Principal / Senior Principal Software Engineer

Roche; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Roche is seeking a senior software engineer within the Computational Sciences Center of Excellence. You will design and build end-to-end software solutions that accelerate drug discovery, integrating data, AI, and scalable pipelines.

The role emphasizes strong cloud deployment skills, architectural leadership, and collaboration with scientific teams. Candidates should hold a PhD in life sciences or equivalent, with deep experience in Python/Java, React/Vue, and modern data architectures.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. or equivalent in life sciences with full-stack software experience.
• Backend and frontend expertise using Python/Java and React/Vue.
• Extensive data engineering and cloud deployments (AWS).
• Proven SDLC patterns, testing, CI/CD, observability.
• Proficient in AI-assisted and agentic coding workflows.
• Strong communication and collaboration with stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Provide architectural leadership across projects and initiatives.
• Design and build interactive tools for drug discovery workflows.
• Develop scalable data ecosystems for analysis and sharing.
• Apply modern architectures (microservices, event-driven, cloud).
• Advance AI/ML capabilities and agentic coding practices.
• Mentor junior developers and align work with scientific partners.

Skills

Full-Stack

Data Engineering

Cloud Architecture

SDLC Practices

AI-assisted Development

Agentic Coding

Communication

Education

Ph.D. in Life Sciences

Tools

Python

Java

React

Vue

SQL

NoSQL

REST

GraphQL

Job description

The Computational Sciences Center of Excellence (CS CoE) is a strategic, unified group whose mission is to harness the power of data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to assist scientists in delivering innovative, life-changing medicines to patients worldwide. Within the CS CoE, the Data and Digital Catalyst (DDC) organization leads the modernization of our computational ecosystems.

• Interactive Tooling & Platforms: Design and build interactive tools for small and large molecule drug discovery, seamlessly integrating molecular design workflows, data, computational algorithms, and AI models.
• Scalable Data Ecosystems: Build and enhance a modern, scalable ecosystem of applications and pipelines to acquire, capture, move, store, transform, link, share, and prepare scientific data for analysis.
• Architectural Leadership: Leverage modern architecture patterns-such as microservices, event-driven architectures, and cloud-native frameworks (AWS)-to improve data workflows across key scientific domains.
• AI & Agentic Engineering: Integrate diverse data sets to power Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and Natural Language Search capabilities. Apply and champion modern AI-assisted and agentic coding practices within the engineering team.
• Stakeholder & Scientific Collaboration: Partner directly with computational and research scientists to translate complex scientific challenges into high-performing, user-friendly technology solutions.
• Technical Excellence & Mentorship: Provide technical leadership on ongoing strategic initiatives, define reusable architecture patterns, and mentor junior developers to uphold high engineering standards.

Who You Are

• Domain Expertise: Ph.D. or equivalent experience in the life science domain building full-stack software solutions, with a strong preference for drug discovery or pharmaceutical environments.
• Full-Stack Engineering: Deep technical expertise across all stack layers, including backend (e.g., Python, Java) and modern frontend technologies (e.g., React, Vue).
• Data Engineering & Cloud Architecture: Extensive experience in modern data engineering (ETL/ELT, SQL/NoSQL, REST & GraphQL APIs) and cloud-native deployments (preferably AWS).
• SDLC & Engineering Excellence: Proven track record in establishing robust SDLC patterns, including versioning, automated testing, CI/CD, observability, and maintainable code bases.
• Agentic & AI-Assisted Development: Demonstrated proficiency in adopting AI-assisted and agentic coding workflows individually and across teams.
• Communication & Collaboration: Exceptional communication skills with the ability to articulate complex architectural concepts to technical and non-technical stakeholders alike.

A healthier future drives us to innovate. Together, more than 100'000 employees across the globe are dedicated to advance science, ensuring everyone has access to healthcare today and for generations to come. Our efforts result in more than 26 million people treated with our medicines and over 30 billion tests conducted using our Diagnostics products. We empower each other to explore new possibilities, foster creativity, and keep our ambitions high, so we can deliver life-changing healthcare solutions that make a global impact.

Let\'s build a healthier future, together. The statements herein are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by employees, and are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified. Furthermore, they do not establish a contract for employment and are subject to change at the discretion of Roche Products Ltd. At Roche Products we believe diversity drives innovation and we are committed to building a diverse and flexible working environment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion or belief, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, disability or age. We recognise the importance of flexible working and will review all applicants\' requests with care. At Roche difference is valued and we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer where you are encouraged to bring your whole self to work.