

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 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 things like 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
Essential Skills and Experience
Desirable Experience
These skills are not essential but if you have any of them, they may be an indicator that you would be well prepared to hit the ground running:
So, if you are a Principal Engineer who wants your work to go beyond just systems and make a genuine difference by helping to transform national healthcare, this 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)
Closing Date: Sunday 3rd May @ 23:00 (UK time)
Being an integral part of such a meaningful mission is extremely rewarding in itself, but in order to support our people, we’re continually improving our benefits package. We pride ourselves on investing in our people and supporting them to achieve their career goals, as well as offering a benefits package including:
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 and 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. You can read about these and other aspects of our culture here Culture | Genomics England
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.