Lead Software Engineer - AI products for R&D

Novo Nordisk A/S; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Novo Nordisk A/S in London is seeking a Lead Software Engineer to set the technical direction for agentic AI products across our R&D value chain, from early research and pre-clinical work to clinical development and drug product registration. You will turn real pain points into well-engineered, well-governed products, from research assistants to compliance automation.

Your work will help R&D teams handle the scale and complexity of their work with quality and confidence, supporting

Qualifications

• Educational and professional background in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Statistics or a closely related field.
• Deep experience in software product design, development and lifecycle management.
• Solid knowledge of statistics and machine learning; hands-on with agent harnesses.
• Experience with systems design, containerisation and distributed computing.
• Experience with DevOps, CI/CD and software testing.
• Experience giving technical guidance and direction to engineers, including mentoring experienced colleagues.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills across multiple teams.

Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end lifecycle of AI products for R&D – scoping, design, build, deployment and operation – with clear technical guidance.
• Design and develop AI products on platforms and infrastructure bridging business and science.
• Build templates and project accelerators based on sound engineering principles.
• Educate and act as sparring partner for scientists to enable self-service product development.
• Guide and mentor senior team members.

Skills

Software product design

Lifecycle management

Statistics & ML

Agent harnesses

Systems design

Containerisation

Distributed computing

DevOps / CI CD

Mentoring / leadership

Stakeholder management

Education

Computer science / Software engineering / Statistics related field

Job description

Select how often (in days) to receive an alert: Create Alert

Lead Software Engineer - AI products for R&D

Category: Data & AI

Location: London, London, GB

Your impact begins here

As Lead Software Engineer, you will set the technical direction for agentic AI products used across our Research & Development (R&D) value chain, from early research and pre-clinical work to clinical development and drug product registration. You will turn real pain points into well-engineered, well-governed products, from research assistants to compliance automation. Your work will help R&D teams handle the scale and complexity of their work with quality and confidence, supporting progress towards new treatments for people living with serious chronic diseases.

What you’ll bring

You combine deep engineering expertise with the people skills to lead in a team that serves many stakeholders. You bring:

• An educational and professional background in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Statistics or a closely related field.
• Deep experience in software product design, development and lifecycle management, built on strong software engineering principles and practices.
• Solid knowledge of statistics and machine learning, and hands‑on experience with agent harnesses.
• Experience with systems design, containerisation and distributed computing.
• Experience with DevOps, CI/CD and software testing.
• Experience giving technical guidance and direction to engineers, including mentoring experienced colleagues.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills. Because you will work across many teams, the ability to build relationships and explain technical choices clearly is essential.

What you’ll do

You will own our AI products for R&D from first scoping to live operation, while building the engineering foundations that let more teams build AI with confidence. You will:

• Own the end-to-end lifecycle of AI products for R&D – scoping, design, build, deployment and operation – and give your team of engineers clear technical guidance and direction.
• Design and develop AI products on platforms and infrastructure from internal providers, bridging the engineering gap between business and science.
• Build a foundation of best practices, templates and project accelerators based on sound software engineering and design principles.
• Educate and act as a sparring partner for scientists, helping them understand the AI product lifecycle and contribute to it in a self‑service way.
• Guide and mentor senior team members.

This is an individual contributor role with no direct people management responsibility; your leadership will be through technical direction, guidance and mentoring.

Who you’ll work with

You will join our recently established AI Product Engineering team focused on enabling the next generation of AI solutions across R&D. You will work and support multiple science teams including Data Science and AI stakeholders across global locations, as well as the internal providers whose platforms and infrastructure your products run on. Your role is to bring these perspectives together, create clarity on priorities and help teams move from idea to working product.

What you can expect here

You will be joining a new team at an important time, so your voice and your expertise will shape how we build AI products across R&D, including our engineering standards and ways of working. You will be trusted to take ownership of technical decisions and supported to follow them through.

You will work at the forefront of AI and technology as Novo upskills its entire workforce to advance AI as a main driver for innovation for people living with serious chronic diseases. Working across the whole R&D value chain, you will build new skills, broaden your understanding of how new treatments are discovered and developed, and grow alongside colleagues on the job.

Application Support

We are an equal opportunities employer, and we are committed to an inclusive recruitment process and equality of opportunity for all our applicants. If you are a person with a disability, or if you are neurodivergent and require adjustments during the application or selection process, please email [e-mail]. Please include your name, the role you are interested in, and the type of adjustment you need, so we can support you throughout the process.

For further information, please contact Christoffer Hjort, Head of AI Products Engineering, at [e-mail] .

We commit to an inclusive recruitment process and equality of opportunity for all our job applicants.