Senior Software Engineer - London - Polaron

Description

OverviewPolaron is a spin-out from Imperial College London, founded by Dr Isaac Squires, Dr Steve Kench, and Dr Sam Cooper. The founders share a mission: to harness engineering, artificial intelligence, and materials science to design the materials of the future. Our vision is to become the world leader at the interface between AI and materials, combining scientific rigour with engineering pragmatism to enable the next generation of sustainable, high-performance materials. Our work isn't just about hard, scientific problems – it's about the urgency and impact of solving them. Advanced materials underpin all aspects of modern life: from the batteries that power electric vehicles to the alloys used in turbines and the composites that make aircraft lighter. Accelerating how these materials are developed, designed, and manufactured has a direct impact on the world's ability to build a more sustainable future. We're developing a cloud-based SaaS platform that empowers materials engineers to use state-of-the-art image-based AI without friction, helping them generate insights and accelerate innovation with minimal effort.

Stack: TypeScript, React, , Express, Prisma, Python (PyTorch), PostgreSQL, Docker, Kubernetes, AWS, Terraform

Pragmatism over dogma

What we're buildingAt Polaron, we're building the next generation of tools that enable materials scientists and manufacturers to leverage state-of-the-art AI vision models, all without ever leaving their web browser. Our application consists of:

A data-intensive visual interface that enables users to explore, interact with, and analyse complex datasets (including high-resolution image data) directly in the browser built for performance and fluidity at scale

Interactive visualisation and analysis tools that combine 2D, 3D, and graph plotting

A computational orchestration layer that connects the frontend experience with machine learning models, allowing users to run sophisticated analyses and simulations seamlessly

Scalable AI infrastructure for training, serving, and executing complex machine learning workflows across distributed environments

Why we're hiringWe're entering a phase of rapid product and infrastructure scaling. To support this growth, we're hiring a Senior Software Engineer who will help define the technical foundations of our platform, shaping everything from backend architecture to product performance and developer experience. This is a hands-on, high-ownership role for someone who wants to build the core technology that enables the world's most advanced materials to be developed and manufactured. You'll have the freedom to make architectural decisions, work closely with scientists and engineers, and see your code directly power breakthroughs in industry and research. This role reports directly to our Head of Engineering and offers a significant degree of autonomy and influence over technical decisions and product direction.

A snapshot of your first 6 months at PolaronMonth 1 – Understand and Contribute

Quickly develop a deep understanding of our product, systems, and users

Deliver incremental improvements to our product or platform

Share early insights to help shape technical and product decisions

Month 3 – Take Ownership

Lead the design and delivery of an end-to-end feature that provides clear customer value

Collaborate cross-functionally with ML and product teams to turn complex ideas into working software

Support and mentor junior engineers through code reviews, pairing, and guidance

Month 6 – Drive Impact

Demonstrate strong technical and product judgment, independently shaping and improving complex systems

Take ownership of key architectural areas or projects

Contribute to better engineering practices, tooling, and team efficiency

Our hiring process

Intro Call (20 min) get to know you, your experience, and your motivation

Technical Pairing (1 hr) collaborative coding session over video call

Paid Trial Day work with the team on a real engineering challenge (remote or onsite)

Final Debrief & Offer

We value transparency and fast feedback at every step.

RequirementsYou are an experienced engineer who loves building robust, elegant systems that serve real product needs.

5+ years' experience as a product-focused software engineer

Experience writing well-tested, maintainable code in a statically-typed language (TypeScript, Go, Rust, Java/Scala...)

Strong fundamentals in API design, database modeling, scalability, and system performance

Experience deploying and maintaining systems on AWS, using tools such as Terraform, Docker, and Kubernetes

The ability to work across the stack when needed but with a clear backend focus (data, APIs, infra)

Excellent communication skills: you can explain complex technical concepts with clarity

Bonus points

Experience building high-performance canvas or visualization interfaces (D3, Observable Plot)

Exposure to PyTorch or machine-learning pipelines

Knowledge of on-prem or hybrid cloud deployments

Mindset and values

Is product-oriented: you care about impact, not just elegant code

Is scientifically curious and thrives on complex, technical challenges

Works with low ego and collaborates transparently

Enjoys autonomy but knows when to ask questions and seek alignment

Has a long-term mindset: ready to help build a company, not just a product

Communicates openly and values shared learning

Team and culture

High trust and ownership

Pragmatism over dogma

Curiosity, humility, and scientific discipline

A strong focus on quality, impact, and long-term maintainability

What we value at Polaron

STEM mindset: genuine curiosity for science and the physical world

Hunger to learn: proactive, self-driven, and impact-oriented

Pragmatism: you prefer solutions that work over theoretical perfection

Low ego & empathy: you lift others up, you listen, you share knowledge

Long-term commitment: you want to grow with the company and shape its journey

Benefits

Salary: £100,000 - £140,000 depending on experience

Equity: meaningful stock options in a growing company

Holidays: 25 days + 2 "festive leave" days

Perks: gym membership, free barista coffee

Location: Shoreditch Exchange (Hoxton, London)

#J-18808-Ljbffr