Head of Engineering

Costello Medical; Town of Cambridge; Hybrid; AUD 175,000 - 214,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Profit share bonuses

Hybrid and flexible working

Private medical insurance

Generous holiday allowance

Travel between Cambridge and London

Job summary

Costello Medical is entering an exciting new chapter as we launch our first SaaS product. We are looking for an experienced engineering leader to guide our eight-strong in-house team, shape architectural strategy, and own the post-launch roadmap, with AI features integrated into our platforms.

You will collaborate with business leaders to drive technical strategy, ensure security by design, and manage our supplier relationships while nurturing an innovative engineering culture across Cambridge

Qualifications

• 8+ years software engineering experience with 3+ years in technical leadership
• Proven ownership of a software product in production, ideally SaaS
• Experience building scalable, secure systems and leading architectural decisions
• Experience working with non technical stakeholders to shape requirements

Responsibilities

• Lead the Engineering team with accountability for growth and performance
• Define team structure, hiring plans and culture
• Define and embed development standards, review and release processes
• Own the engineering roadmap from launch through growth and scaling
• Sign off on scalable, secure solution designs with product owners
• Align engineering strategies with company priorities and decide build/buy options
• Shape AI roadmap and deliver AI features across products
• Maintain monitoring, incident response and security by design
• Manage technology suppliers and vendor relationships

Skills

Engineering leadership

Team leadership

Software architecture

AI integration

Cloud tech

Product strategy

Tools

Go

NestJS/Express.js

Python/FastAPI

PostgreSQL

Docker

Kubernetes

AWS

Terraform

Job description

Role Summary

• Responsibilities: Lead an established, talented Engineering team with strong, documented ways of working as we launch our first SaaS product, a competitive platform built on our deep industry expertise and direct relationships with clients. This is a highly visible role, working closely with business leaders to shape our technical strategy, including how we build AI into new and existing products.
• Salary: £90,00 to £110,000 per annum depending on prior experience
• Benefits: Discretionary profit share bonuses paid twice per year, hybrid and flexible working options, generous holiday allowance, private medical insurance, critical illness cover, income protection, full funding for external training and more
• Role Type: Full or part-time, permanent position. Our standard working week is 37.5 hours, Monday to Friday, however we can also consider applicants looking for part-time hours of 30 hours per week
• Start Date: The role will ideally commence in January 2027, but we also have start dates available every month of the year. You will be asked to state your availability on your application form
• Application Deadlines: Whilst there are no set application deadlines, we strongly recommend applying as early as possible. The role will close when a suitable candidate is found
• Location: This role is available in our Global Headquarters in Cambridge or our London offices. Company-funded travel between the two offices will be required, as the Engineering team is based across both locations

About the Role

Costello Medical is entering an exciting new chapter. As a highly innovation-focused business, we have invested heavily in building our first SaaS product entirely in-house, and it is now ready for launch. We are looking for an experienced engineering leader to guide our development team through launch, early go-to-market and post-launch phases. The successful candidate will continue to develop a competitive product that grows its market share by drawing on the direct client relationships established through our services work. You will join at the point of product launch, so you will have real ownership of making the launch a success, the post-launch roadmap and guiding the product lifecycle and strategy.

You will join a talented, established in-house development team of eight, including software engineers, a Front-End Lead and a Back-End & AI Lead, and work alongside our dedicated Innovation team. You will set the overall strategy, best practices and standards for how the team works, giving you a rare opportunity to shape both a product and an engineering culture at a pivotal moment for the company.

This is a senior, highly visible role with real influence across the business. You will act as a trusted technical adviser to company leaders, consulting on the right technical solutions to business challenges, and partner with product owners to turn their ideas into robust, buildable software architecture, then oversee its delivery within the Engineering team. You will also play a key part in our AI strategy, ensuring AI capabilities are built into new and existing products and contributing to our AI leadership team as a strategic adviser, while integrating Engineering closely with collaborating teams to bring new and existing products to success.

Alongside this, you will have ultimate responsibility for the smooth running of the Engineering function, including platform stability and uptime, security by design and compliance, and incident response management, as well as managing our technology supplier portfolio. We are looking for someone with proven strength in software architecture, team strategy and leadership, process management and team building.

Key responsibilities for the role include:

• Leading the Engineering team, with overall accountability for its growth, wellbeing and performance, supporting and developing the Engineering management team, and mentoring future leaders within the team
• Setting team structure, objectives and hiring plans, and leading a positive team culture where everyone thrives
• Defining and embedding the team’s ways of working, including development standards, code review, release management and quality assurance
• Owning the engineering roadmap for our first SaaS product, from launch readiness through to developing, growing, scaling and maturing the product
• Reviewing and signing off solution designs with product owners, making sure they are scalable, secure and deliverable within the team’s capacity
• Working with company leaders to align Engineering strategies with wider company priorities, scope technical solutions and prioritise projects and resources, including deciding whether to build, buy or enable teams to deliver solutions
• Shaping our AI roadmap with the AI leadership team and leading the delivery of AI features across new and existing products
• Reviewing and maintaining our monitoring, service levels and incident response processes that keep our platforms stable and available
• Embedding security by design and maintaining compliance with relevant standards and client requirements, in collaboration with our inhouse IT and Legal teams
• Building feedback loops with client-facing teams so that customer insight shapes the product roadmap
• Building a strong internal network and team culture that raises the visibility of the Engineering team and its capabilities across the company, and keeps the team close to what client-facing teams need
• Selecting, contracting and managing the Engineering team’s technology suppliers, balancing cost, risk and performance

Career Profile

To learn more about the personal and professional development opportunities at Costello Medical, explore first-hand career profiles from our colleagues about their experiences with the company: https://www.costellomedical.co.uk/careers/working-at-costello-medical/

About Costello Medical

Costello Medical is a rapidly growing global healthcare agency specialising in medical communications, market access and health economic and outcomes research. We work with a wide range of clients, including the industry’s most successful pharmaceutical and medical technology companies, patient and public health bodies and charitable organisations.

