Founding Associate, Hesta Labs

Own the delivery of Hesta Labs' £1.4m R&D programme, moving between clinical, technical, regulatory and commercial workstreams to solve whatever's in the way. You'll work directly with our founders and clinicians, shaping the roadmap as we build the evidence base for women's health.

Location: London (hybrid) - 2 to 3 days in our office in Victoria

Contract type: Permanent

About Hesta Health: Hesta is creating a new benchmark in women’s health, delivering exceptional care at every life stage. As we advance towards this goal, we are committed to closing the women’s health gap, beginning with pregnancy and postnatal as our initial focus. 75 million years of women’s lives are lost every year due to poor health or early death. This gap limits potential, drives inequality, and reflects a healthcare system that wasn’t built for women. We are changing that.

Hesta Labs is Hesta's research and development arm, backed by £1.4m in grant funding. In health, there are only two categories of things: what we know, and what we don't. The second category in women’s health is a chasm. Women weren't required to be included in clinical trials until the early 1990s, and even now, only a sliver of health research funding goes towards conditions that affect women specifically.

The role: We're hiring a Founding Associate for Hesta Labs. You have to be hungry. Hungry for this role, hungry to make a difference, hungry to get things done and bring people with you.

What you'll do:

• Lead our Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst programme (£1.4m, 18 months) end to end, owning milestones, dependencies and outputs.
• Solve whatever's in the way: designing a communication sequence, onboarding a trial site, sorting a data flow, working out what a regulatory requirement means for us in practice.
• Coordinate across multiple workstreams (clinical, technical, regulatory, commercial), managing interdependencies and critical paths.
• Stay on top of the numbers: own financial planning and data-driven project metrics.
• Steer the path from product and research findings to a regulated, Software as a Medical Device (SaMD).
• Define the plan alongside our Co-Founders, flag risks early, and handle reporting and financial management, including formal change requests where scope or budget shifts.
• Drive alignment and action across internal teams, NHS partners, academic collaborators and external suppliers.
• Feed what we're learning back into product and go-to-market decisions.
• Contribute to future strategy and shaping Hesta's R&D roadmap.

What you'll bring:

• A high-agency, "make it happen" mindset. You must be able to demonstrate the ability to use initiative.
• Strong programme or project experience in complex, multi-stakeholder environments (health tech, research, consulting or innovation).
• Excellent quantitative skills. You’re not put off by a spreadsheet and can build metrics to track progress.
• A proven ability to manage complex dependencies and deliver outcomes, not just track tasks.
• Exceptional organisation and documentation skills. You create clarity and structure in ambiguity.
• The ability to operate in regulated, high-rigour environments, or a strong appetite to learn fast.
• Bonus: Experience with digital health, SaMD or clinical research.
• Familiarity with NHS systems, data governance or regulatory frameworks.
• Exposure to health economics or evaluation studies.

Before you apply: Tell us about a time you got something done that mattered, where nobody gave you permission to start it, and nobody had to push you to finish it. What was it, why did you do it, and what happened?

The practicalities:

• Contract: full time.
• Location: London, hybrid. 2 to 3 days a week in person at our office in Victoria, SW1.
• Start: November 2026.

What you'll get:

• A front-row seat in an early-stage, mission-driven company building the backbone of a healthcare service designed specifically for women.
• The chance to lead delivery of a major Innovate UK-funded R&D programme shaping the future of women's health.
• A central role in building a regulated, category-defining health technology from the ground up.
• Exposure to clinical, technical, regulatory and commercial strategy in a fast-moving startup.
• A high-calibre, mission-driven team with deep expertise across healthcare and technology.
• Flexible, hybrid working, built around the job that needs doing, not office face time.

We strongly encourage applications from people of colour, the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities, neurodivergent people, parents, carers, and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds. If there's anything we can do to support your application, let us know.