Senior / Staff Engineer (Software & DevOps)
Automata is transforming the way labs work with open, integrated automation. Our mission is to unlock the potential of labs and the potential of the people who work in them.
Level: 4-5
Role Type: Permanent or Contract
Location: Hybrid - work on site in our London office 3x/wk
The Mission
Our platform is at the cutting edge of life sciences automation. It already saves lives — and now we’re scaling globally. That requires more than software and more than DevOps. It requires engineers who can do both, designing and delivering systems that combine application logic, automation, and resilient infrastructure.
We’re looking for a Staff Engineer who thrives in scale-up environments, working hands-on across Python development and DevOps automation. You’ll shape the technical direction of a product that’s transforming life sciences, while enabling engineering teams to deliver with speed and confidence.
The Role
As a Staff or Senior Engineer (Software & DevOps), you’ll be both a hands-on contributor and a technical leader, designing and implementing solutions that span from backend Python services to infrastructure automation and deployment pipelines.
You’ll be responsible for ensuring our systems are not only functional and performant, but also automated, observable, and production-ready — enabling a platform that can scale globally with minimal friction.
What You’ll Do
Design & Build Software: Contribute to backend services in Python (APIs, microservices, data pipelines).
DevOps Leadership: Design and operate CI/CD systems, IaC pipelines, and containerised deployments.
Scale Globally: Ensure systems and infra are designed for global deployments with resilience and low effort.
Automation First: Eliminate manual processes across engineering workflows.
Observability: Define and implement monitoring, logging, and alerting practices (Prometheus, Grafana, ELK).
Security Embedded: Bake security into infra and software (secrets management, IAM, compliance).
Cross-Functional Influence: Work with product, data, and platform teams — setting standards and shaping technical direction.
What You Bring
Strong Python expertise (backend systems, APIs, automation).
Hands-on experience with Kubernetes, Docker, and container orchestration.
Expertise in CI/CD (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, ArgoCD, Flux).
Proven experience with Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, Pulumi, Ansible).
Strong understanding of cloud infra (AWS, with Azure/GCP a plus).
Track record of designing systems for scale, resilience, and modularity.
Ability to move seamlessly between software engineering and infra engineering.
Startup/scaleup mindset: iterative delivery, automation by default, build for speed and scale.
Nice to Have
Experience with hybrid deployments (cloud + edge).
Familiarity with data pipelines or event streaming (Kafka, NATS).
Exposure to high-performance or regulated industries.
Why Join Us
Engineer both software + systems at staff level — shaping the future of a global platform.
Build automation and infrastructure that directly powers a product saving lives.
Join a senior, high-calibre engineering team working across product, design, and data.
Hybrid working: 3 days in our London office, balanced with flexibility.
Competitive package, plus the opportunity to do career-defining, meaningful work.
🚀 If you’re a staff engineer who thrives on both software engineering and DevOps — and want your work to have global impact — this is your role.
Private healthcare that incentives a healthy lifestyle
👀 Eye Care
Get your eyes tested once a year on us!
Sacrifice some of your monthly salary in exchange for a company car, provided by your Employer
🚲 Salary Sacrifice - Bike & Tech
Sacrifice some of your monthly salary in exchange for bike and tech products, provided by your Employer
🧘🏼♀️ Wellbeing & Support
Support for both your physical and mental health
☀️ Wellbeing & Development Allowance
Invest in your own well-being, personal growth, and hobbies
💙 Spill & Employee Assistance Programme
Access the therapy for you and your family through Spill
Time off for dependents, 'Me days', and volunteering days off
Plan for retirement with NEST
🫂 Group Life & Critical Illness cover
Life insurance - for a piece of mind
🎂 Birthday
Time off for your Birthday
We are an equal-opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Discrimination of any kind based on race, colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran status is strictly prohibited.
- Locations
- London
Colleagues
London
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