Technology and innovation sit at the heart of how we work. We are always looking for best-of-breed software and have built a strong internal technology stack, but we are equally willing to build our own solutions where they bring genuine value and opportunities that off-the-shelf products cannot. Our Engineering team sits at the forefront of digital innovation for our scientific teams, turning their expertise into digital tools and products.

We have been listed in the Top 100 Best Companies to Work For list since 2017, the Boston Globe’s Top Places to Work list in 2025 and were proud to receive B Corporation accreditation in 2022. Learn more about us, our work, and our mission on our website: https://www.costellomedical.com/

About You

We are looking for an experienced technology leader combining technical credibility, strategic judgement and strong people leadership. You will need the technical depth to make and challenge architectural decisions and earn the confidence of experienced engineers.

You will also be comfortable working consultatively with non-technical stakeholders, understanding the problem they are trying to solve and helping determine the right technical response.

Essential requirements for the role are:

• At least 8 years of software engineering experience, including at least 3 years in a technical leadership role
• A track record of building and leading high-performing teams of senior engineers and technical leads, including setting team strategy and structure
• Proven ownership of a software product in production, ideally SaaS, including accountability for its effectiveness, stability, and security
• Experience working directly with non-technical stakeholders to shape requirements and priorities
• Ability to lead a team working with modern back-end and cloud technologies; ideally with a strong working knowledge yourself. Our tech stack includes Go (Gin), TypeScript (NestJS/Express.js), Python (FastAPI), PostgreSQL, Docker, Kubernetes, AWS or DigitalOcean, and Terraform
• Strong knowledge of cloud architecture, CI/CD, testing, monitoring and secure development
• Strong software architecture experience, including designing scalable, secure systems and turning product requirements into buildable designs
• Experience of integrating AI or large language model capabilities into products, including architecture and data privacy considerations
• Strong process management skills, with experience defining and embedding engineering ways of working, release management and incident response, alongside sound prioritisation and commercial judgement

Desirable requirements for the role are:

• An undergraduate degree-level qualification in Computer Science or a related discipline
• Experience or a solid foundation in DevOps/infrastructure
• Experience in, or a solid understanding, of product/commercial management
• Experience in health technology, life sciences, professional services or another relevant knowledge-based or regulated industry
• Experience of leading the delivery of AI/LLM-enabled product features
• Familiarity with ISO 27001, SOC 2 or similar security frameworks
• Experience scaling engineering teams and developing first-time managers
• Experience managing technology suppliers, contracts and vendor relationships

What We Offer

Alongside our award-winning company culture, where every team member is celebrated, respected, and has their voice heard, we are proud to offer a comprehensive benefits package which includes:

• A starting salary of £90,00 to £110,000 per annum depending on prior experience, as well as a discretionary profit share bonus paid twice per year. Please note that we have established salary bands that ensures a fair and consistent approach for all applicants, eliminating the need for individual negotiations
• 25 days’ annual leave plus bank and public holidays, as well as a holiday buy and sell scheme
• Flexible working hours and the chance to work from home for up to half of your working time after passing probation
• Flexible benefits scheme offering cash payments, additional pension contributions and more
• Private Medical Insurance which offers comprehensive cover on a “medical history disregard” basis
• Paid study leave and funding for external qualificationsCritical Illness Cover, Income Protection and Life Assurance
• Paid and unpaid sabbaticals based on length of service

Please click here to learn about our full reward package and the other benefits of working for Costello Medical: https://www.costellomedical.com/careers/benefits-package-in-the-uk/

Hybrid Working Policy: We believe that having face-to-face time in the office holds many benefits and is central to ensuring that the community we have created, where people have a workplace they belong to and feel part of, is never lost. At the same time, we recognise that homeworking can improve work-life balance, reduce commuting times and costs, and provide the opportunity to juggle personal commitments.

Therefore, we offer flexible working arrangements that allow our colleagues who have passed probation to work from home for up to half of the time, measured across a 2-week rolling period. During your probationary period (normally the first 6 months of the role), you will be able to work from home for 1 day per week.

The Application Process

Our recruitment process includes a telephone interview with a member of the Talent Acquisition team. If successful, you will be invited to an interview onsite. Our standard recruitment process lasts around 1 month, however this can be adapted if necessary.

As an equal opportunity employer, we are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce and, throughout the recruitment process, there are a number of reasonable adjustments we can provide: https://www.costellomedical.com/reasonable-adjustments/

Visa Sponsorship

We can provide visa sponsorship for eligible candidates for our Head of Engineering. You will be asked to provide details of your right to work in the UK within your application, however this will have no impact on the processing of your application.