Staff Engineer

Hesta Health Limited; Greater London; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary and equity options

Flexible, hybrid working

Victoria office facilities

25 days annual leave + public holidays

Job summary

Hesta Health Limited is seeking a Staff Engineer to set the technical direction for the platform as we scale. This senior technologist will design scalable, multi-tenant systems handling sensitive clinical data and shape architecture at company level.

You will balance hands-on coding with driving cross-cutting initiatives across clinical data, AI-enabled features, and platform reliability, partnering with founders, product and clinical teams to ensure dependable, compliant growth.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in software engineering with senior responsibilities.
• 3+ years as a technical lead or staff-level engineer.
• Experience scaling systems in regulated or data-sensitive contexts.
• Ability to influence technical direction with strong communication.

Responsibilities

• Architect and lead design for high-scale, multi-tenant systems.
• Set engineering quality, testing, security, and reliability standards.
• Own cross-cutting technical initiatives across the product.
• Build tools and abstractions to improve developer velocity.
• Align engineering work with company strategy with founders.
• Design data-compliant systems with privacy and regulatory standards.
• Champion reliability, data integrity, and patient trust.

Skills

Software engineering

Technical leadership

Systems design

Communication

Healthcare technology

Tools

AWS

GCP

Azure

Docker

Kubernetes

React

Next.js

TypeScript

Node.js

Python

Job description

Staff Engineer

We're looking for a Staff Engineer to set the technical direction for Hesta's platform as we scale.

About Hesta Health

Hesta is creating a new benchmark in women’s health, delivering exceptional care at every life stage. As we advance towards this goal, we are committed to closing the women’s health gap, beginning with pregnancy and postnatal as our initial focus. 75 million years of women’s lives are lost every year due to poor health or early death. This gap limits potential, drives inequality, and reflects a healthcare system that wasn’t built for women. We are changing that.

The Opportunity

We're looking for a Staff Engineer to set the technical direction for Hesta's platform. This is a role for a senior technologist who can design scalable systems and shape architecture at a company level as we grow.

You’ll balance hands‑on coding with driving initiatives that cut across the whole platform - from clinical data systems to AI-enabled care features. You’ll work closely with our founders, product and clinical teams, and you’ll have real influence over how Hesta scales as we grow from pre‑seed into our next phase.

We’re applying the latest in AI to build something that genuinely changes lives for women and families. We want to make this the best it can possibly be, and to do that we need passionate, motivated engineers who care about the craft as much as the mission. You’ll be working alongside people who’ve done this before across both tech and healthcare, and who are committed to getting it right. If you want your work to truly matter, come build with us.

What You’ll Do

Architect and lead design for high-scale, multi‑tenant systems that handle sensitive clinical data

Set standards for engineering quality, testing, security and reliability across the platform

Own cross‑cutting technical initiatives that span multiple areas of the product

Build tools, frameworks and abstractions that improve developer velocity

Partner with founders and the wider team to align engineering execution with company strategy

Design and maintain data‑compliant systems with privacy, security and regulatory standards embedded by default (UK GDPR, NHS DSPT, MHRA guidance)

Champion clinical‑grade reliability, data integrity and patient trust in everything you build

Who You Are

7+ years of software engineering experience, with 3+ years as a technical lead or staff‑level engineer

Proven success scaling systems to meet growing demand, ideally in a regulated or data‑sensitive environment

Excellent communication skills and the ability to influence technical direction without formal authority

Comfortable owning systems: You’re happy taking responsibility for a codebase and keeping it healthy - from shipping features to debugging issues.

Specific requirements:

Backend experience with Node.js and/or Python (FastAPI, Flask)

Experience with front end frameworks (React, Next.js, Typescript). Exposure to cross platform frameworks a plus (e.g. React Native).

Experience deploying and operating systems on at least one major cloud platform (AWS, GCP, or Azure), with containerisation (Docker; Kubernetes a bonus)

You’ve built or worked on systems where data protection, access control, and auditability matter

Product‑minded: You think in terms of user outcomes and trade‑offs, not just technical solutions. You care deeply about the user and collaborate closely with design and product

Healthcare fluent: You understand (or are eager to learn) the constraints of clinical workflows, data privacy (e.g. UK GDPR, NHS standards), and safety

AI‑curious: You’re excited about the opportunities that AI brings, and want a chance to move up the curve quickly and impactfully. You have experience working with LLMs such as Claude or similar, including prompt design, evaluation, and workflow orchestration. You are absorbing the rapidly‑changing environment and want to be on the forefront of the change.

Startup‑ready: You’re resourceful, thrive in ambiguity, and know how to move fast without breaking trust

Mission‑aligned: You’re excited about using technology to improve healthcare, particularly for women and families.

What Success Looks Like in This Role

You’ve reviewed Hesta's system architecture end to end and have a clear view of where the risks and bottlenecks sit

You’ve shipped a meaningful architectural improvement in a high‑leverage area, such as scaling a core service or strengthening how clinical data is stored and accessed

You’ve set (and documented) standards for code quality, testing and security that the team can build on as it grows

You’re a trusted technical voice with the founders, regularly flagging risks, dependencies and opportunities before they become problems

You’ve introduced at least one new tool, pattern or practice that makes the codebase easier to work in

You’re comfortable being the person who owns the hard calls on architecture, with no one to defer to

What This Role Is (and Isn’t)

This role is:

A chance to set technical direction for a healthcare platform from an early stage

A collaborative role working closely with founders and clinical teams

A chance to shape how Hesta scales as it grows

This role is not:

A purely hands‑off architecture role - you'll still be writing code

A large engineering team environment (yet)

We strongly encourage applications from people of colour, the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities, neurodivergent people, parents, carers, and people from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

If there’s anything we can do to accommodate your specific situation, please let us know.

Company Benefits

You’re joining a winning team. (Founders have worked at: Airbnb, Babylon, NHS, Oxford, UCL)

A unique opportunity to join a startup at the beginning and help build the backbone of a healthcare service designed specifically for women.

Join a small, mission‑driven team where your contributions have immediate impact.

A close working relationship with, and mentorship from, our experienced co‑founders and technical advisers

Competitive salary and equity options - we’re building this together

Flexible, hybrid, working; our team work is based on the job that needs to be done, not office face time

Office facilities: Spacious working space, with other innovators in Victoria, bike storage, changing facilities and a healthy supply of tea/coffee

25 days annual leave a year + public holidays