Senior Software Engineer - Engagement

Our Future Health will be the UK’s largest ever health research programme, bringing people together to develop new ways to detect, prevent, and treat diseases. We are a charity, supported by the UK Government, in partnership with charities and industry. We work closely with the NHS and with public authorities across all nations and regions of the UK.  

Our plan is to bring together 5 million volunteers from right across the UK who will be asked to contribute information to help build one of the most detailed pictures we have ever had of people’s health. Researchers will be able to use this information to make new discoveries about human health and diseases. So future generations can live in good health for longer.  

We’re looking for a Full-Stack Senior Engineer to join our Engagement squad. Engagement is all about helping participants stay connected to Our Future Health, giving them clear, meaningful reasons to return to the platform, understand the impact of their involvement, and feel confident taking part in future research. 

Experimentation will be a key part of the role, so we’re looking for someone who brings initiative, is comfortable exploring ideas, and can help us validate what resonates before we invest in longer-term solutions. 

The role combines practical engineering with opportunities to influence how engagement evolves, helping us deliver quick wins today while laying the groundwork for long-term impact on participant trust, confidence, and research readiness. 

In this role, you will:  

• Work in a small, growing team where you’ll contribute both to early design and hands-on delivery 

• Help shape and build the experiences that deepen participant understanding and motivation, making thoughtful decisions about what to develop, when to reuse, and how to optimise the journeys people already see 

• Design systems that encourage people to return, explore insights, share additional data, and take part in studies 
• As the work is still in its early stages, you’ll often move across the stack, from front-end features built with TypeScript and modern frameworks to backend and data-driven work in Python, depending on what the problem calls for

• Learn from real behaviour and iterate quickly based on what works 
   
   

This role will be fully hybrid with the expectation we get together in our Holborn, London office at least once per month. 

Requirements

We welcome applications from all who may not feel they match the full criteria, so if you have most of the below, we'd like to hear from you:  

Technical Skills 

• Experience building cloud-hosted consumer applications using open source technologies such as Python or Node 

• Knowledge of modern frontend development, including JavaScript/TypeScript with frameworks like React or Next.js, and experience building intuitive, user-focused interfaces 

• Experience designing and implementing backend systems – ideally using Python – for data movement, processing, and storage 

• Experience working on consumer-facing products where experimentation, rapid iteration, and learning from user behaviour are important 

• Prior experience with Azure (ideally), AWS or GCP 

• Comfortable working with Infrastructure as Code, ideally with knowledge of Terraform 

• Knowledge of good data modelling and design patterns; in-depth knowledge of relational databases (e.g. PostgreSQL) and familiarity with other types of data store (blob, document, graph) 

• Expertise in modern, agile development practices like code review, TDD, CI/CD and pairing using tools like Git and GitHub 

• Experience of operationally managing software components once live, including observability, logging, metrics, error reporting, debugging and live incident management 

• Experience of working with sensitive personal data 

  
Competencies 

• Experience working in/with cross-functional teams consisting of e.g. engineers, product, UX and non-technical stakeholders 

• Ability to communicate with stakeholders and audiences outside your own team 

• Experience working in small, growing organisations with a high degree of ambiguity, where flexibility is valued 

• Strong understanding of software quality principles and practices 

• Comfortable in mentoring and coaching less experienced engineers 

• Comfortable in taking part in- and sometimes facilitating technical discussions

Benefits

• Competitive base salary from £88,000 

• Generous Pension Scheme – We invest in your future with employer contributions of up to 12% 

• 30 Days Holiday pro rata + Bank Holidays – Enjoy a generous holiday allowance with the flexibility to take bank holidays when it suits you 

• Enhanced Parental Leave – Supporting you during life’s biggest moments 

• Cycle to Work Scheme – Save 25-39% on a new bike and accessories through salary sacrifice 

• Home & Tech Savings – Get up to 8% off on IKEA and Currys products, spreading the cost over 12 months through salary sacrifice 

• £1,000 Employee Referral Bonus – Know someone amazing? Get rewarded for bringing them on board! 

• Wellbeing Support – Access to Mental Health First Aiders, plus 24/7 online GP services and an Employee Assistance Programme for you and your family 

• A Great Place to Work – We have a lovely Central London office in Holborn, and offer flexible and remote working arrangements 

Join us - let’s prevent disease together. 

 
Closing Date 05/01/2025

We recommend you apply as soon as possible as occasionally due to high volumes of applications, we need to close our postings early. 

At Our Future Health, we recognise the importance of having a diverse workforce and ensuring that all candidates, regardless of their background, have equitable access to our application process. We proactively encourage applicants who identify as having a disability, neurodiversity, or long-term health conditions to let us know if they require any reasonable adjustments as part of their application process.  

If you do require any reasonable adjustments, please email us at [email protected]