--- title: 'Staff Frontend Engineer at Motorway' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/staff-frontend-engineer-motorway-london-4cqcq2ahgafh' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-10-19' --- # Staff Frontend Engineer at Motorway - **Company:** Motorway - **Location:** London, United Kingdom - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** hybrid - **Posted:** 2026-09-25 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-19 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/motorway/47cd4d7c-c997-4ec5-9e14-701ec86ec42a ## Job description ## About Motorway Motorway is the UK's largest online car-selling platform. We connect private sellers directly with over 8,000 dealers nationwide. Our online platform helps sellers achieve great prices for their cars while giving dealers fast, reliable access to the stock they want for their dealerships. Founded in 2017, our award-winning, technology-led approach has redefined the experience of selling a car. Motorway is backed by some of the world’s leading technology investors, having raised £143 million in Series C funding. This is a unique opportunity to join a fast-growing scale-up at a crucial phase of growth and help change an industry for the better. We're looking for a Staff Frontend Engineer to help lead technically across our frontend engineering. You'll work across a group of cross-functional squads, each made up of engineers, designers, data analysts and a product manager, helping them move quickly and safely, resolving the engineering problems that span teams before they compound into systemic risk, and shaping product and business strategy with a technically-grounded, commercially-aware point of view. We're a TypeScript-first organisation. Our frontend stack is TypeScript and React, styled with SCSS, server-side rendered with Next.js and Express, and tested with Vitest & Chromatic. As a Staff engineer you'll bring deep expertise with the latest native web technologies and modern frameworks, drive consistency across all of our web properties, and lead the migration efforts that keep our stack current, not just bumping versions, but making use of the new capabilities each release brings and helping the wider department do the same. At Motorway, we know the importance of delivering high-quality, valuable solutions quickly, and we recognise the ability for AI tools and agents to accelerate our work. We provide our engineers with access to the latest models through Kiro. As a Staff engineer you'll define and lead our AI engineering practice on the frontend, setting standards for agent execution environments, quality harnesses, and guardrail architecture - and build a team norm where domain depth, AI-enabled breadth, and rigorous feedback-loop design are treated as complementary. ## What you'll be doing - Ship features end to end: Own meaningful pieces of product work from design handoff through to production, building accessible, performant components, wiring them into applications, and shipping them with confidence. - Author the contracts and the roadmap: Author and own API contracts and documentation for the department, and maintain a technical roadmap with rigorous written framing - precise intent, explicit trade-offs, and unambiguous success criteria - setting the documentation and spec-writing standard for the area. - Drive consistency and lead migrations: Drive consistency across all our web properties, design the standards the department builds on, and lead migration efforts - making full use of new framework features and bringing the rest of engineering along with you. - Own quality, security, performance and reliability standards: Set and maintain the security & web performance standards for the frontend, including client-side concerns like CSP, CWV, XSS prevention, data, governance plus reliability standards, incident review culture, and production readiness criteria. - Own the build and deployment story: Understand the build and deployment pipeline for our assets and services end to end, monitor and improve it, and make informed, commercially-aware decisions about hosting providers, vendors, and build-vs-buy trade-offs. - Develop other engineers: Develop IC3 engineers into technical leaders, raise the technical bar in hiring by defining what "good" looks like in the discipline, and build a culture of ownership, accountability, and high standards. - Lead AI-assisted engineering: Use Kiro and other AI tools to move faster, and set the standards for how the team integrates AI into its everyday workflow and its products. ## What you'll have ## Minimum requirements - At least 5+ years of experience in focused frontend practice building and operating production web applications at scale, with a track record of leading large, complex projects. - The ability to bridge engineering and product fluently, translating between business priorities and technical constraints in both directions, and to make and defend difficult technical decisions under uncertainty through reasoning, not authority. - Recognised as a technical authority in frontend engineering - engineers and product stakeholders seek you out for technical direction, and your judgement shapes decisions beyond your immediate team. - Deep expertise with modern CSS/SCSS, HTML, and current ECMAScript proposals, and a strong understanding of the trade-offs between different frameworks and the scenarios in which each is the right choice. - Comprehensive experience writing unit and E2E tests, and building the CI workflows to exercise them. - Deep working knowledge of TypeScript and modern React (hooks, component composition, transitions), and of frameworks like Next.js that handle SSR, routing, and data fetching. - Deep experience with observability, Core Web Vitals, accessibility auditing, and frontend performance tuning - and the ability to evaluate new frameworks and identify where we gain an edge in development, deployment, rendering, integration, and performance. - Breadth across different teams, and the judgement to make pragmatic build-vs-refactor-vs-replace calls informed by a track record of production crises and scale challenges. - A genuine interest in leading AI-assisted development as part of your and the team's workflow. Additional or preferred requirements - Experience owning and maintaining a design system, and driving its adoption across multiple teams. - The ability to create sensible UI designs without a Designer for non-trivial (though not highly complex) work when the team is resource-constrained. - Experience evaluating vendors and third-party tools, and making build-vs-buy recommendations with clear technical and commercial