{"id":777033,"url":"https://alion.io/job/smarkets-software-engineer","title":"Software Engineer","company":{"id":688000,"name":"Smarkets","domain":"smarkets.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/smarkets","size_band":"51-200","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Ashby","truth_index":null},"role":"Backend","role_family":"Backend","seniority":"middle","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"hybrid","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["London, United Kingdom"],"countries":["GB"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":66000,"max_usd":150000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":25},"experience_years_min":4,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":true,"technologies":[{"name":"Apache Kafka","optional":false},{"name":"C++","optional":false},{"name":"CI/CD","optional":false},{"name":"Claude Code","optional":false},{"name":"Cursor","optional":false},{"name":"ElasticSearch","optional":false},{"name":"gRPC","optional":false},{"name":"Java","optional":false},{"name":"OpenAI Codex","optional":false},{"name":"PostgreSQL","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"Rust","optional":false},{"name":"GitLab","optional":true},{"name":"Kubernetes","optional":true},{"name":"Linux","optional":true},{"name":"MySQL","optional":true},{"name":"SQL","optional":true}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2024-05-07T09:58:57Z","employer_posted_date":"2024-05-07","last_verified_at":"2026-11-03T21:40:33Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":910,"trust":{"level":"stale","repost_count":0,"flags":["stale"],"days_open":909},"description":"Who are we?\nSmarkets: Predicting the Future of Betting\nSmarkets runs one of the world’s most sophisticated prediction markets, handling over £29 billion in volume since 2010 and engaging 200,000+ traders globally. We’re a technology company that happens to revolutionise betting - from sports to political markets, to delivering the sharpest prices and the fairest odds.\nOur stack is designed for scale, reliability, and speed: Linux, Kafka, Postgres, Kubernetes, with Python 3, Rust, C++17, and React powering our platform. We build infrastructure that institutions trust while keeping trading accessible to everyone. Our edge? We’ve thrived through every market cycle, competitor, and industry revolution.\nAt the heart of our success are our people. We create a high-performance environment where exceptional talent can thrive, blending deep business experience with a commercial mindset to drive strategic growth.\nIf you’re ready to help shape the future of prediction markets with cutting-edge technology and a customer-first philosophy, Smarkets is where you belong.\nThe Role\nAs a Mid-Level Software Engineer within our Engineering org, you will play a pivotal role in designing, developing, and maintaining the services that power Smarkets' business operations products. You will collaborate closely with engineering managers, technical leadership, and product managers to lead complex technical projects aligned with the Smarkets product roadmap.\nSmarkets is looking for talented and passionate engineers like you for an exciting opportunity to create a unified and high-performing system that will not only optimize our services but also elevate Smarkets to new heights of success.\nWe believe in using the best tools for the job. We support two programming languages - a fast compiled language (Rust) for critical path operations and a slower interpreted one (Python) for other tasks. Our Kafka pub/sub MQ, the heart of our system, offers high availability, low latency, and message persistence. We provide gRPC and HTTP APIs for various metadata, while PostgreSQL and ElasticSearch serve as our go-to databases.\nResponsibilities:\nDesign, implement and maintain complex designs/features written in Python and Rust\n\nImplement alerting and monitoring to ensure the stability of our services\n\nHelp reinforce the standard for code quality, by writing tests and reviewing merge requests\n\nContinuously improve engineering processes including CI/CD\n\nMentor technically your direct teammates\n\nWork closely with Product and other engineering teams to scope and lead complex business goal-aligned projects\n\nBe the champion of the stack by demonstrating first-hand how to implement functionalities in the right way, with an eye to the horizon and your mind on the present\n\nRole Requirements:\n4+ years of experience as a software engineer\n\nFamiliarity with Python or at least one compiled language (Java, C++, Rust, Go) and are keen on learning Rust\n\nPrevious experience with building distributed systems in a modern cloud environment\n\nPrevious experience with DevOps engineering stacks/tools/practices including GitLab and K8S\n\nPrevious experience with message queues (e.g. Apache Kafka) and SQL databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL)\n\nPrevious experience working in Sports Betting or Finance industries\n\nStrong written and spoken communication skills in English\n\nThe ability to effectively collaborate with cross-functional teams\n\nProficiency in utilising AI-driven development tools (e.g., Cursor, Codex or Claude Code) to accelerate coding, debugging, and documentation workflows.