Senior Software Engineer - Recommendation Experiences

Team: Digital & Tech
Store: London Support Office
Location: London, Greater London
Contract type: Permanent
Position type: Full Time
Salary: Competitive + Benefits; Closing date: 3rd July 2026

How We Hire

Everyone is welcome at M&S. No exceptions. It’s your background, abilities and differences that make you, uniquely you. And when you’re part of M&S, that individuality has the potential to make waves.

About the role

This section tells you all you need to know about the position and its responsibilities, outlining everything we hope to see in a successful candidate.

To stay close to our customers and colleagues, our support teams are in the office for at least three days a week as we believe that skills are developed through collaboration, and that spending time together makes us more creative and connected.

All the details

We’re looking for a Senior Software Engineer to play a pivotal role in shaping and evolving M&S’s AI-powered recommendation experiences. This team provides the intelligent services that power personalised customer journeys across web and mobile, helping millions of customers discover products that are relevant, inspiring, and tailored to their needs.

Your “customers” are product teams, engineers, data scientists, and ultimately millions of M&S customers and your mission is to improve the quality, relevance, and reliability of AI-driven experiences through robust engineering, intelligent evaluation frameworks, and production-ready AI systems.

This is a role for an engineer who is excited by applied AI, recommendation systems, and building customer-facing products at scale. You will help drive the next phase of growth for AI Stylist, one of M&S’s flagship AI-powered experiences, as it continues to evolve and scale across our digital channels.

About the Team

Our Recommendations Engineering team is responsible for delivering personalised experiences across M&S digital platforms. We build and operate intelligent systems that help customers discover products, engage with content, and make more informed purchasing decisions.

You will join the team responsible for AI Stylist, a live customer-facing product that combines conversational AI with recommendation capabilities to create highly personalised shopping experiences.

What You'll Do

Your key accountabilities will include:

Build and evolve AI-powered services using Python, supporting highly scalable customer-facing experiences.
Design and implement evaluation frameworks that measure and improve the quality of AI and LLM-powered systems.
Drive continuous improvement of AI Stylist through structured evaluation, experimentation, and data-driven insights.
Apply advanced techniques such as LLM-as-a-Judge and other evaluation methodologies to assess recommendation and response quality.
Work with non-deterministic AI systems, identifying opportunities to improve relevance, consistency, and customer outcomes.
Integrate AI services into broader digital platforms, APIs, and recommendation ecosystems.

Who You Are

A strong software engineer with extensive Python experience delivering production-grade applications and services.
Knowledge in building AI-enabled products, particularly recommendation systems, conversational AI, or customer-facing intelligent applications.
Hands-on experience designing and implementing evaluation frameworks for LLMs and AI systems.
Comfortable working with probabilistic, non-deterministic systems and using data to drive continuous improvement.
Strong understanding of how AI systems differ from traditional software and how to measure success within those environments.
Comfortable taking ambiguous AI challenges and translating them into practical, scalable solutions.

What’s in it for you

Being a part of M&S is exactly that – playing your part to bring the magic of M&S to our customers every day. We’re an inclusive, dynamic, exciting, and ever evolving business built on doing the right thing and bringing exceptional quality, value, service to every customer, whenever, wherever and however they want to shop with us.

Here are some of the benefits we offer that make working for M&S just that little bit more special

After completing your probationary period, you’ll receive 20% colleague discount across all M&S products and many of our third-party brands for you and a member of your household.
Competitive holiday entitlement with the potential to buy extra holiday days!
Discretionary bonus schemes awarded based on how you achieve your personal objectives and our performance as a business.
A generous Defined Contribution Pension Scheme and Life Assurance.
A dedicated welcome to our teams with a tailored induction and a wide range of training programmes to develop your skills.
Amazing perks and discounts via our M&S Choices portal to maximise your financial and personal wellbeing.
Leading parental, adoption and neonatal policies, providing support and flexibility for your family.
Access to a fantastic range of wellbeing support for all colleagues including access to our 24/7 Virtual GP and PAM Assist to support you and your family.
A charity volunteer day to support a charity or cause you're passionate about through a dedicated day away from work.

Everyone’s Welcome

We are ambitious about the future of retail. We’re disrupting, innovating, and leading the industry into a more conscientious, inspiring digital era. We’re transforming how we work together and offering our most exciting opportunities yet.

Marks & Spencer strives to be an inclusive organisation, trusted and admired by our colleagues, customers, and suppliers.

We are committed to building diverse and representative teams, where everyone can bring their whole selves to work and be at their best. We support each other and win together.

If you’d benefit from any support or reasonable adjustments during any stage of the recruitment process, please let us know when completing your application.

