As an undergraduate at Oxford University Dr Hele read Chemistry, coming top of the year, followed by a PhD in theoretical chemistry at the University of Cambridge with Stuart Althorpe where together they derived quantum transition state theory, which had been claimed not to exist since the 1930s. On the basis of this research he was elected to a Research Fellowship at Jesus College, Cambridge, which was intermitted to research with Professor Nandini Ananth at Cornell University, where he investigated non-adiabatic dynamics and singlet fission for photovoltaic applications. Upon returning to Cambridge in 2017 he moved to the Cavendish Laboratory to research with Professor Sir Richard Friend, followed by a brief postdoc position with Dmitry Shalashilin at Leeds . He started at UCL as a Proleptic Lecturer in July 2020, and took up a Royal Society University Research Fellowship in October of that year.