\n\nOur Values\nOur values are at the heart of everything we do - guiding how we work, collaborate, and innovate. They reflect what we expect of ourselves and each other to deliver the best results, while fostering a positive, high-performing environment:\nPush to Win: We set ambitious goals and relentlessly pursue them, always striving for excellence.\n\nMake Others Better: We lift each other up, share knowledge, and celebrate team success over individual achievement.\n\nGive a Shit: We care deeply about our work, our users, and the impact we make.\n\nBe a Pro: We take ownership, act with integrity, and consistently deliver to a high standard.\n\nBring the Energy: We bring positivity, curiosity, and enthusiasm to everything we do, inspiring those around us.\n\nCulture Fit: These values define how we succeed as a team. If this isn’t you, this may not be the right place. We hire people who thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative, and ambitious environment.\nPerks & Benefits\nWe offer a competitive salary and benefits package, alongside a dynamic, collaborative environment where your work truly makes an impact and your voice is heard. Our team is diverse, driven, and ambitious - united by a strong work ethic and a hunger to innovate and win.\nOur benefits are designed around Health, Wealth, and Development, supporting you both professionally and personally.\nThese include:\nStock Options: Vest over 4 years, your success is our success.\n\nPension Scheme: Competitive plan via Aviva, with up to 6% matched contributions if you opt in.\n\nHealth Insurance: Comprehensive coverage to keep you and your family healthy.\n\nEnhanced Parental Leave: Enhanced maternity and paternity leave to support you through life’s most important moments.\n\nStay Fuelled: Enjoy fresh, chef-made breakfast and lunch every day, plus a constant supply of fruit, snacks, tea, coffee and soft drinks, because great work starts with great food.\n\nCycle-to-Work Scheme: Support for sustainable commuting and staying active.\n\nLearning & Development: £1,000 annual education budget for courses, conferences, books, or training.\n\nHoliday: 25 days paid leave + bank holidays, with the option to carry over 5 days.\n\nFlexible Working: Hybrid model with 3 days in the office and 2 days from home to fit your lifestyle.\n\nGlobal Working: Work from anywhere in the world for up to 20 days a year.\n\nTeam Energy: Regular socials, hackathons, and events - because collaboration and fun go hand-in-hand.\n\nWhat happens next\nWe aim to have a simple and speedy hiring process, and we want to make sure that we are right for you as much as the other way around.\nCV application review: We will review it as quickly as possible\n\nLet’s chat: Quick chat with our team about your experience and the role\n\nTechnical Interview: Live Coding + System Design\n\nExperience and Mindset Chat: with an Engineering Manager\n\nIn Office Interview: Lunch with other colleagues in the team + LT chat\n\nDiversity & Inclusion\nWe’re an equal opportunities employer and celebrate diversity in all its forms. If you need any adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know - we’re happy to accommodate your needs.","description_format":"text","description_chars":6720,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":4,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[{"language":"English","level":"All levels","optional":false}]},"benefits":["Flexible schedule","Health insurance","Parental leave","Stock options"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United Kingdom","iso":"GB","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Sports Betting"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-11T23:26:33Z"},{"event":"open","at":"2026-09-26T06:54:51Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"GB","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"Licensed UK visa sponsor (Skilled Worker)","filings_12m":null,"filings_prev_12m":null,"green_card_filings_12m":null,"median_offered_wage_usd":null,"route":"Skilled Worker","cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-11-03T08:26:00+00:00","sources":["UK Home Office: register of licensed sponsors (workers)"],"filings_for_role_12m":0}],"liveness":{"score":6,"band":"cold","label":"Long shot","p_open":1,"p_active":0.212,"p_room":0.28,"age_days":909,"expected_fill_days":30,"reasons":["conf:3","win:tail","crowd:"],"computed_at":"2026-11-03T05:54:40Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/smarkets-software-engineer","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/smarkets-software-engineer.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-04T00:55:34Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":1337,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-05T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":688000},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=688000"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fsmarkets-software-engineer"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fsmarkets-software-engineer"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fsmarkets-software-engineer"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/smarkets-software-engineer\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fsmarkets-software-engineer"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":777033}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"smarkets.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":777033},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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