Senior Full-Stack Engineer

SUMMARY

Tussell is seeking a full-stack engineer to join our internal engineering team. This is an influential role, offering the successful candidate the chance to join a new team at a pivotal time and have a significant impact on a growing business. You will take part in transitioning our external development model to an in-house team during the first half of 2026, whilst setting engineering best practices. The role also offers the opportunity to take part in hiring and growing the team.

There is a huge opportunity to help us unlock the full potential of our market-leading data. We’re facing exciting technical challenges - from re-architecting our data pipeline, to enabling users to query and interact with complex datasets intuitively, and scaling how we acquire entirely new swathes of data. We also believe Tussell is uniquely positioned to apply machine learning and algorithmic approaches in ways that genuinely add value — surfacing insights, improving search and discovery, and making market intelligence dramatically more accessible.

The ideal candidate will have strong experience with any or all of Ruby on Rails, Python, PostgreSQL, and React, along with a track record of working with live, data-heavy applications. As a senior hire, you will collaborate closely with the product team and other key stakeholders to ensure that technical decisions support business objectives, user needs, and long-term product vision. Over time, you’ll play an influential role in evolving our architecture and infrastructure, ensuring Tussell takes full advantage of the best tools and technologies for a modern, data-driven product.

Our ideal candidate may not exist. Please consider applying if you think you can contribute in this role despite not having experience in every area we have identified - we’re looking for a Tussell person first and foremost, and skill gaps can be addressed with personal development plans.

ABOUT TUSSELL

Founded in 2015, Tussell is a founder-led and investor-backed tech scale-up based in London.

Tussell's product vision is to power better commercial decisions about the UK public sector. We offer a subscription-based online market intelligence service, which works by collating open data on public contracts and expenditure and transforming it into decision-ready data. This intelligence helps companies to do more business with the government and helps public bodies make smarter procurement decisions. Over the last decade, Tussell has become the market’s trusted source by being data-first with our competitive edge expressed through the richness and reliability of our data.

THE ROLE

Goal: We’re looking for a versatile self-starting engineer who can work across our entire technology stack, from backend services to user-facing applications. Someone who can set standards of good practice, not just follow them. Someone who can add to our technical know-how.

Backend Development

• Design, develop, and maintain robust APIs and backend services using Ruby on Rails

• Build and optimize data processing pipelines and automation tools using Python

• Implement scalable service-based architecture and integrate with third-party services

• Ensure code quality through comprehensive testing, code reviews, and documentation

• Understand and refactor legacy code while maintaining feature velocity

Frontend Development

• Develop responsive, interactive user interfaces using React and modern JavaScript

• Collaborate with UX/UI designers to implement pixel-perfect, accessible designs

• Optimize frontend performance and ensure cross-browser compatibility

• Build reusable component libraries and maintain design systems

Release & deployment

• Maintain and enhance the CI/CD pipeline

• Create and implement managed data migrations

• Drive the move to infrastructure-as-code and managed environments

• Ensure the apps are secure, highly available and performant

Architecture & ecosystem

• Ensure that third-party components and libraries are fit for purpose

• Take part in database design and schema enhancements

• Identify opportunities to break down monolithic code into discrete services

• Lead on leveraging the capabilities of ML & LLMs to enhance our data architecture

Technical Leadership

• Able to set standards while we transition to a small in-house team

• Mentor junior developers and provide technical guidance across projects

• Participate in architectural decisions and technology roadmap planning

• Lead code reviews and champion best practices for development workflows

• Contribute to technical documentation and knowledge sharing initiatives

Collaboration & Delivery

• Work closely with product managers, designers, and other engineers in an agile environment

• Break down complex features into manageable tasks and deliver high-quality solutions on time

• Participate in on-call rotations and troubleshoot production issues as needed

• Continuously evaluate and recommend new technologies and tools

ABOUT YOU

Experienced engineer: You’ve spent 5+ years in full-stack development, ideally with Ruby on Rails, Python, PostgreSQL, and React — and are comfortable shipping and maintaining live, data-rich products.

Technical leadership capability: You’ve made key technical decisions and been a respected engineering voice in a business. You’re confident in influencing the technical direction where needed.

Player-coach mindset: You enjoy writing code, solving hard problems, and helping others improve — you're equally motivated by hands-on work and team success.

Process-oriented: You know how to improve and standardise engineering practice in line with what’s needed to ensure stability, quality, and speed.

Commercially-minded: You understand how engineering choices affect cost, product delivery, and customer outcomes — and you prioritise accordingly.

Real-world experience: You’ve worked on live systems, dealt with bugs, responded to users, and made decisions under pressure.

Excited by the challenge: You’re energised by the opportunity to be an influential voice, help replace an outsourced team, build from within, and help set the direction of a growing company.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

Annual salary reviews every December after 12 months of tenure.

Benefits include:

• Hybrid working.

• Annual leave of 25 days (not including public holidays), rising by one day per year up to a cap of 30 days.

• A vibrant office in Shoreditch with free weekly perks.

• An annual personal learning & development budget.

• Team socials in central London at least once per quarter, plus a summer and Christmas party.

• The latest tech - Apple MacBooks are standard issue.

• Company pension scheme with employer contribution of 3%.

• Cycle to Work Scheme - Tax savings on Cycling Equipment via Salary Sacrifice.

• An annual wellbeing budget of £200 (prorated).