We're looking for a junior programmer / back-end software engineer

You're probably a recent graduate with at least one year of commercial back-end programming experience. You’re likely to have a Computer Science (or related) degree. Equally, you may be the self taught equivalent. Either way, a 12-month track record with an understanding of the fundamentals is what counts.

Although this is a fully remote role please only apply if you are based in the United Kingdom.

Applications close on Friday, June 9, 2023 at 4:00PM UK time.

About NestEgg

NestEgg has become the leading decisioning platform for UK responsible lenders from a standing start in 2018. We've decisioned more than £500,000,000 of personal loan applications, saving applicants at least £90,000,000 in high cost credit.

We believe the consumer credit industry is secretive and stuck in the past. As a result, far too many are not getting a fair deal. NestEgg is on a mission to open-up access to fair and affordable credit for all.

The NestEgg platform matches those looking for affordable credit with loan products offered by responsible lenders. Applicants can easily find the right loan from the right lender, see if they’d get accepted then apply. If not, get tips on how to get accepted.

The platform also provides credit decisioning services on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) basis for responsible lenders so they can make better lending decisions for themselves and their customers. It does this by analysing credit, banking and other data in a fair, flexible and transparent way.

Boot-strapped by our founders, Ben and Adrian, we’re still proudly self-funded. We’re not against external funding in principle, we just love the freedom to focus 100% on the needs of our customers, team members and partners.

We’ve achieved a lot already but we have big plans. There’s never been a more exciting time to join NestEgg.

About the job

You’ll join the back-end team which is responsible for building out and maintaining the beating heart of NestEgg - the decision engine. You’ll be working with a modern tech stack made up of Node.js, Express and PostgreSQL. Hosted on AWS.

Broadly, the back-end team is responsible for:

  • Architecting, programming, testing and deploying new features, improvements and bug fixes.
  • Maintaining the PostgreSQL database and AWS infrastructure.
  • Enhancing, documenting and maintaining our RESTful API as used internally and by our integration partners.
  • Investigating opportunities for leveraging data science and machine learning.
  • Collaborating with our front-end teams, test team and integration partners to ensure the best outcomes for customers.
  • Participating in code reviews and making sure we do all we can to build reliable, maintainable, scalable, performant and secure code.

As a member of the back-end team at NestEgg, you’ll ward off complexity and find a simpler path. You’ll build, improve and fix bugs. You’ll go deep. You’ll have the freedom and autonomy to do your best work, with plenty of support, coaching and support along the way.

We work in an agile manner but in cycles rather than sprints. We each write brief daily asynchronous updates rather than daily standup meetings. Each development cycle lasts 6 weeks followed by 2 weeks to regroup, fix things that got missed, and ramp up for the next cycle.

About you

We’re looking for someone with at least one year of commercial back-end programming experience.

The ability to write efficient and maintainable JavaScript (ideally Node.js) and SQL (ideally PostgreSQL) is a requirement. You won’t know how all the systems work on day one, and we don’t expect you to. Nobody hits the ground running. Solid fundamentals with software development, systems, troubleshooting, and teamwork pave the way.

You’re probably a recent graduate with a Computer Science (or related) degree. You might not be. That’s not what we’re looking for. We care about what you can do and how you do it, not about how you got here. A strong track record of conscientious, thoughtful work speaks volumes.

This is a remote job. You’re free to work where you work best, anywhere in the world: home office, coworking space, coffeeshops. We don’t have a central office, you should be comfortable working remotely—everyone here does!

Self-starters thrive at NestEgg. We’re committed generalists, eager learners, conscientious workers, and curators of what’s essential. We’re quick to trust. We see things through. We’re kind to each other, look up to each other, and support each other. We achieve together. We are colleagues, here to do our best work.

We value people who can take a stand yet commit even when they disagree. And understand the value in others being heard. We subject ideas to rigorous consideration and challenge each other, but all remember that we’re here for the same purpose: to do good work together. That comes with direct feedback, openness to each others’ experience, and willingness to show up for each other as well as for the technical work at hand. We’re in this for the long term.

Pay and benefits

This is a junior programmer position and NestEgg pays the median London rate. Same position, same pay, no matter where you live. The salary for this position is either £40,000 (Junior Programmer) or £32,000 (entry level Programmer). We assess seniority relative to the team at NestEgg during the interviewing process.

Benefits at NestEgg are all about helping you lead a healthy life outside of work. Quality time to focus on work starts with quality time to think, exercise, cook a meal, be with family and friends—time to yourself.

Enjoy 22 days a year paid vacation in addition to paid bank holidays plus an extra 2 days after two years. We provide a laptop for work, subsidise coworking, a monthly wellbeing allowance, training, coaching and personal development. We match fund pension contributions up to 4% of gross salary. Fully-paid parental leave - statutory minimum in your home country.

How to apply

Please send a cover note, along with your resume, that speaks directly to this position. Describe your role in NestEgg’s future and NestEgg’s role in yours. Address some of the work we do. Tell us about a newer (less than five years old) back-end technology you like and why. Link to examples of your work where relevant.

We’re accepting applications until Friday, June 9, 2023, at 4:00PM UK time. There’s no benefit to filing early or writing a novel. Keep it sharp, short, and get across what matters to you. We value great writers, so take your time with the application. We’re giving you our full attention.

You’ll hear from us by June 16 about whether you’ve advanced to the code assessment stage. If so, you’ll spend 3-5 hours on a programming exercise, over the course of a week. Then on to an interview. Our interviews are one hour, all remote, with your future colleagues. We’ll talk through some of your code and some of ours. No gotchas, brainteasers, or whiteboard coding. We aim to make an offer by July 21 with a start date in early August.

We look forward to hearing from you!