Senior Software Engineer

Job Summary

Required Qualifications

• •Senior Software Engineer
• •Technical excellence
• •Builder's mindset
• •Enjoy creating, experimenting and solving difficult problems
• •Care about outcomes, not just outputs
• •Excited by emerging technology
• •Motivated by the opportunity to help shape the future of engineering
• •Technical leader
• •Take ownership, provide direction and help others solve difficult problems
• •Startup builder
• •Energised by pace, ownership and the opportunity to build something new
• •Engineering evangelist
• •Enjoy sharing knowledge, teaching others and helping organisations adopt better ways of working
• •AI-native
• •See AI as a core part of the engineering toolkit, not an optional extra
• •Naturally curious
• •Constantly learning, experimenting and seeking to understand how things work
• •Resilient and adaptable
• •Comfortable navigating uncertainty and change
• •Strong communicator
• •Can explain complex ideas clearly
• •Outcome-focused
• •Care about solving real problems and delivering impact
• •Committed to growth
• •Invest continuously in learning
• •Experience
• •Technical depth
• •Architectural thinking
• •Leadership potential
• •Passion for innovation
• •Ability to define technical strategy
• •Ability to define architectural direction
• •Ability to define engineering standards
• •Ability to lead the design, development and implementation of AI-enabled software solutions
• •Ability to build scalable, secure and maintainable platforms
• •Ability to shape the future architecture of Nova products and engineering ecosystems
• •Ability to champion AI-native software engineering and Software 2.0 practices
• •Ability to demonstrate how AI can transform every stage of the software development lifecycle
• •Ability to help teams move from idea to requirements to prototype in hours or days rather than weeks or months
• •Ability to experiment with emerging AI models, frameworks and development approaches
• •Ability to design and evolve frameworks, patterns and guardrails for AI-assisted engineering
• •Ability to mentor engineers and raise technical standards across the organisation
• •Ability to run workshops, coaching sessions and hands-on training for AI tooling and agentic workflows
• •Ability to collaborate with product, business and technical stakeholders to solve complex challenges
• •Ability to influence engineering culture and define what great engineering looks like in an AI-native organisation
• •Ability to evaluate emerging technologies and identify opportunities for competitive advantage
• •Ability to ensure solutions are designed with appropriate governance, security, resilience and commercial considerations
• •Minimum of 3 days in the office each week
• •Hybrid working
• •Flexible working hours
• •Location: Warminster

