Staff Software Engineer
Bp
Software Engineering
United Kingdom
Entity:
Technology
Job Family Group:
Job Description:
Yalla is bp’s Internal Developer Platform (IDP), built on Kubernetes. It is a core part of our strategy to improve developer productivity and standardisation. As a Staff Engineer on the Yalla team, you’ll be at the intersection of software engineering and infrastructure—helping shape how developers across bp build, deploy, and operate software at scale.
What You’ll Do
- Lead technical direction for the Yalla platform, setting standards for architecture, design, and operations.
- Partner with the head of engineering to guide the team’s priorities, ensuring alignment with bp’s strategy.
- Mentor and coach engineers, providing guidance on coding practices, design reviews, and operational standards.
- Design and build platform capabilities that make developers more productive, secure, and efficient.
- Write high-quality, production-ready code in languages such as .NET, Python, Java, or Go (and be comfortable picking up new ones).
- Develop REST APIs and associated unit tests, applying low-level design principles and key design patterns.
- Troubleshoot and debug issues across infrastructure, networking, and Kubernetes using Linux systems and tooling.
- Automate toil and build self-service workflows for developers, applying SRE and platform engineering practices.
- Design with observability in mind, ensuring platform systems are reliable, and transparent.
What We’re Looking For
Core Engineering Skills
- Strong coding ability; can tackle data structures & algorithms problems fluently.
- Skilled in API development and low-level code design.
- Knowledge of design patterns and ability to apply them in real-world systems.
- Ability to design and implement a robust testing strategy.
Platform & SRE Skills
- Understanding of infrastructure and network design, including common failure modes.
- Experience identifying engineering toil and automating solutions.
- Strong knowledge of Kubernetes internals (scheduling, networking, controllers, orchestration).
- Skilled at debugging infra, networking, and Kubernetes issues using Linux tools.
- Deep understanding of the three pillars of observability (metrics, logs, traces) and monitoring systems.
Leadership Skills
- Proven ability to set technical vision and influence roadmaps at the team or platform level.
- Experience leading engineers through complex design discussions and trade-offs.
- Ability to inspire, mentor, and grow team members while fostering a culture of collaboration and excellence.
- Comfortable representing the team with senior stakeholders and driving cross-team alignment.
Nice to Have
- Experience being on-call and handling live production incidents.
- Hands-on with Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, Crossplane, Pulumi, etc.).
- Experience building Kubernetes operators, controllers, or custom tooling.
- Exposure to cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP).
We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.
Travel Requirement
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Legal Disclaimer:
We are an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of protected characteristics like race, religion, color, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, veteran status or disability status. Individuals with an accessibility need may request an adjustment/accommodation related to bp’s recruiting process (e.g., accessing the job application, completing required assessments, participating in telephone screenings or interviews, etc.). If you would like to request an adjustment/accommodation related to the recruitment process, please contact us.
If you are selected for a position and depending upon your role, your employment may be contingent upon adherence to local policy. This may include pre-placement drug screening, medical review of physical fitness for the role, and background checks.


