Software Engineering Manager – Distributed Systems (Foods)

We are modernising the platforms that power how M&S Foods designs products, collaborates with suppliers and manages commercial decisions. 

These systems sit at the centre of the M&S Foods ecosystem and support thousands of internal users and suppliers across product development, supply chain and commercial operations. 

Our focus is evolving a complex landscape of legacy systems and point-to-point integrations into modern API-led and event-driven distributed systems that are easier to scale, operate and extend. 

We are looking for a Software Engineering Manager – Distributed Systems( Foods) to help shape the architecture and technical direction of these platforms. This role works across multiple product teams to solve complex engineering problems, improve system reliability and establish shared technical patterns that enable teams to build safely and efficiently. 

What You’ll Work On 

You will help solve technical challenges such as: 

• Simplifying complex legacy integrations across enterprise systems 
• Defining clear domain boundaries and service ownership across platforms 
• Moving from batch and point-to-point integrations to API-led and event-driven architectures 
• Designing reliable APIs and event contracts used across multiple teams 
• Improving platform observability, resilience and operational visibility 
• Enabling teams to build on shared platform capabilities instead of duplicating solutions 

What You’ll Do 

• Own and shape platform architecture 
• Lead and enable engineering teams 
• Define and evolve architecture for critical systems across the Foods domain, including service boundaries, integration patterns and data models. 
• Solve complex engineering problems 
• Lead the design of solutions that span multiple teams and distributed systems. 
• Modernise legacy platforms 
• Help transition existing workflows and integrations towards scalable distributed services and event-driven platforms. 
• Provide technical guidance through architecture discussions, design reviews and collaborative problem solving. 
• Raise engineering standards 
• Champion strong practices in testing, observability, reliability and system design. 

We have a few openings available for the role, depending on team alignment; the role may focus on one of the following domains: 

• Product Data & New Product Development 

• Supplier & Commercial Platforms 

What We’re Looking For 

This role is suited to Managers who enjoy solving complex technical problems and influencing engineering direction across multiple teams. 

Experience in the following areas is helpful: 

• Designing scalable distributed systems and APIs 
• Leading technical design across multiple services or teams 
• Simplifying complex legacy systems and integrations 
• Working with event-driven architectures and messaging systems 
• Improving reliability, testing and observability of production systems 
• Leading and mentoring engineers and supporting strong engineering practices 
• Collaborating closely with product teams and domain experts 

If your experience aligns with most of these areas, we encourage you to apply.  

We are modernising the platforms that power how M&S Foods designs products, collaborates with suppliers and manages commercial decisions. 

These systems sit at the centre of the M&S Foods ecosystem and support thousands of internal users and suppliers across product development, supply chain and commercial operations. 

Our focus is evolving a complex landscape of legacy systems and point-to-point integrations into modern API-led and event-driven distributed systems that are easier to scale, operate and extend. 

Tech Stack

M&S uses a variety of technologies including;

• Java, Spring, SpringBOOT, Micronaut
• React, Next.js, Typescript, Angular
• Azure Cloud, Kubernetes, Dynatrace (observability)
• Event Streaming Platform with Kafka 
• Supply chain SaaS tools – Blue Yonder, PIM systems 
• Ignite, Redis

Everyone’s Welcome

We are ambitious about the future of retail. We’re disrupting, innovating and leading the industry into a more conscientious, inspiring digital era. We’re transforming how we work together and offering our most exciting opportunities yet. Marks & Spencer strives to be an inclusive organisation, trusted and admired by our colleagues, customers and suppliers. Join us and make change happen.

We are committed to building diverse and representative teams, where everyone can bring their whole selves to work and be at their best. We support each other and work together to win together.

If you feel you'd benefit from any support or reasonable adjustments during any stage of the recruitment process, please don’t hesitate to let us know when completing your application. This information will be picked up by our team, so we can try and put steps in place to help you be at your best through this process.

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