Application Guide
How to Apply for Senior Backend Engineer
at Octopus Energy
🏢 About Octopus Energy
Octopus Energy is a disruptor in the energy sector, leveraging AI and renewables to drive transparency and a low-carbon future. Their flat hierarchy and agile culture make it an exciting place for engineers who want to directly impact the energy revolution.
About This Role
As a Senior Backend Engineer, you will build and maintain critical services for customer-facing platforms, including time-of-use tariffs and meter reading features. Your work will directly support Octopus Energy's mission to make energy smarter, greener, and more affordable.
💡 A Day in the Life
Start with a stand-up with your distributed team, then dive into coding a new GraphQL endpoint for tariff management. After lunch, you'll review a colleague's PR on Celery task optimization and later pair program on a Postgres migration. The day ends with a cross-team sync on integrating with smart meter APIs.
🚀 Application Tools
🎯 Who Octopus Energy Is Looking For
- Deep experience with Python and Django, having built and scaled production systems handling high concurrency and fault tolerance.
- Expert in domain modeling and GraphQL, with a track record of designing clean, maintainable APIs.
- Proficient with Celery, async processing (e.g., asyncio), and PostgreSQL optimization.
- Bonus if you have AWS cloud experience (e.g., Lambda, ECS) or React/Next.js with TypeScript for full-stack collaboration.
📝 Tips for Applying to Octopus Energy
Highlight your experience with time-of-use tariff logic or similar real-time pricing models.
Showcase any open-source contributions or side projects that demonstrate your passion for clean energy or sustainability.
In your resume, quantify impact: e.g., 'Optimized Celery task processing, reducing latency by 30%'.
Mention cross-team collaboration in a remote or multi-country setting.
Tailor your cover letter to Octopus Energy's mission: emphasize how your backend work can help reduce CO2 emissions.
✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter
["Your motivation for working in the energy sector and alignment with Octopus's mission.", 'Specific examples of building robust, fault-tolerant distributed systems with Python/Django.', 'Experience with GraphQL and domain modeling in complex domains.', 'Your ability to work autonomously in a remote, flat-hierarchy environment.']
Generate Cover Letter →🔍 Research Before Applying
To stand out, make sure you've researched:
- → Read Octopus Energy's blog posts on their tech stack and engineering culture (e.g., Kraken platform).
- → Understand the UK and US energy markets, especially time-of-use tariffs and smart meters.
- → Check out Octopus's public GitHub repositories or tech talks.
- → Look into their AI initiatives, such as using ML for energy demand forecasting.
💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics
Based on this role, you may be asked about:
⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Don't submit a generic application; research Octopus's specific tech and mission.
- Avoid focusing solely on frontend or non-Python experience if you lack backend depth.
- Don't ignore the 'fault-tolerant' requirement; be ready to discuss distributed systems patterns.
📅 Application Timeline
This position is open until filled. However, we recommend applying as soon as possible as roles at mission-driven organizations tend to fill quickly.
Typical hiring timeline:
Application Review
1-2 weeks
Initial Screening
Phone call or written assessment
Interviews
1-2 rounds, usually virtual
Offer
Congratulations!
Ready to Apply?
Good luck with your application to Octopus Energy !