What we do

tails.com is a tech-centered startup, and we're harnessing the power of technology, combined with applied nutritional science, to change the world of dog food for the better.

Our intelligent systems create and fulfil individually optimised blends of food for each dog. These are then delivered direct to the owners' doorstep every month all across the country. We launched to the public in July 2014 and are well on our way to changing the face of pet food in the UK, with ambitions beyond our shores.

tails.com offers you the opportunity to shape something truly innovative and new, joining an experienced team with with a mix of talent throughout the business from graze.com, innocent drinks, LOVEFiLM, Amazon, Zoopla, and Arts Alliance Media.

We are well funded too, with investments from across the UK startup scene including Jam Jar (a.k.a the Innocent Drinks founders) and Octopus Ventures.

Location-wise we are based in Richmond, on the District Line and less than 10 minutes on overland train from London Waterloo.

The tech stack and team

To handle the vast complexity of creating and fulfilling hundreds of thousands of individually optimised bags of food, we built smart systems to handle every step of the process. From the website right through to the systems that control the order fulfilment process in our blending room, we own the entire tech stack.

We have tens of thousands of loyal customers but we are still at a relatively early stage as a company, so you'll have the chance to make a huge impact on our customers, as well as on the shape of the tech team and platform as it evolves. We're looking for developers who enjoy getting stuck in, collaborating with their fellow developers and with others across the business.

Our technical co-founders came from senior hands-on positions within Amazon, Arts Alliance Media, and Zoopla, so we have a great engineering mindset and it's an excellent environment to learn and grow as a developer, enabling you to gain a wide range of experience.

Our tech stack is 100% python on the backend, with modern HTML5, CSS3 and framework-of-the-month-free JavaScript on the front-end. The platform itself is hosted entirely in AWS, and everything is built to be scalable. For those suffering with long release cycles, you'll be glad to know that we push multiple builds live every day through our CI/CD pipeline.

Of all the perks we offer, the one that's dearest to our engineering hearts is the £2k budget available to buy whatever tech kit you need to hit the ground running. Whether it's a laptop, desktop, triple screens, or a weird fish-shaped mood lamp - whatever helps you to get stuff done. Once you're on board, we'll help you work out what you need and have it ready waiting for you when you walk in the door.

Who we're looking for

We're looking for someone who is willing to get stuck in, who wants to learn, grow and develop themselves and their career. We're looking for people with a passion for technology, who get a kick out of building products and releasing them. You'll get involved in all aspects of a project or feature, from pitching in ideas to speccing, coding, releasing and everything in between.

Language-wise, we're agnostic. If you're coming from a non-Python background then a willingness (dare we say "desire"?) to learn Python is a must, but beyond that we're ultimately looking for smart people who enjoy solving real problems.

Interview process

Our interview process will flex depending on the candidate, but below is the general process:

• Phone interview: A general catchup with one of the tech co-founders so we can get to know you better (and vice versa), with some technical questions thrown in for good measure.
• Technical test: Depending on your location, we might send you a remote technical test which needs to be completed in no more than 1 hour so we can get a deeper feel for how you translate a problem into working code. It'll also give us something to talk through during the...
• Face-to-face interviews: We'll invite you to our HQ in Richmond to meet some of the team. These interviews will be a mix of deep technical and team fit with people from across the business.

We'll give you clear feedback every step of the way, so you always know where you stand and what the next steps are.

Our Values

Our company values evolved organically from the values we'd already held as a team. Writing them down has helped us and people interested in joining tails.com to be absolutely clear on what we feel are the most important guiding values for us as a company. We've put them here to give you a small peek at what every person at tails.com strives towards:

CUSTOMER-LED

We put our dogs and their owners at the heart of every decision. We are looking for someone who is willing to work towards changing the lives of our customers for the better and who wants to be part of a team who strive to exceed their expectations again and again.

TEAM SPIRITED

We put the people in our organisation first. We are looking for someone who wants to be part of a team who respects, helps, supports and drives each other forward and one which celebrates together.

GAME-CHANGING

We are here to change the way people feed their dogs forever. We are looking for someone who wants to implement new and improved ways of doing things, developing their skills, their career and themselves, as the business grows.

NIMBLE

We are adaptable and want to achieve great things quickly. We are looking for someone who is goal-orientated, who values simplicity over complexity and who enjoys working in a fast-paced, changing environment.

MAKING EVERY DAY COUNT

We are here to shape the journey, we are not here just for the ride. We are looking for someone who wants to have an impact every day which makes a difference.