Director of Engineering, Platform & IT

Location: London, UK (Hybrid)

About Relation

Relation is an end-to-end biotech company developing transformational medicines, with technology at our core. Our ambition is to understand human biology in unprecedented ways, discovering therapies to treat some of life’s most devastating diseases. We leverage single-cell multi-omics directly from patient tissue, functional assays, and machine learning to drive disease understanding—from cause to cure. This year, we embarked on an exciting dual collaboration with GSK to tackle fibrosis and osteoarthritis, while also advancing our own internal osteoporosis programme. By combining our cutting-edge ML capabilities with GSK’s deep expertise in drug discovery, this partnership underscores our commitment to pioneering science and delivering impactful therapies to patients. We are rapidly scaling our technology and discovery teams, offering a unique opportunity to join one of the most innovative TechBio companies. Be part of our dynamic, interdisciplinary teams, collaborating closely to redefine the boundaries of possibility in drug discovery. Our state-of-the-art wet and dry laboratories, located in the heart of London, provide an exceptional environment to foster interdisciplinarity and turn groundbreaking ideas into impactful therapies for patients. We are committed to building diverse and inclusive teams. Relation is an equal opportunities employer and does not discriminate on the grounds of gender, sexual orientation, marital or civil partner status, gender reassignment, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, disability, or age. We cultivate innovation through collaboration, empowering every team member to do their best work and reach their highest potential. By joining Relation, you will become part of an exceptionally talented team with extraordinary leverage to advance the field of drug discovery. Your work will shape our culture, strategic direction, and, most importantly, impact patients’ lives.

The Opportunity

As the Director of Engineering, Platform & IT, you will be a pivotal leader in shaping and scaling the technological backbone that powers our research and development efforts. You will oversee and strategically guide the teams responsible for our internal High-Performance Computing (HPC) cluster, data infrastructure, CI/CD systems, and essential IT services. This is a unique opportunity to build and lead a high-impact engineering function within a dynamic, mission-driven biotech. You will work closely with cross-functional teams—including machine learning, biology, and data science—to deliver infrastructure that enables discovery at scale.

The Team You Will Join

You will lead the Platform & IT engineering function at Relation, partnering with research, biology, and data science teams to deliver core infrastructure solutions. This group forms the technical backbone of the company, enabling large-scale computation and secure data environments that support cutting-edge therapeutic discovery.

Your Responsibilities

• Leadership & Team Development: Lead, mentor, and grow a talented team of Platform and IT engineers, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and technical excellence. Drive hiring, onboarding, professional development, and performance management across your team. Champion engineering best practices and a mindset of continuous improvement.
• Technical Strategy & Execution: Define and execute the strategic roadmap for Relation’s core infrastructure—HPC, GPU compute, CI/CD pipelines, cloud/on-prem storage, and internal IT. Architect and implement scalable, secure, and high-performance compute and storage systems. Optimise our GPU infrastructure for high-throughput ML and omics workloads. Oversee the implementation of data engineering systems, ETL pipelines, and data governance practices. Drive adoption of best-in-class DevOps and MLOps practices across scientific and technical teams.
• Operational Excellence & Collaboration: Ensure availability, performance, and security across all engineering platforms and IT services. Manage infrastructure budgets, vendor relationships, and procurement. Establish and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) and service-level agreements (SLAs). Partner with research and data teams to align infrastructure with experimental and analytical needs. Stay abreast of emerging technologies and bring forward-thinking recommendations to the leadership team.

Professionally, You Have

• You hold a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related quantitative field.
• You have 7+ years of experience across platform, infrastructure, or software engineering, including 3+ years in leadership roles.
• You have scaled and operated HPC or large-scale cloud environments (AWS preferred) in R&D or scientific settings.
• You have a proven track record of building and leading high-performing teams in fast-paced environments.
• You are proficient in Python or similar scripting languages for automation, infrastructure, and tooling.
• You’re a clear and confident communicator who collaborates well across diverse teams.
• You thrive on solving hard technical problems that have real-world impact.

Desirable Knowledge or Experiences

• Hands-on experience with a subset of the following technologies: Kubernetes, Docker, AWS, Terraform, Ansible, GitHub Actions, ArgoCD, ETL pipelines, data storage systems, HPC & GPU clusters, networking, and broader IT infrastructure.

Personally, You Are

• Inclusive leader and team player.
• Clear communicator.
• Driven by impact.
• Humble and hungry to learn.
• Motivated and curious.
• Passionate about making a difference in patients’ lives.

Join us in this exciting role, where your contributions will directly impact advancing our understanding of genetics and disease risk, supporting our mission to deliver transformative medicines to patients. Together, we’re not just conducting research—we’re setting new standards in the fields of machine learning and genetics. The patient is waiting!