#hybridrole

Meet the Team

A group of colleagues gathered around a table, smiling and discussing work with laptops open in a modern office setting.

Being an in-person business

We're at our best when we're close to customers, and for many of us at M&S, that means working in store every day.

To stay close to customers, our support teams are in the office three days a week as we believe that skills are developed through collaboration, and that spending time together makes us more creative and connected. It also means we can solve problems as soon as they arise, learn and grow as a team, build trust, and get closer to our colleagues.

Halford Head of Technical Program Management

At M&S, we have Data Scientists, Analysts, and Technical Product Managers, who all share a genuine passion for harnessing data to improve people’s lives. And we’re in a unique position where we can actually help many different kinds of people, from our customers to our colleagues in store and in our support centre.

Deepak (He / Him) | Data Scientist Read full story

I think all engineers just love solving puzzles and problems. At M&S, we’re constantly learning new things, whether it’s mastering Swift UI or understanding how customers interact with technology. But this is also a business that listens to engineers and values what we bring to the table. That’s different, believe me.

Janak (He / Him) | Staff iOS Engineer Read full story

Being in third-party brands, working on things M&S hasn’t done before… that plays to my sweet spot. I’ve worked in many organisations throughout my career, and it’s rare to see such cause and effect in your work. The way we’re structured means you’re encouraged to solve problems and you have the autonomy to make progress quickly.

Halford (He / Him) | Head of Technical Program Management Read full story

Make Your Mark

Upcoming projects

Take part in our M&S Digital & Tech team days. Grow your digital and data skills through our BEAM Academy. Or challenge yourself at one of our business-wide hackathons. We also partner with Women in Data, Databricks and Cajigo to increase opportunities for women in digital and data.

Opportunities to be heard

Your voice and your ideas matter here. Our 8 colleague networks are places to find support, listen to each other and encourage debate. You can pitch ideas ‘Straight to Stuart’, our CEO, or get involved in our BIG (Business involvement Group).

Colleague Networks

We want you to feel supported, no matter what.

Health and Wellbeing Network

Providing a safe space for colleagues with all types of health conditions or disabilities and supporting with business initiatives to ensure our stores are truly accessible for our customers.

Family & Carers Network

A support network for parents and carers, offering a space for colleagues to share experiences, exchange ideas, and access useful resources.

LGBTQ+ Network

Proactively representing LGBTQ+ issues and opportunities to deliver a truly inclusive place to work and shop for our colleagues and customers.

Culture and Heritage Network

Raising awareness of various religions and cultures through events and comms, to educate others and better represent our M&S colleagues and customers.

Gender Equality Network

Addressing gender-related challenges, raising awareness, and driving action to ensure equal opportunities for all.

Forces Community Network

Supporting colleagues connected to the Armed Forces, aiding their transition to civilian life, and ensuring that they thrive in the workplace.

Cancer Network

Fostering a supportive and inclusive workplace culture, addressing stigma, providing guidance and raising awareness to empower and assist colleagues affected by cancer.

Menopause Network

Initiating and encouraging open conversations about menopause by offering support and sharing experiences.

Benefits

Wellbeing hub

Get access to resources to support your wellbeing, including a free virtual GP service.
Giving back

Support your favourite charities by donating through your pay or even volunteering for them.
Pay

Earn a competitive salary.
Colleague discount

After completing your probation period, you'll receive 20% colleague discount across all M&S products and many of our third-party brands for you and a member of your household.

Please note only contracts of more than 12 weeks are eligible for this benefit.
Time off

Competitive holiday entitlement with the potential to buy extra holiday days.
Bonus

We have discretionary bonus schemes depending on your role and our business performance.
Life assurance

Get cover for twice your salary up to age 70 (double with our Pension Plan).
Workplace savings

We’ll help you save through our Pension Savings Plan, Share Buy and Sharesave schemes.
My Choices

Save on everyday costs through discounts and offers and get access to great health benefits.
Cycle to work

Bike/accessory hire with Cycle to Work and save on tax and national insurance.
Smart tech

Buy the latest technology with interest-free financing directly from your salary.

How to Apply

Here’s what to expect at each stage of the application process. This can change depending on the role you’ve applied to. If you need any reasonable adjustments made at any stage, let us know and we can help.

Send us your application

Fill in our short application form and hit submit.

Online assessment

Depending on the role you are applying for, you may be invited to do an assessment. Your Talent Acquisition Partner will guide and inform you along the way.

Interview

We'll invite you to join us for an interview. This could be remote or in person. Here, we'll ask you some role based technical questions and examine the behaviours we're looking for.

Decision

After we’ve made our decision, we’ll be in touch. If you’ve been successful, we’ll officially invite you to join the team and let you know the next steps.