Staff Software Engineer (Backend)

Ro; York and North Yorkshire; On-site; GBP 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision membership

Equity for all team members

Flexible time off

Paid parental leave, and flexible work

Well-stocked office with snacks and bi

Job summary

Ro is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to act as a technical leader, mentor, and architect, shaping the platform and delivering scalable systems that impact patients and providers. You will work with engineers, product managers, designers, and cross-functional leads to define technical roadmaps balancing immediate needs with long-term stability, scalability, and maintainability.

You will design scalable distributed services using Python and FastAPI, own your team’s technical domain, and drive

Qualifications

• 7–10+ years of software engineering experience, including experience in roles involving technical leadership.
• Experience architecting, designing and building scalable web applications and distributed systems.
• Proven track record of scaling complex backend systems through rapid growth and ensuring high performance and availability.
• Deep understanding of distributed systems, data consistency, communication patterns, and service boundaries.
• Proficiency with Python, relational databases, and frameworks like FastAPI or Django, with hands-on metrics instrumentation and data-driven performance tuning.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor engineers, foster collaboration, and set technical direction.
• Experience in telehealth or other highly regulated industries.
• Experience with decoupling monolithic applications into distributed asynchronous services.

Responsibilities

• Lead as a technical leader shaping the platform and driving delivery of scalable systems.
• Mentor engineers, influence engineering culture, and participate in architectural decisions.
• Define and own technical roadmaps, breaking down complex problems into deliverable projects.
• Collaborate with product managers, designers, and cross-functional teams to ensure alignment.
• Participate in on-call rotations to maintain production reliability.

Skills

Python

Distributed systems

FastAPI

Technical leadership

Mentoring

Roadmap ownership

On-call rotations

Job description

• We are looking for a Staff Software Engineer to join the team at Ro


• In this role, you will operate as a technical leader, mentor, and architect — helping shape the future of our platform and driving the delivery of systems that directly impact patients and providers


• You will partner closely with other engineers, product managers, designers, and cross-functional leads to define and deliver technical roadmaps that balance immediate product needs with long-term technical stability, scalability, and maintainability


• As a Staff Engineer, you will not only design and build robust distributed systems but also mentor engineers, influence engineering culture, and play a key role in technical decision-making


• If you thrive in complex problem spaces, enjoy shaping technical direction at scale, and are motivated by the opportunity to improve healthcare through technology, we’d love to hear from you


• Design and build scalable, reliable, and resilient distributed services using Python and FastAPI


• Operate as an owner and technical leader within your team’s domain and proactively assess and improve system performance and reliability


• Drive engineering excellence through best practices in testing, monitoring, observability, and performance optimization


• Define and own technical roadmaps, breaking down ambiguous and complex problem spaces into clear project plans and deliverables


• Mentor and collaborate with engineers across levels, raising the technical bar and fostering growth across the team


• Lead cross-functional technical efforts — working closely with product managers, designers, and engineers from adjacent teams to ensure alignment and technical integrity across boundaries


• Participate in on-call rotations to ensure reliability of production systems

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision membership


• Equity for all team members


• Flexible time off


• Paid parental leave, and flexible work arrangement


• Well-stocked office with snacks and bi-weekly free lunches


• Gym, learning, and development stipends

Strong sense of ownership, with the ability to understand and break down complex problem spaces into technical roadmaps7 - 10+ years of software engineering experience, including experience in roles involving technical leadershipExperience architecting, designing and building scalable web applications and distributed systemsProven track record of scaling complex, data-intensive backend systems through rapid growth (ideally in a mid-to-late stage startup environment), ensuring high performance and availabilityDeep understanding of distributed systems-data consistency, communication patterns, and service boundaries-backed by hands-on experience building and maintaining data-intensive production systemsProficiency with Python, relational databases, and frameworks like FastAPI or Django, with hands-on experience in metrics instrumentation and data-driven performance tuning leveraging Ro’s load testing infrastructure and tools like DatadogDemonstrated ability to mentor engineers, foster collaboration, and set technical directionExperience in telehealth or other highly regulated industriesExperience with decoupling monolithic applications into distributed asynchronous services