Software Engineer

Who We Are

Alpha Duck Ltd is a fast growing ecommerce business specialising in motorcycle accessories.

Through our brands, Moto Planet and Bike Luggage, we are making it easier for riders to find the right products and creating a faster, clearer, more confident way to shop online.

At the same time, we are building the data, automation, and internal tools that will shape how the business runs as we grow. That work sits behind everything from ecommerce and marketing to support and wider operations.

We are a small, ambitious team that values initiative, problem solving and building things properly. People here have room to take ownership, improve how we work, and see the results of what they build.

Why You’ll Love It Here

This role offers more than a salary. It is a chance to take a lead role in an important part of the business, help build something valuable early, and share in that upside through an EMI share scheme after your first full year with us.

If the business performs in line with plan, that creates the potential for a meaningful, tax-efficient six-figure outcome over the next three to four years. We are looking for someone who is excited by the chance to build real value and share in what they help create.

Job Overview

As our Software Engineer, you will lead the build-out of our internal platform for automation, AI-assisted tools, data, and internal operations.

This is a hands-on role for someone who is comfortable working across Python, SQL, APIs, Google Cloud, BigQuery, and scheduled workflows.

You will take messy business needs and turn them into reliable tools and data flows that reduce manual work, improve data quality, and help the business move faster.

This is not a prompt engineering role, and it is not a no code automation role. We are looking for someone with strong engineering fundamentals who can build reliable, maintainable solutions that people actually use.

What You’ll Do

• Design, deploy, and improve Python scripts, services, and scheduled cloud jobs
• Create and improve BigQuery-based data pipelines, reporting, and internal systems that help the team make better decisions
• Connect APIs, webhooks, and third-party platforms into reliable internal systems
• Improve logging, error handling, retries, observability, and day-to-day reliability
• Help shape internal tools that improve business speed and efficiency
• Turn rough ideas and operational problems into working technical solutions
• Document systems clearly so they stay understandable and maintainable over time

What We’re Looking For

We’re looking for someone who has already built reliable, production-ready projects in code and is comfortable taking rough ideas and turning them into working solutions.

You will be a good fit if you have:

• Strong systems thinking and problem-solving ability
• Strong Python knowledge
• Strong SQL knowledge
• Experience working with APIs, webhooks, and third-party integrations
• Experience deploying and maintaining cloud-based workflows
• A practical approach to debugging, monitoring, reliability, and maintainable systems
• Good written communication and documentation habits

We care far more about what you have actually built and shipped than whether your CV ticks every line of a job spec.

Bonus If You Have Experience With

• Startup or founder-led environments
• Shopify or wider ecommerce systems
• LLM or AI workflow design in production
• Support, CRM, or marketing automations

What Kind of Person Will Do Well Here

It is a great fit for someone who likes responsibility, variety, and solving practical problems. You will have the freedom to make decisions and help shape an important part of the business while it is still being built.

• Practical and hands-on
• Product-minded
• Commercially aware
• Interested in improving how a business actually operates
• Happy working across multiple systems architectures

This role is best suited to someone who enjoys building automation, takes ownership naturally, and likes being part of something that is still being shaped.

What Success Looks Like

In this role, success looks like:

• Manual processes getting replaced by systems the team can rely on day to day
• Data becoming cleaner, more useful, and easier to work with
• Scheduled jobs and integrations working more reliably, with fewer ad hoc fixes
• AI tools being used where they genuinely help, not just for the sake of it
• Ideas moving from rough brief to working system quickly and clearly

Salary & Benefits

This role includes EMI share options because we want the person in this role to share in the upside of what they help build as the business grows. We can talk through the structure during the interview process.

• Salary: Submit your salary expectations
• EMI share options
• Office in Chester city centre
• Casual dress
• 28 days holiday including bank holidays
• Company pension

Work Details

We think the strongest version of this role involves working closely with the team using the systems you build, which is why office-based is preferred.

Job Type: Full-time, Permanent

Work Location: 9 Lower Bridge St, Chester, CH1 1RS

Working Style: Office-based preferred, with flexibility for the right candidate

Schedule: Monday to Friday | 8:30am – 4:30pm

How to Apply

If relevant, feel free to include links to GitHub, project work, or examples of systems you’ve shipped. Please apply with your CV and a short note explaining:

• why this role stands out to you
• what kinds of systems, automations, or internal tools you’ve built before

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Pay: <<40,000.00-45,000.00 per year>>

Benefits:

• Casual dress
• Company events
• Company pension
• Employee stock ownership plan
• Employee stock purchase plan
• Sick pay

Work Location: In person