Staff Software Engineer –Lab Automation

Description

The role is a Staff Software Engineer focused on laboratory automation and AI-enabled solutions. You will set the technical direction for software that connects scientific instruments, automation platforms and lab workflows.

The work supports the software ecosystem for sample preparation and casework. You will work with engineering, product, applications, service and customer-facing teams to meet technical and customer needs and to make existing solutions more reliable, scalable and easier to maintain.

Schedule is standard, Monday to Friday. The position is fully onsite at the Pleasanton, CA site. Relocation assistance is not provided. Candidates who already live in the Bay Area will be prioritised.

Responsibilities

• Lead the technical design of instrument-control software, graphical user interfaces, lab automation, workflow orchestration and connected instruments.
• Build automation frameworks that coordinate instruments, robots, devices and software services into dependable end-to-end workflows. This covers sequencing, instrument state, synchronisation, exception handling and fault recovery.
• Design, integrate and deploy AI capabilities for troubleshooting, workflow and protocol help, knowledge retrieval, run-data interpretation, anomaly detection and context-aware automation. Each solution needs evaluation, testing, monitoring, security, data protection, traceability, human oversight and clearly defined safety and control limits.
• Diagnose complex problems across application software, instrument communication, hardware, firmware, scripts, operational data and lab workflows.
• Turn scientific, customer, system and business requirements into reliable, scalable, maintainable technical solutions.
• Define reusable instrument and device abstractions, APIs, data models and communication patterns that allow instrument platforms to interoperate and be orchestrated.
• Work well with cross-functional engineering, product, applications, service and customer-facing teams, including those spread across locations.
• Help set and deliver the long-term technical roadmap for connected instruments, intelligent instrument-control software and interoperable lab automation, including more autonomous workflows.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree with at least 5 years, or Master's degree with at least 3 years, of professional software development experience in computer science, computer engineering, automation engineering or a related technical field.
• Advanced skill in Python and TypeScript, with a record of delivering production-quality software. Java experience is preferred.
• Experience building, integrating and supporting software for scientific instruments, lab automation, robotics, medical devices or other hardware-controlled systems. This includes instrument-control apps, GUIs, simulators, engineering utilities, diagnostic tools, scripts, protocols and automated workflows.
• Experience connecting instruments, automation systems, embedded controllers, sensors, robotics or firmware using vendor SDKs, REST APIs, messaging systems, serial communication or similar technologies.
• Solid grasp of software architecture, object-oriented and modular design, design patterns, data structures, APIs, data models and hardware abstraction.
• Experience with asynchronous programming, multithreading, event-driven design, instrument-state management, synchronisation, exception handling and fault recovery.
• Experience applying AI technologies or AI-assisted development tools to scientific instrumentation, lab automation or engineering problems, including deployment in local, edge, offline or resource-constrained settings.
• Experience working in Agile or Scrum teams and familiarity with regulated product development, including documentation, requirements traceability, cybersecurity, risk management, verification, validation and design controls.

Conditions

The estimated salary range for this California-based role is $129,400.00 to $175,000.00.

The role may be eligible for a variable annual bonus tied to company, team and/or individual results, following company policy.

U.S. employees and their families receive a Total Rewards package, described below.

Equal opportunity applies; the company does not discriminate on protected characteristics.

Benefits

• Choice of national medical and dental plans, plus a national vision plan with health incentive programs.
• Employee assistance and family support programs, including commuter benefits and tuition reimbursement.
• At least 120 hours of paid time off, 10 paid holidays a year, paid parental leave (3 weeks for bonding and 8 weeks for caregiver leave), accident and life insurance, and short- and long-term disability, per company policy.
• Retirement and savings programs, including a competitive 401(k) plan for U.S. employees.
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) letting eligible staff buy company stock at a discount.