Desired Qualifications

• •Help shape the future of software engineering at Zurich Nova
• •Originally founded in 2023 as a high-tech AI start-up
• •Acquired with a clear mandate: retain everything that made the company successful while giving it access to the scale, reach and backing of one of the world's leading insurers
• •Preserving a genuine start-up culture
• •Move quickly
• •Experiment often
• •Challenge assumptions
• •Focus relentlessly on outcomes
• •Best ideas are tested rather than debated
• •Value people who are willing to build, learn and iterate
• •Nova is led by engineers and built for engineers
• •Software engineering is undergoing its most significant transformation since the emergence of cloud computing
• •Traditional software development lifecycle, where delivery is measured in months
• •AI-native workflows where ideas become requirements, requirements become prototypes and prototypes become products at unprecedented speed
• •Help define what that future looks like
• •Team combines expertise across artificial intelligence, software engineering, cloud architecture, product development and enterprise transformation
• •Explore new models, emerging tooling, agent-based systems and breakthrough techniques that are reshaping how software is built
• •Actively create space for experimentation, learning and research because staying ahead of the technology curve is fundamental to our success
• •Technologies we discuss today frequently become the capabilities we deploy tomorrow
• •Actively create space for experimentation, learning and research because staying ahead of the technology curve is fundamental to our success
• •Joining Zurich Nova means becoming part of a team that's redefining how software is designed, built and delivered
• •Work alongside engineers who are passionate about technology, obsessed with learning and excited about helping shape the next generation of software engineering
• •Rare opportunity to influence both technology and engineering culture
• •Work closely with the Head of Nova to help define technical strategy, architecture direction and engineering practices across the organisation
• •Combine deep technical expertise with leadership, coaching and innovation
• •Help build AI-enabled products and platforms while also championing new ways of working that enable teams to move faster, learn faster and deliver more value
• •Key advocate for Software 2.0: a world where AI is embedded throughout the software engineering lifecycle and where engineers can deliver outcomes at a speed that was previously impossible
• •Success in this role requires strong technical judgement, curiosity, emotional intelligence and the ability to inspire others to embrace new ways of thinking about software delivery
• •Partner closely with the Head of Nova to define technical strategy, architectural direction and engineering standards
• •Lead the design, development and implementation of AI-enabled software solutions
• •Build scalable, secure and maintainable platforms that deliver meaningful business outcomes
• •Shape the future architecture of Nova products and engineering ecosystems
• •Champion AI-native software engineering and Software 2.0 practices across the organisation
• •Demonstrate how AI can transform every stage of the software development lifecycle
• •Help teams move from idea to requirements to prototype in hours or days rather than weeks or months
• •Experiment with emerging AI models, frameworks and development approaches
• •Design and evolve frameworks, patterns and guardrails for AI-assisted engineering
• •Mentor engineers and raise technical standards across the organisation
• •Run workshops, coaching sessions and hands-on training for AI tooling and agentic workflows
• •Collaborate with product, business and technical stakeholders to solve complex challenges
• •Influence engineering culture and define what great engineering looks like in an AI-native organisation
• •Evaluate emerging technologies and identify opportunities for competitive advantage
• •Ensure solutions are designed with appropriate governance, security, resilience and commercial considerations
• •Engineer who combines technical excellence with a builder's mindset
• •Someone who enjoys creating, experimenting and solving difficult problems
• •Care about outcomes, not just outputs
• •Excited by emerging technology and motivated by the opportunity to help shape the future of engineering
• •Technical leader
• •Take ownership, provide direction and help others solve difficult problems
• •Startup builder
• •Energised by pace, ownership and the opportunity to build something new
• •Engineering evangelist
• •Enjoy sharing knowledge, teaching others and helping organisations adopt better ways of working
• •AI-native
• •See AI as a core part of the engineering toolkit, not an optional extra
• •Naturally curious
• •Constantly learning, experimenting and seeking to understand how things work
• •Resilient and adaptable
• •Comfortable navigating uncertainty and change
• •Strong communicator
• •Can explain complex ideas clearly
• •Outcome-focused
• •Care about solving real problems and delivering impact
• •Committed to growth
• •Invest continuously in learning
• •Not looking for someone who simply critiques ideas, focuses solely on technical perfection or prefers highly structured environments where every answer is known in advance
• •Looking for builders
• •People who identify challenges, communicate them clearly and work collaboratively to create practical solutions
• •Someone who embraces experimentation, welcomes feedback and is excited by the opportunity to help shape a rapidly evolving organisation
• •Culture is intentionally different
• •Backed by Zurich
• •Operate with the mindset and energy of a technology start-up
• •Move quickly
• •Experiment constantly
• •Trust our engineers to make meaningful decisions
• •Exceptional engineering comes from giving talented people ownership, autonomy and the freedom to explore new ideas
• •Offices are based in Warminster
• •Work together in person a minimum of three days a week
• •Value flexibility and recognise that creativity and innovation don't always happen within traditional working hours
• •Learning is part of the job
• •Actively encourage experimentation with new technologies
• •Allocate time for exploration
• •Invest in helping our people stay at the forefront of a rapidly changing industry
• •Combine startup speed with enterprise-scale impact is rare
• •Chance to do both
• •Designed for an experienced engineer who combines technical depth, architectural thinking, leadership potential and a passion for innovation
• •Assessment process will focus on how you think, solve problems and apply engineering judgement in real-world situations
• •Following an initial recruiter conversation, you'll meet the team on-site and complete a practical engineering exercise
• •This may involve reviewing a technical solution, designing an architecture approach, evaluating a software delivery challenge or demonstrating how AI tools can be used to accelerate software development
• •Interested in understanding how you approach problems, collaborate with others and balance innovation with delivery
• •Join a team helping define the future of AI-enabled software engineering at Zurich