage talent efficiently
• Accountability (take full responsibility): you deliver results and identify issues, setting up ways to avoid them

And finally you live by our Naked values

• You support all stakeholders from the Winemaker, through to the Customer. We are Naked Together
• You embrace growth, pushing yourself out of your comfort zone to overcome obstacles
• You always start with our customers and winemakers
• You keep it simple and are data led, from the wine itself to the ways of working
• You do the right thing, holding yourself accountable with honesty and openness

Recruitment Process
Screening interview > System Design Interview with Engineering Leaders > Team Leadership Interview with Staff Engineers > Final Interview with Head of Engineering

As part of the Naked family, we want you to know we've got your back. Here are a few of the perks you'll enjoy when you join the team

• A competitive salary (depending on experience) plus annual bonus opportunity
• Personal Healthcare
• 26 days holiday and bank holidays (you can buy or sell holiday too)
• A £300 annual personal development budget - we're passionate about supporting people to follow their dreams inside or outside of Naked
• £450 every year to treat yourself to some of our delicious wines all in the name of research, of course
• We want to do our bit for the community and give everyone paid leave to volunteer
• We have wellbeing support and access to mindfulness resources including the Headspace app
• Enhanced parental leave
• Honeymoon leave - newlyweds get an extra week of annual leave
• We like to surprise and delight you with lovely thoughtful gifts including Naked Wine and lots more

Equal Opportunities

At Naked Wines, we recognise the value of diversity and inclusivity in fostering a truly remarkable experience for all our winemakers and customers. Our commitment extends beyond wine to building a workforce that reflects the wide array of perspectives and experiences found across the UK. We believe that embracing diversity in our teams enables us to provide exceptional service and innovation.

We are dedicated to ensuring all our employees are treated fairly and equitably at work, with a strong commitment to promoting equity in both physical and mental health for everyone. To achieve this, Naked Wines encourages applications from individuals of disadvantaged socio economic backgrounds, disabled persons, LGBTQ+ community members, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, and those with lived experiences of discrimination.

Accessibility and Adjustments

Naked Wines is committed to providing reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment process. We strive to be as accommodating as possible to ensure all candidates can participate fully. If you have specific requirements or need adjustments at any stage of the application or interview process, please do not hesitate to get in touch. In your application, feel free to indicate your preferred pronouns (for example - she/her/hers, he/him/his, they/them/theirs, etc) to help us better address and respect your identity throughout the process.