Principal Engineer - 1 Year FTC (we have office locations in Cambridge, Leeds and London)

Genomics England is a global leader in enabling genomic medicine and research, focused on creating a world where everyone benefits from genomic healthcare. Building on the 100,000 Genomes Project, we support the NHS’s world-first national whole genome sequencing service and run the growing National Genomic Research Library, alongside delivering numerous major genomics initiatives. By connecting research and clinical care at national scale, we enable immediate healthcare benefits and advances for the future.

Our mission is to provide the evidence and digital systems so that by 2035 genomics could play a role in up to half of all healthcare interactions, whilst securing the UK’s position as the best place to discover, prove and benefit from genomic innovations. We are accelerating our impact and working with patients, doctors, scientists, government and industry to improve genomic testing, and help researchers access the health data and technology they need to make new medical discoveries and create more effective, targeted medicines for everybody.

Behind the Healthcare and Research outcomes, Genomics England delivers through designing, developing and operating complex healthcare software systems. We're on the cusp of big changes with the real prospect of genomics becoming the fabric of everyday healthcare through the lifetime - from birth to old age.

About the Role

As a Principal Engineer at Genomics England, you will be a hands‑on contributor with exemplary engineering skills, who also has an ability to think strategically to define architectural directions. You may have previously worked under a variety of different job titles within engineering and/or architecture, and you may have worked in a variety of organisational contexts. Whatever your past experience, it will have given you both technical breadth and depth.

You will be a problem‑solver who identifies risks, issues, gaps, and dependencies and brings people together to find solutions. You will do this through your supportive, empathetic and collaborative behaviours – acting as coach, mentor, guide or constructive questioner as the situation demands. You are pragmatic but also mindful of the big picture – consciously balancing the immediate goals of teams against the long‑term direction for their products.

About the Tech Stack

Our bio‑pipelines platform works across both on‑premise high‑performance compute clusters to AWS, and our workflows are orchestrated in Python / NextFlow. We leverage best‑in‑class tools like Dragen to do some of the heavy‑lifting. We use Python, MongoDB and DynamoDB to deliver RESTful services that provide authoritative data for use during processing. We are working to become interoperable with the wider NHS via open standards like FHIR and GA4GH APIs. We have a standard tool chain which includes Terraform for infrastructure‑as‑code, GitLab for source code and CI/CD, Artifactory for software artefacts and DataDog for observability.

Key Responsibilities

• Work alongside product managers, squad engineers, bioinformaticians and other subject matter experts to continuously evolve a roadmap for change.
• Be the voice of technical excellence in any conversation, ensuring that the functional, safety and operational characteristics of our products are continuously improving.
• Stay abreast of emerging technologies and industry trends, and incorporate them into our software development practices.
• Contribute to the wider conversation at Genomics England and help mature our technical practices.

Essential Skills and Experience

• Strong software engineering skills and awareness of software design patterns (Python preferred, Typescript/React desirable, polyglot ideal).
• Knowledge of different database types and their applicability in a given context (Postgres/Aurora, MongoDB and Elastic/OpenSearch are in use at Genomics England).
• Experience shaping and guiding architectural choices, both tactical as well as long‑term architectural strategy and direction.
• Experience of API schema design and evolution.
• DevOps experience (CI/CD, infrastructure as code, operational monitoring and alerting).
• Experience in at least one major public cloud (AWS preferred but not essential).
• Strong interpersonal skills with a temperament that builds trust and connection within and across squads through open, honest communication.
• Comfortable engaging responsively with teams both remotely and in person when required.
• Ability to navigate rapidly to effective solutions through engaged and inclusive listening, clarity of thought, clear documentation, and succinct presentation.

These skills are not essential but if you have any of them, they may be a good indicator that you would be well prepared to hit the ground running:

• Background in healthcare or bioinformatics.
• Experience in regulated environments.
• Familiarity with workflow technologies like Apache Airflow or NextFlow.
• Proficiency in handling large, complex datasets using tools like Hadoop/EMR or Spark.

So, if you are proven and highly experienced Principal Engineer who wants your work to go beyond just systems and make a genuine difference by helping to transform national healthcare, this really is a fantastic role and one where you can have real impact!

While we love to see and recognise the genuine value and importance of relevant qualifications, we are primarily interested in your real‑world experience.

Salary: From: £103,400 pa

Please note: This is a 1 Year FTC (Fixed Term Contract). For internal candidates we will consider this as an internal secondment for the same duration.

Closing Date: Monday 22nd June @ 23:00 (UK time)

Benefits

• Generous Leave: 30 days’ holiday, plus bank holidays, plus additional leave for long service, and also the option to apply for up to 30 days of remote working abroad annually (approval required).
• Family‑Friendly: Blended working arrangements, flexible working, enhanced maternity, paternity and shared parental leave benefits.
• Pension & Financial: Defined contribution pension, Life Assurance (3x salary), and a Give As You Earn scheme.
• Learning & Development: Individual learning budgets, support for training and certifications, and reimbursement for one annual professional subscription (approval required).
• Recognition & Rewards: Employee recognition programme and referral scheme.
• Health & Wellbeing: Subsidised gym membership, a free Headspace account, and access to an Employee Assistance Programme, eye tests, flu jabs.

Equal opportunities and our commitment to a diverse and inclusive workplace

Genomics England is actively committed to providing and supporting an inclusive environment that promotes equity, diversity and inclusion best practice both within our community and in any other area where we have influence. We are proud of our diverse community where everyone can come to work and feel welcomed and treated with respect regardless of any disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, or social background.

Genomics England’s policies of non‑discrimination and equity will be applied fairly to all people, regardless of age, disability, gender identity or reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, being pregnant or recently becoming a parent, race, religion or beliefs, sex or sexual orientation, length of service, whether full or part‑time or employed under a permanent or a fixed‑term contract or any other relevant factor. Genomics England does not tolerate any form of discrimination, harassment, victimisation or bullying at work. Such behaviour undermines our mission and core values and diminishes the dignity, respect and integrity of all parties. Our People policies outline our commitment to inclusivity.

We aim to remove barriers in our recruitment processes and to be flexible with our interview processes. Should you require any adjustments that may help you to fully participate in the recruitment process, we encourage you to discuss this with us.

Culture

We have four key behaviours that represent what we would like Genomics England to feel like and the culture we want to encourage, in order for us to achieve our mission. These behaviours help us all work well together, deliver on our outcomes, celebrate our successes and share feedback with each other.

Blended working model

Genomics England operates a blended working model as we know our people appreciate the flexibility that hybrid working can bring. We expect most people to come into the office a minimum of 2 times each month. However, this will vary according to role and will be agreed with your team leader. There is no expectation that people will return to the office full time unless they want to, however, some of our roles require full time on site attendance e.g., lab teams, reception team.

Our teams and squads have, and will continue to reflect on what works best for them to work together successfully and have the freedom to design working patterns to suit, beyond the minimum. Our office locations are: Canary Wharf, Cambridge and Leeds.

Onboarding background checks

As part of our recruitment process, all successful candidates are subject to a Standard Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. We therefore require applicants to disclose any previous offences at point of application, as some unspent convictions may mean we are unable to proceed with your application due to the nature of our work in healthcare.