Lead Software Engineer: VELA Project

Swansea University

The Mission: Building Intelligent Data Infrastructure

Medical breakthroughs are often delayed by fragmented data infrastructure. VELA (Versatile Extraction & Logic Abstraction) is being built to solve this through three integrated capabilities:

• Smart Query Orchestration: Translating data requests into optimized queries across multiple Trusted Research Environments (TREs)
• Domain Knowledge Integration: Capturing and surfacing expert guidance about data quality, limitations, and best practices
• Automated Quality Reporting: Ensuring researchers understand the data they're accessing and its limitations

The result? A unified Python interface to billions of health records across the UK's most secure data havens (e.g., SAIL, UK LLC, DataLoch), with built-in research quality safeguards.

This is a systems engineering role, not a research position. You'll transform a functional R prototype into production-grade Python infrastructure that will power national initiatives including the UK Government's Mental Health Goals, DATAMIND, and the National Centre for Suicide Prevention.

The Team: Fast-Paced, High-Impact

We work at a fast pace with iterative delivery cycles, backed by the stability and prestige of a Tier-1 research institution.

• Collaborative, High-Achieving Group: We manage over £20M in funding and maintain high quality standards with iterative delivery cycles.
• Team lead: The Team is led by Prof. Ann John, director of DATAMIND and NCSR, chair of the National Advisory Group on suicide and self-harm prevention to Welsh Government, member of SAGE, and Samaritans Trustee.
• Direct Partnership: You will be the Lead Technical Architect on this project, working in close collaboration with project founder Dr. Marcos DelPozo-Banos. You own the technical roadmap, the architecture, and the execution.
• Extension potential: Our team has successfully secured ongoing funding for previous high-performing team members, and we anticipate continued development of VELA beyond the initial contract period.
• Professional Growth: We invest in high-performers. For the right person, this role is a platform for career-defining work.
• Technical community: While you'll be the lead architect for VELA, you'll be part of our broader research/software engineering community and have access to our extensive network (Government, NHS, funding bodies).

Who you are:

Essential Technical Skills:

• Experience in professional software engineering with a track record of delivering complex, mission-critical systems.
• Expert Python skills in object-oriented design, library development, and API development (you build production-grade systems, not scripts).
• Deep database experience with large-scale relational databases, query optimization, and data modelling.
• System design thinking to architect multi-component systems with clear separation of concerns.
• Engineering rigor with SOLID principles, comprehensive testing, and documentation practices.

Your mindset:

• You're self-motivated and ambitious, driven by challenging technical problems.
• You balance engineering rigor with pragmatic delivery, thrive with technical ownership while collaborating closely with stakeholders.
• You are energized by building systems that enable real-world research impact.