Senior Software Engineer, Ruby on Rails

Description
Position at Imagine Learning
About Us
At Imagine Learning UK, our mission is to inspire aha! moments in students around the world, giving them the skills and knowledge they need to understand how their world works.
Previously known as Twig Education, our 2021 acquisition by Imagine Learning, the largest US digital curriculum provider, allows us to invest more in our products and support educators in transforming the learning experience for young people with our innovative digital resources.
In our new chapter, we continue to provide comprehensive and engaging multimedia learning experiences for students across a range of disciplines, including science, mathematics, English language, arts… and more! While our products have reached far and wide, we haven’t stopped growing – and we can’t wait to welcome more talented and passionate people into our team.
Our office is in the heart of Glasgow’s bustling West End located near parks, cafes and restaurants. Become part of a team where your contributions are valued, and where you can cuddle our friendly office dogs (you can meet them here!).
Sounds good, right? Take a sneak peek at just some of the work we do by watching this video.
About The Role
As a Senior Software Engineer on one of our Ruby on Rails teams, you solve real problems and ship features that are secure, well tested, and built to last. You’ll be fluent in Rails conventions and comfortable taking ownership of part of the system end to end, from data model through to deployment.
AI-assisted development is a natural part of how we build software here, and you’ll use agentic coding tools as part of your workflow, applying your judgement on when they can help and when a more considered approach is needed. You’ll also be comfortable using logs and metrics to understand and troubleshoot issues and deploying independently through our CI/CD pipeline.
You’ll be curious and keen to keep learning, sharing new ideas and insights with the wider team along the way.
Essential Job Functions
Analyse requirements with Product Owners and translate them into practical solution designs, including realistic timelines and delivery expectations.
Write Ruby on Rails code that follows established team conventions, with a focus on clarity, maintainability, and long-term quality.
Use AI coding assistants (such as Claude Code or GitHub Copilot) as a normal part of daily development, and review and validate generated code with the same rigour applied to hand-written code.
Contribute to the ongoing development and maintenance of the team’s AI tools, helping ensure coding agents produce output that aligns with team standards and practices.
Write RSpec tests that provide confidence in application behaviours and help identify unintended impacts of changes before they reach production.
Use metrics and observability data to identify opportunities for improvement and help strengthen logging and metrics where needed.
Work confidently with data and databases, including PostgreSQL, MySQL or similar technologies, covering areas such as schema design, migrations and query performance.
Participate in the team’s on-call rotation, responding to customer-impacting issues and working to resolve them in a way that maintains a positive customer experience.
Take ownership of packaging and releasing your work through the CI/CD pipelines, helping to identify and resolve issues that may prevent a successful deploy.
Contribute to pull request reviews, helping maintain and improve code quality in line with the team’s risk-based review approach.
Create clear documentation that captures the thinking and reasoning behind technical decisions, helping current and future team members understand the context behind the work.
Support and mentor other engineers, sharing knowledge across Ruby and Rails, and the effective and responsible use of AI development tools.
Proactively identify areas of the application that could benefit from attention or improvement, and work with the Product Owner to help prioritise work.
Qualifications
Bachelor's or master's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field (desirable but not essential)
5+ years of professional software engineering experience, including at least 3 years working in Ruby on Rails
Technical Skills
Strong command of Ruby on Rails, including ActiveRecord, service objects, and background jobs (Sidekiq or similar).
Comfortable designing and testing Rails applications using RSpec and FactoryBot, or an equivalent testing stack.
Able to work independently on business problems, using sound judgement and seeking guidance when needed.
Good understanding of AWS and how services are deployed and scaled, even where infrastructure is managed by others.
Practical, hands-on experience with AI coding assistants, with an understanding of how to prompt effectively, review generated output critically and apply appropriate judgement to AI-assisted development.
Comfortable reviewing AI-generated code and pull requests with the same care and attention as human-authored code, including considering security, performance and Rails best practice.
Working knowledge of Docker and CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, Jenkins, or similar).
Takes a proactive approach to quality, including adding appropriate tests, logging and observability to their work.
Able to create clear, concise documentation that helps others understand and work with the codebase.
Some experience with JavaScript, Python, or Terraform would be useful but is not required for.
Competencies
Able to support and mentor other Software Engineers, including junior team members and those developing their experience with AI-assisted workflows.
Builds trust and influences others by using facts, evidence, and thoughtful reasoning to support recommendations and decisions.
Communicates effectively with Product Owners, engineers and stakeholders at different levels across the organisation.
Approaches disagreement and challenging conversations calmly and constructively.
Champions team best practices across areas such as testing, documentation and AI coding conventions, while looking for ways to make delivery more effective.
Comfortable working with ambiguity and adapting as AI tooling, development practices and tea needs continue to evolve.
What can we do for you?
We know what our staff are looking for when it comes to workplace perks. At Imagine Learning UK, you can enjoy benefits such as having flexible hybrid working options, a relaxed culture where hard work is recognised, plus a generous holiday allowance (to name just a few!)
Take a look at what else is in it for you:
Get moving with the Cycle to Work scheme
Enjoy discounts on shopping, travel and fitness
Receive cashback on dental and optical with our Health Shield Cash Plan
A pension scheme with salary sacrifice available, helping you save on National Insurance Contributions
Do you think we’re the right fit for you?
If you’re interested in a role that offers fulfilment and diversity, then please complete the Online Application Form, attaching a CV and cover letter that demonstrates the extent to which your skills, abilities and experience meet the requirements of this role.
Please note, applications which do not include both a CV and Covering Letter will not be considered.
Equal opportunities statement
Imagine Learning is an equal opportunities employer and positively encourages applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation.

Work arrangement
Yes