Director of Engineering

We are looking for a Director of Engineering to lead the BenevolentAI Software Engineering team. At BenevolentAI, we harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and human expertise to revolutionise the field of drug discovery. Our unique computational R&D platform, combined with our in-house pipeline of drug programmes, enables us to develop new and more effective medicines. With offices in London and a state-of-the-art research facility in Cambridge (UK), we have cultivated a diverse team of professionals from various scientific, technological, and business backgrounds. Our team is united by a shared passion for making a meaningful impact on healthcare through innovation and collaboration.

BenevolentAI is at the forefront of applying artificial intelligence to drug discovery. We’ve developed sophisticated software systems that explore massive amounts of data to identify novel treatments for diseases. And we’ve built interactive tools for drug discoverers to derive insights from our knowledge graph, and for chemists to carry out AI-aided molecular design.

This role will be responsible for defining the strategic direction for software engineering across the company, building out our infrastructure and technology stack, and leading projects for new software development in the years to come.

Responsibilities:

Build a world-class engineering team by hiring, nurturing, and retaining the best talent from top engineering businesses and academic institutions. Manage a large and growing team of engineers. Find and grow leaders within the team. Foster a culture of support and inclusion for team members and for collaborators across the company. Adopt state of the art software engineering algorithms, data structures, infrastructure, and systems design in order to build world-class tools for drug discovery. Promote a data-driven approach to engineering, focused on delivering meaningful end-user improvements and value aligned with the business objectives. Establish engineering best practices to maximise return on investment. Integrate software development methodologies where appropriate (eg. prototyping, Agile development, test-driven development, fail-fast proof points, and launch & iterate). Proactively seek relevant industry collaborations and/or software solutions, maintaining a keen interest in industry trends and potential beneficial partnerships. Collaborate with other core functions across the company (eg. Product Management, AI, Informatics, UX, and Drug Discovery Scientists) to align strategic goals with engineering initiatives. Build and maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders across the company. Ensure that stakeholders are well informed on the health of the engineering team and the progress of the team’s work

We are looking for:

Significant experience providing leadership and direction for professional development in an engineering institution, with particular focus on software engineering roles. A firm grasp of the current trends within engineering, in particular cloud deployments, microservice architectures, and large scale data ingestion. Well informed on the latest thinking in software engineering systems design, with a focus on APIs, databases, data processing pipelines, and user-facing products. Experience building and maintaining internal and external partnerships, especially with people operating in different roles who may have conflicting needs or priorities. Excellent communicator, both verbal and written, with the ability to influence at all levels and across various departments. Fluent in the fundamentals of computer science, algorithms, data structures, and systems design.  Previous experience in a dynamic, fast-paced, product development environment. Experience building diverse and inclusive teams with a positive team culture.

Optional, but nice to have:

Experience in drug discovery or in the pharmaceutical industry. Experience in managing cross-functional teams.