About us
We have been at the heart of the UK energy market for 25 years and are today playing a critical role in decarbonising the UK energy system.
As a major energy services and smart metering company with technology, data and sustainability at the core of our ethos and business model, SMS is committed to delivering the future of smart energy.
We are proud of being both an equal opportunity employer and an accredited real living wage employer! We look out for our customers and our focus is ‘putting our people first’.
Our people enable us to do all of this by living our 5 core values: Safety, Customer excellence, Sustainability, Innovation and Pride.
Job Overview
Reporting to Technology Director, the candidate will focus on backend software development of our FlexiGrid software platform while supporting and mentoring junior software developers in the team.
The candidate will play a key role in the continued design and development of the FlexiGrid platform which controls domestic and commercial batteries, smart electric vehicle (EV) chargers, flexible heating systems and other grid-connected flexibility assets. The platform is designed to interact with various external platforms and APIs including inputs from energy trading markets, weather forecasts, electrical grid signals and site-level energy consumption patterns.
Building and maintaining internal software applications engineered to a high standard of quality and maintainability using best practices and tools.Providing support, guidance, and assistance to less experienced colleagues.
Key Responsibilities
- Developing software, which is testable, dependable and maintainable
- Analysing, designing and developing new applications while taking projects through the entire software development cycle from concept to product release, always adhering to industry best practices
- Maintaining and fine-tuning existing applications to meet performance targets as business expands
- Working on ways to automate and improve development and release processes
- Planning and executing projects in a timely manner
- Ensuring your software meets the highest security standards and is ISO27001 compliant
- Collaborating in reviews of specifications, with others as appropriate
- Carrying out any additional duties as may reasonably be required within the general scope and level of the post
- Upholding SMS’ core values: Safety, Customer excellence, Sustainability, Innovation and Pride
Education and Professional Qualifications
- • Hold a relevant BEng / BSc or higher degree (or equivalent) in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or similar (or any other related technical discipline if sufficient experience in software development / programming)
Skills and knowledge
Essential
- Strong programming background with Python or Go experience preferred
- Experience with REST APIs
- Experience with cloud-based servers
- Familiarity with relational databases (SQL)
- Git experience
- Familiarity with best practices for security and scalability
- Familiarity with server side software concepts
- Working in an Agile development environment
- Knowledge of unit testing methodologies and automated testing platforms
Desirable
- Ability and desire to learn and apply new programming languages
- Linux familiarity (from a developer's perspective) highly desirable
- ISO27001 familiarity
- Knowledge of the energy sector
Personal Attributes
- Manages own workload effectively
- The ability to build and maintain customer relationships to ensure customers delighted and future growth opportunities
- Demonstrable approach to self-development
- Curious about new ideas and able to translate them into viable plans
- Resilient and responsive to change
- Strong situational judgement and risk management skills
- Contributes to team development through sharing expertise
- Equipped to hit the ground running and deliver results at pace, while maintaining poise.
In Return
We support Mental, Physical and Financial wellbeing, and we're proud of our benefits package to reward great talent which includes:
- 25 personal holiday days per year with additional allocation of 8 public holidays (includes options to buy and sell)
- After 5 years’ service, you will be rewarded with an additional 5 days annual leave increasing your total to 30 personal days and 8 public holidays.
Smart Health
Keeping our employees mentally and physically healthy is one of the things that matters most to us.
- Employee Assistance Programme (free access to counselling & support) with easy access via My Healthy Advantage app.
- Access to SmartHealth app - includes a free 24/7 online GP and a range of wellbeing services.
- Cycle Scheme - lower your carbon footprint whilst staying healthy.
Smart Savings
- Eligibility to join our Share Incentive Plan following 6 months employment
- Life Insurance cover where your next of kin will receive 4 times your annual salary
- Refer a friend bonus (£500)
- Corporate season ticket travel
- Length of service cash incentive
- Automatic enrolment into the Company Stakeholder Pension Scheme following 3 months employment.(matched to 5%)
The future looks bright
Your development is important to us - we support and encourage development including internal and external accredited courses, study support and E-Learning and internal promotion.