Front-end Software Engineer (Contractor)

NIF; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Portal Biotech is seeking a Senior Front-end Software Engineer to join the Analysis Platform team. You’ll build the UI scientists use to launch analyses, follow runs and interact with reports from our analysis pipeline.

The role focuses on the launch/run/results interface, reusable React components, and API integration. London-based preference with remote UK overlap for a 6-month contract starting October 2026.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of frontend development experience from concept to production
• Deep React and TypeScript expertise with production-grade web applications
• Experience with modern testing frameworks (Vitest, Playwright) and end-to-end testing
• Ability to own outcomes, make decisions, and push work to completion in a fast-moving environment
• Strong collaboration with backend engineers, domain experts, and product leads

Responsibilities

• Build the launch, run and results interface for analyses used by internal teams and external users
• Design report layouts and interactions
• Create reusable React components that assemble pipeline launch forms from our API
• Integrate with and influence backend APIs; align with backend teams
• Support deployment and knowledge-sharing with DevOps for smoother releases

Skills

React

TypeScript

End-to-end testing

Vitest

Playwright

Frontend ownership

Collaboration

Job description

About Portal Biotech

Portal Biotech has built the world's only platform capable of sequencing full-length proteins at the single-molecule level. Using our nanopore technology, we read intact proteins of any size, capturing both sequence and post-translational modifications in a way no other system can. This opens up entirely new ways to understand protein biology, with applications across drug discovery, diagnostics, and biosecurity.

Our technology works and customers are engaging with it. We're now focused on scaling, turning breakthrough science into products that deliver real biological insight as we move beyond Series A towards global product launch.

About the Role

We are seeking a Senior Front-end Software Engineer to join our Analysis Platform team. You'll build the UI scientists use to launch analyses, follow runs and interact with reports from our analysis pipeline.

What you'll work on

• The launch, run and results interface, serving both internal teams and external users


• Report layout and interaction


• Reusable React components that compose pipeline launch forms from our API


• Integrate with, and help shape, the APIs provided by our backend team


• Support deployment by knowledge-sharing with the DevOps team

Full-time, 6-month contract from October 2026.

London preferred, at Scale Space, White City; remote considered with good UK time-zone overlap.

Requirements

• 6+ years' experience, taking product designs from concept to polished, production frontend


• Deep React and TypeScript expertise: significant commercial experience building complex production web applications


• Experience with modern testing frameworks, including integration and end-to-end testing (e.g. Vitest, Playwright)


• Comfortable owning outcomes, making decisions, and pushing work over the finish line in a fast-moving environment


• Ability to collaborate effectively with backend engineers, domain experts, and product leads

Desirable

• Experience using AI to augment productivity while producing high-quality outputs as part of an SDLC process


• Exposure to the full development lifecycle, supporting systems post-launch


• Scientific, bioinformatics or lab-software experience

Portal is an equal opportunities employer. We are enriched by our diversity and are committed to creating and sustaining an inclusive and equitable environment for all. We encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds and life experiences.