criteria. - Experience maintaining and evolving complex legacy systems at scale. - Backend fluency - you don't need to be full-stack, but you're comfortable following a request deep into the API layer and shaping the contract on both sides. ## About Motorway ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Motorway is the UK’s leading online marketplace that connects private car sellers directly with a national network of verified dealers, using a daily auction system to deliver the best price fast. - **Entity Type**: Private (Series C / Venture Capital-Backed) - **Headquarters**: London, England, United Kingdom (Fitzrovia office) with a second office in Brighton. - **Founded**: 2017 - **Founders**: Tom Leathes (CEO) and Harry Jones ## Core Business - **Primary industry/industries**: Automotive marketplace, used car sales, online vehicle auctions, fintech (Motorway Pay). - **Target customers**: Two-sided marketplace serving consumers (private sellers) and B2B buyers (over 8,000 verified car dealers). - **Mission or purpose statement**: To build a better car market by making car selling simpler, faster, and fairer for everyone. ## Products & Services - **Motorway (Consumer Platform)**: A fully online service where private car owners get a free instant valuation, profile their car using a mobile app, and list it in a daily auction where 8,000+ verified dealers bid. The highest offer is presented to the seller. Includes home collection, same-day payment via **Motorway Pay**, and automatic settlement of outstanding finance. - **Motorway for Dealers**: A B2B platform allowing dealers to buy privately-owned used vehicles directly from sellers, bypassing traditional wholesale middlemen. - **Motorway Remarketing (Enterprise Service)**: A new B2B line launched in 2025/2026 giving dealers direct access to end-of-finance vehicles from fleet and finance partners (e.g., Mobilize Financial Services). ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed. - **Key Metric**: Total funding raised is **$308.75M** (approx. £250M+). - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Backed by world-class investors including **Index Ventures**, **BMW i Ventures**, **Latitude**, **Unbound**, and **Trinity Capital** (which provided a £25M credit facility in May 2026). - **Growth Signals**: - Over **1 million cars sold** through the platform. - Rated **’Excellent’** with **100,000+ Trustpilot reviews**. - **84% of sellers** get more than market price for their car (independently validated). - Expanded into the **fleet remarketing** space in 2025/2026. - Team has grown to approximately **400 employees** across London and Brighton. ## Competitive Advantages - **True Two-Sided Network Effect**: A large base of private sellers attracts more dealers, which in turn drives better prices for sellers (84% beat market price), creating a powerful flywheel. - **Tech-First Experience**: Fully online, app-based valuation and listing process removes the friction of physical inspections and haggling. - **Motorway Pay**: An in-house payment system that enables instant, secure bank transfers on the doorstep, eliminating payment risk for both parties. - **Trust and Transparency**: No upfront fees (fee only charged on successful sale), combined with verified dealer network and high ratings. ## Strategic Focus - **Deepening the enterprise & fleet channel**: The launch of the remarketing service shows a move to capture more B2B supply. - **Scaling dealer services**: Expanding offerings for dealers beyond just auction access (e.g., financing, logistics). - **Data & AI investment**: Actively hiring a **Principal Generative AI Engineer** and **Senior Marketing Data Analyst**, indicating a focus on leveraging AI to improve matching, pricing, and operational efficiency. - **UK market dominance**: With $308M in funding, Motorway is well-capitalized to consolidate its position as the UK’s leading digital used car marketplace. ## Why Work Here - **Culture & Values**: Described as a community that cares about much more than cars. Core values include “Create new roads” (innovation), “Take the wheel” (ownership), and “Be humble” (ego-free teamwork). Features employee-led D&I, LGBTQ+, and Women’s committees. - **Hybrid Work**: London office operates on a **hybrid schedule**. Employees can also **work from Europe for up to 4 weeks a year**. - **Dog-Friendly**: Dogs welcome in the London office on Mondays and Fridays. - **Perks & Benefits**: - Financial: Employee stock option scheme, generous pension, save 40% on a new electric car. - Wellness: Comprehensive BUPA private health insurance, 24/7 Employee Assistance Program. - Family: Generous maternity/paternity leave, nursery fee coverage. - Office Life: Communal lunches, themed breakfasts, sea views in Brighton, and regular social events. - **Engineering Culture**: With ~400 people and a focus on data and AI, the engineering and product teams are central to the business. Current openings include a Principal Generative AI Engineer and Executive Assistant to the CPO, signaling a high-priority product organisation. ## Sources 1. [motorway.co.uk](https://motorway.co.uk/about) 2. [careers.motorway.co.uk](https://careers.motorway.co.uk/) 3. [cbinsights.com](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/motorway) 4. [uk.linkedin.com](https://uk.linkedin.com/company/motorway-online-ltd.) ## Other roles at Motorway - [Head of Financial Control](https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-financial-control-motorway-london-34hmfwhbszfa) — London, United Kingdom - [Workforce Planning Analyst (Maternity Cover)](https://feeny.ai/job/workforce-planning-analyst-maternity-cover-motorway-brighton-1jrzet04yccx) — Brighton - [B2B Sales Specialist](https://feeny.ai/job/b2b-sales-specialist-motorway-brighton-ev3sbhfqsmjf) — Brighton - [Quality Assurance Specialist](https://feeny.ai/job/quality-assurance-specialist-motorway-brighton-v2d5dnk37n16) — Brighton - [Customer Escalations Specialist](https://feeny.ai/job/customer-escalations-specialist-motorway-brighton-65y0eq6yymzb) — Brighton - [Complaints Specialist](https://feeny.ai/job/complaints-specialist-motorway-brighton-x32j64pr611r) — Brighton - [Senior Android Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-android-engineer-motorway-london-v7dcv68jxd3d) — London, United Kingdom - [SOC Analyst](https://feeny.ai/job/soc-analyst-motorway-london-90qyhe0r9cz6) — London, United Kingdom - [Lead Product Designer](https://feeny.ai/job/lead-product-designer-motorway-london-qe3yhb4bf9hx) — London, United Kingdom - [Contact Centre Team Leader](https://feeny.ai/job/contact-centre-team-leader-motorway-brighton-rvwhq8qpqdx8) — Brighton