Workforce Scheduling Engineer

London, EPD, Permanent (0.6 - 1 FTE)

Who we are 

Our mission is to transform how healthcare organisations work together with their workforce. Our Connected Scheduling™ platform connects healthcare organisations and their staff giving them more autonomy and control on how and when they work. Over 50% of UK GP practices use Lantum, and over 30% of UK Trusts rely on Lantum workforce products. We have developed a completely new approach to scheduling staff using AI to balance the vast amounts of complexities in workforce scheduling and we have seen game-changing results. We have not only saved millions for the NHS, but we have countless stories of how we have improved the lives of clinicians who, for the first time, are able to plan their work lives around their personal lives. 

What sets us apart is not only our leading edge technology and approach to innovation, it’s our culture and our strength of mission. Our incredible team is the driving force behind our success and this propels our competitive edge. We are diverse (10+ nationalities and 53% female workforce), we are authentic and true to ourselves, we are creative and focused and we work hard together to change our industry. Our team is supported to deliver their best work with clear career progression and a strong feedback culture. 

We have a bright and modern office which you can work from throughout the week and 3 core office days per week (Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday) where the whole team comes together.

About the role 

This role exists to turn complex NHS rota requirements into high-quality, compliant, explainable rotas using Lantum’s Timefold based scheduling engine.

You will work hands-on with real Trust data, translating clinical, contractual and operational rules into solver constraints, iterating until the rota meets agreed acceptance criteria. Over time, you’ll become increasingly autonomous and help feed learning back into the product to reduce future delivery effort.

This is not a generic backend engineering role. It sits at the intersection of software, optimisation, and real-world healthcare operations.

Responsibilities

Rota delivery

• Build and iterate NHS rotas using Lantum’s AI based scheduling platform
• Analyse Trust-specific requirements and encode them as constraints
• Tune constraint weights to balance fairness, compliance, preferences, and coverage
• Evaluate solve outputs against explicit client acceptance criteria and deadlines
• Work to fixed delivery milestones aligned to clinical publication timelines

Technical execution

• Implement and modify constraints in Java using OptaPlanner / Timefold
• Query and validate rota data using SQL (Postgres)
• Run, analyse, and debug solver outputs to understand trade-offs and failure modes
• Work within Lantum’s AWS-hosted infrastructure and delivery workflows

Collaboration and learning

• Work closely with product, tech and operations in a multidisciplinary delivery team
• Develop a working understanding of NHS rota rules, DRS compliance, and clinical patterns
• Contribute feedback on tooling gaps, recurring issues, and opportunities for automation
• Help evolve internal SOPs and product capabilities based on hands-on delivery experience

What success looks like

In the first 6 months:

• Deliver rotas reliably with close support
• Understand core NHS rota constraints and acceptance criteria
• Make safe, explainable changes to solver behaviour

In the medium term:

• Work largely independently on rota delivery
• Anticipate common Trust issues before they surface
• Contribute meaningfully to reducing iteration cycles and rework

In the longer term:

• Help shift rota building from towards full self-service capability
• Act as a bridge between real-world scheduling complexity and product evolution

Requirements

About you - We’ll be looking for

Essential technical skills:

• Demonstrated expertise in an object-oriented language, with Java experience being beneficial
• Must have prior experience in clinical rostering and a deep understanding of rota logic and patterns
• Experience translating complex business rules into programmatic constraints or logic
• Working knowledge of cloud-hosted systems (AWS preferred)
• Ability to reason about optimisation trade-offs, not just “correct vs incorrect” logic

Useful but not required:

• Familiarity with OptaPlanner or Timefold

• SQL proficiency, ideally with Postgres

• MongoDB
• Python (for analysis, tooling, or experimentation)
• Any background in optimisation, scheduling, or constraint solvers

Interview process

• Talent Screen: We’ll book you in for a quick introductory chat, and to answer any initial questions you might have.
• Meet your manager: We’ll book you in for a first interview with your potential future manager, so you can learn more about the role and we get a deeper understanding of your experience.
• Challenge Interview: This is the “practical” interview stage in the process. We will provide you with a scenario or problem to solve, which enables you to bring your skills to life. This will take place with a group of stakeholders. 
• Values Interview: You’ll meet more members of the team to talk about the Lantum Values. This will be an opportunity for them to ask competency questions and also the chance for you to ask questions about life at Lantum.

Benefits

• Home office set up - £200 stipend towards home office equipment to support remote working.
• Health Cash Plan:
• Cash refunds for physio, dental, and other health related costs.
• An Employee Pricing Program that grants you access to special, non-public discounts to gyms and top retail brands.
• Plus access to a 24/7 counselling and support helpline.
• Pension - Lantum matches 4% of your salary into your pension pot.
• Holiday - 25 days holiday + 1 additional day of birthday leave.
• Wellbeing Support - Access to Spill, a mental health support app and 1 day wellbeing leave.
• £500 Learning and development budget each year to drive your own development.
• Cycle to Work Scheme.
• Charity Day - the opportunity to make a positive impact in our community. 

Our Work Environment

• Hybrid Working: Spend three core days a week in our collaborative WeWork office
• Vibrant Workspace: A dynamic, fun WeWork office space with amenities to support your productivity and well-being
• We are happy to consider candidates looking for a part-time or full-time schedule, with a minimum commitment of 60% FTE (3 days per week) up to 100% FTE (5 days per week)

Our values

We want every employee to live the core values of the business:

• More than me: Our goals are too big to achieve on our own, it takes diverse skills and various people to achieve greatness.
• Care a lot: Doing the right thing isn’t optional. We care a lot about our users, the NHS and each other. We hold each other to the highest standards and earn our reputation every day.
• See it thru: We’re constantly looking for excellence. We take pride in planning and execution of all types of work, and we’re not deterred by bumps in the road or adversity. When we see obstacles, we relish the challenge and keep going.
• Think around corners: We always stay ahead of the curve. All of us share a responsibility to challenge the status quo, think outside of the box, turn problems on their head and turn weaknesses into strengths.
• Bounce back & learn: Being brave, taking risks and trying new things. It’s better to take risks and learn from them and being open to changing from what you learned is what makes us successful.

Please note

We can only accept applications from those eligible to live and work in the UK. We are unable to sponsor visas for this position.

Diversity promise

We believe that a great workplace is one that represents the world we live in and how beautifully diverse it can be. That means we have no judgement when it comes to any one of the things that make you who you are. Everyone is welcome — as an inclusive workplace, our employees are comfortable bringing their authentic whole selves to work. Be you.​ All you need is a passion and a desire to be part of our mission.​