Nelly Works has partnered with an exceptional, early-stage AI start-up in London developing next-generation intelligent workflows and automation systems. Operating on the thesis that the next wave of major enterprise value will be driven by software companies that seamlessly scale operational services.
The team is a small, exceptionally talent-dense group of researchers and engineers. Instead of retrofitting AI onto legacy systems, they are building native infrastructure from scratch, moving at extreme speed, and shipping to production daily.
The Role
As a Staff Research Engineer, you will be one of the highest-leverage individual contributors on a lean engineering team, 2nd in command to Head of Engineering. There are no tickets or rigid roadmaps here—you will be handed broad, open-ended problem spaces and trusted to architect, validate, and ship the solutions.
This is a hands-on player-coach role. You will remain deeply embedded in the codebase while defining the foundational architecture that the engineering organisation will inherit as it scales.
Core Responsibilities
- Bridge R&D and Production: Translate cutting-edge applied research into high-functioning, robust production systems.
- Own Broad Problem Spaces: Take ambiguous, complex technical goals and independently translate them into clean, executable architecture.
- Drive Technical Direction: Make the foundational engineering decisions across multiple research surfaces to ensure long-term speed and scale.
- Multiply Team Impact: Stay close to the code while scaling the team’s capabilities through design docs, rigorous reviews, and technical mentorship.
What They Are Looking For
- High-Agency Builders: A proven track record as a Senior or Staff Engineer within a top-tier R&D lab, applied research team, or early-stage technology company.
- The “Seen-It-All” Mindset: Someone who can think up, architect, and execute complex systems end-to-end without needing hand-holding.
- Velocity & Agility: A builder who thrives on rapid execution—moving from a design doc on Monday to production by Friday.
- Technical Depth: Deep software engineering fundamentals paired with practical experience deploying agentic workflows, LLM infrastructure, or advanced AI systems.
- Presence: This is a fully collaborative, high-velocity environment requiring 5 days per week on-site in their London office
Why Join This Team?
- Massive Footprint: A tiny, highly autonomous team means your fingerprints will be on the core foundation of everything they build.
- Elite Talent Bar: A world-class environment where every teammate is an exceptional operator who will sharpen your skills.
- Zero Legacy Debt: Clean slate, AI-native infrastructure built for scale from day one.
- Rapid Feedback Loops: Your work goes from the research phase to live customer interaction in days, not months.
Want to build in AI space? Apply directly or message Nelly Works for a confidential chat.
…