Senior Full Stack Software Engineer (SaaS Platform) - Pathogen

Led by a world-class faculty of scientists, technologists, policy makers, economists and entrepreneurs, the Ellison Institute of Technology aims to develop and deploy commercially sustainable solutions to solve some of humanity’s most enduring challenges. Our work is guided by four Humane Endeavours: Health, Medical Science & Generative Biology, Food Security & Sustainable Agriculture, Climate Change & Managing Atmospheric CO2 and Artificial Intelligence & Robotics.

Set for completion in 2027, the EIT Campus in Littlemore will include more than 300,000 sq ft of research laboratories, educational and gathering spaces. Fuelled by growing ambition and the strength of Oxford’s science ecosystem, EIT is now expanding its footprint to a 2 million sq ft Campus across the western part of The Oxford Science Park. Designed by Foster + Partners led by Lord Norman Foster, this will become a transformative workplace for up to 7,000 people, with autonomous laboratories, purpose-built laboratories including a plant sciences building and dynamic spaces to spark interdisciplinary collaboration.

The Pathogen Mission highlights EIT’s transformative approach, using Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) and Oracle’s cloud technology to create a global pathogen metagenomics system. This initiative aims to improve diagnostics, provide early epidemic warnings, and guide treatments by profiling antimicrobial resistance. The goal is to deliver certified diagnostic tools for widespread use in labs, hospitals, and public health.

EIT Oxford fosters a culture of collaboration, innovation, and resilience, valuing diverse expertise to drive sustainable solutions to humanity’s enduring challenges.

We are seeking a Senior Full Stack Software Engineer to help design, build, and maintain our web-based SaaS platform that enables researchers and clinicians to engage with our scientific pipelines and data platform. Your work will shape a world-class experience for a diverse set of users, enabling step-changes in global genomics research and clinical practice.

This role combines hands-on software engineering with technical oversight, mentoring junior engineers and driving improvements in standards, security, observability, and overall product quality. As part of a cross-functional team, you’ll collaborate with engineers, product managers, bioinformaticians, and platform specialists to deliver secure, reliable, and high-quality software.
You’ll collaborate closely within a cross-functional team in support of product development, launch and maintenance. The role will require an understanding of the product lifestyle, working closely with the Product Managers on development of technical solutions to user requirements.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design, build, and maintain full stack features for the GPAS Portal and new web applications.
• Contribute to technical architecture for new tools, and help evolve the existing platform’s design and long-term maintainability.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with product, bioinformatics, and platform teams to translate scientific needs into user-focused tools.
• Lead by example through hands-on coding, code reviews, and mentoring junior engineers.
• Ensure scalability and reliability of the overall solution, handling large amounts of genomic, and other multi-modal data.
• Drive best practices for security, testing, CI/CD, and observability across the stack.
• Enhance performance and responsiveness of user interfaces for data-heavy applications.
• Champion usability, ensuring interfaces meet the needs of clinicians and researchers.
• Continuously improve development workflows through automation, tooling, and documentation.

Essential Knowledge, Skills and Experience:

• Proven experience as a Full Stack Engineer in production applications.
• Strong skills in React or a similar Typescript front-end framework.
• Proficiency in Python, with experience in FastAPI (or similar API frameworks), and SQL databases.
• Hands-on experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Oracle Cloud) and managed services.
• Experience with Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD automation, and Git-based collaborative workflows.
• Knowledge of secure, scalable architectures, e.g., microservices and serverless (e.g., Oracle Functions, AWS Lambda).
• Understanding of Agile development.
• Knowledge of security best practices and secure software development.

Desirable Knowledge, Skills and Experience:

• Experience with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI).
• Experience with event-based architecture with hands-on experience with, e.g., Kafka.
• Experience with Jira, Confluence, or similar project management tools.
• Experience mentoring junior engineers and promoting engineering excellence.
• Familiarity with UX collaboration tools (e.g., Figma) and accessibility best practices.
• Knowledge of relevant ISO standards (e.g., ISO27001) and SaMD certification.
• Knowledge of Nextflow.

Key Attributes:

• Collaboration.
• Willingness to learn and cross train / upskill in new technology.
• Willingness to be hands on to explore new technology or develop POC’s.
• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills, with the ability to think critically about security challenges.
• Excellent communication and teamwork abilities, particularly in cross-functional teams.
• Ability to manage multiple tasks and meet deadlines in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
• Attention to detail and a strong commitment to security and quality assurance.
• Flexibility to adapt and contribute to a rapidly scaling organisation.

We offer the following benefits:

• Enhanced holiday pay
• Pension
• Life Assurance
• Income Protection
• Private Medical Insurance
• Hospital Cash Plan
• Therapy Services
• Perk Box
• Electrical Car Scheme

Why work for EIT:

At the Ellison Institute, we believe a collaborative, inclusive team is key to our success. We are building a supportive environment where creative risks are encouraged, and everyone feels heard. Valuing emotional intelligence, empathy, respect, and resilience, we encourage people to be curious and to have a shared commitment to excellence. Join us and make an impact!

Terms of Appointment:

• You must have the right to work permanently in the UK with a willingness to travel as necessary.
• You will live in, or within easy commuting distance of, Oxford.
• During peak periods, some longer hours may be required and some working across multiple time zones due to the global nature of the programme.