Staff Software Engineer
OAG is the essential intelligence partner transforming global travel. For nearly a century, we've been the foundation the travel industry builds on, trusted, proven, essential. Today, we're going beyond.
We combine unmatched data quality, quantity and access with breakthrough technology and deep industry expertise to deliver what the industry truly needs: not just more data, but better answers. From real-time operational intelligence to strategic decision-making, we power the entire travel ecosystem, from airlines and airports to technology companies and financial institutions. We are actively embedding AI throughout our intelligence layer, combining nearly a century of proprietary data with the latest technology to deliver answers that were simply not possible before. We exist because travel moves the world, and we move travel. By transforming complexity into clarity and questions into answers, we give our partners the intelligence they need to thrive in an evolving world. For more information visit www.oag.com
ABOUT THE ROLE:
OAG Digital is the team turning our world-class data into a product-led growth engine: a unified experience where customers can discovery, try, pay and use on their own. We build the platform customers use to find, buy and use our data, and the intelligence products that turn that data into answers.
This is the most senior individual contributor role on the technical side of Digital. Its purpose is to turn the Digital strategy into a technical strategy that delivers it: deciding what gets built, in what order and to what standard, so the business can sell what it has committed to sell. A decision taken in one team should still work in another, our promises to customers on access, security, reliability and cost should hold on every channel, and the hardest problems should get solved once.
You’ll work across two areas. Core is the platform backbone: identity, auth, entitlements, billing, usage metering and the infrastructure everything else depends on. Intelligence is the layer above the data: AI-powered insights, predictive models built on Databricks and Snowflake, anomaly detection, and agentic features.
The role is hands-on. You’ll write production code on the hardest parts of the platform while setting direction, reviewing designs and helping other engineers do better work. We care about UX as much as throughput, and we’re AI-native: tooling is part of how we develop, not an afterthought.
This role can be worked remotely from anywhere in the UK only. Please note that we’re unable to offer visa sponsorship, so applicants will need the existing right to work in the UK.
WHAT YOU’LL BE DOING
Design and build the hardest parts of the platform, hands on: how customers get to the right data and products, how that access is controlled, and what it costs us to serve. Stay close enough to the code that the design still holds once it’s built
Set the technical direction for problems that cross team boundaries: how customers are identified, what they’re allowed to use, how usage is measured and charged, and how existing customers and older systems move onto the new platform. Write the design down, get agreement, and stay with it through delivery so teams build to one approach rather than several
Set the standard for products built on AI and machine learning: define what a feature must do before it ships (show where its answer came from, be honest about how current the data is, fail predictably, be tested repeatably). Set the technical brief for data science teams, including how a model will be judged and the speed and cost it has to work within, and push back when a model isn’t the right tool
Work with the teams and partners outside Digital who build against your designs, including other parts of OAG and third parties. Share designs early, take feedback, change course where they’re right, and make the call when a cross-team decision has been open too long
Integrate AI models, data pipelines and event-driven systems on Databricks and Snowflake into the Intelligence layer
Improve how the whole of Digital builds software: review designs and code beyond your own team, mentor senior engineers, and make the good way to do something the easy way. This includes making AI-assisted development reliable, with the checks needed to keep quality high
Maintain the quality bar through code reviews, automated testing, observability, and CI/CD.
WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR
Extensive experience building and running production software end to end, from system design through to operating it live
Technical leadership beyond a single team: a track record of influencing engineers and teams you don’t manage, and building agreement across them
System design across boundaries: systems that stay correct, fast and affordable when several teams, several delivery channels and a shared data platform are all involved, and sound judgement on when to solve something once centrally versus letting each team solve it
Hands-on experience in analytical or data-intensive contexts and depth in large-scale data platforms: how they’re built, governed and paid for, including keeping one customer’s data separate from another’s, controlling access at the data layer, tracking data lineage, and keeping query cost under control
Machine learning and AI in production: enough understanding of how models and agents are built, trained and evaluated to set the technical brief for the data science team, read an evaluation critically, and judge whether a result will hold up in the real world. Experience taking AI-powered features into production and making them reliable, cost-effective and trustworthy for customers.
Judgement under uncertainty, with commercial awareness: you understand that technical choices affect what the business can charge and what it costs to serve a customer, and you know when to decide and when to wait
Clear communicator who can explain direction, risk and trade-offs so that engineers, product, commercial and senior leaders all take away the same thing
A builder’s mindset. You understand the who and the why, and you own what ships
AI-native in how you build: you use AI tooling with judgement, stay current with how agentic development is evolving, and help make effective agentic practices the norm across the team
If you don’t meet every requirement but feel excited about this role, we’d still love to hear from you.
WE WILL OFFER YOU
🚀 A progressive, non-hierarchical culture where innovation drives everything we build
🏡 Flexible working arrangements that allow remote work or office attendance
💰 An attractive compensation and benefits package, including access to a Simplyhealth cash plan to support your everyday health and wellbeing, a company bonus scheme, Octopus EV salary sacrifice scheme and enhanced pension scheme
🏖️ 25 days holiday plus bank holidays, volunteering days and additional day off during your birthday month
👪 Inclusive family benefits designed to support you through parenthood and fertility journeys
🌍 Work remotely anywhere in the world for up to 1 month per year
📚 Annual learning and development budget.
OAG is committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone feels valued and able to perform at their best.
We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and experiences. If you require reasonable adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process, please let us know. We are happy to have an open conversation about how we can support you.