Sr. Staff, Instrument Software Engineer

About the role

We are seeking an exceptional Senior Staff Instrument Software Engineer to join our core engineering team. This role involves architecting, designing, and implementing high-performance software to operate our electrochemical CMOS based DNA synthesis instrumentation and new electronic gene sequencing hardware. The position requires close collaboration with hardware, electrical, and chemistry teams to ensure seamless integration and development.

Responsibilities

• Developing high-performance systems capable of handling very large data payloads while ensuring end-to-end data integrity.
• Helping develop software for our DNA data storage platform.
• Collaborating with hardware, electrical, and chemistry teams to define requirements and specifications.
• Architecting and implementing using languages like C, C++, Rust, TypeScript, or Python.
• Bringing expertise in Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS) to inform architectural decisions that meet strict timing and reliability requirements for hardware control.

Requirements

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science or related technical field.
• 10+ years of professional software development experience, including significant experience in a Staff-level or equivalent senior technical leadership role.
• Expertise in broad set of languages such as C, C++, Rust, TypeScript, or Python.
• Deep, demonstrable understanding of memory management and allocation strategies across multiple languages and runtimes.
• Proven ability to write performant, low-latency, and highly optimized code, particularly when dealing with very large data payloads (multi-gigabyte to terabyte scale).
• Experience designing and implementing firmware and working with high-speed buses (SPI, 1G/10G Ethernet, USB).
• Knowledge of Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS) and their implications on system architecture and design.

Skills

• 10+ years of professional software development experience, with significant experience in a Staff-level or equivalent senior technical leadership role.
• Expertise in broad set of languages such as C, C++, Rust, TypeScript, or Python.
• Deep, demonstrable understanding of memory management and allocation strategies across multiple languages and runtimes.
• Proven ability to write performant, low-latency, and highly optimized code, particularly when dealing with very large data payloads (multi-gigabyte to terabyte scale).
• Experience designing and implementing firmware and working with high-speed buses (SPI, 1G/10G Ethernet, USB).
• Knowledge of Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS) and their implications on system architecture and design.

Desired Skills

• Prior experience working directly with hardware development, bring-up, and troubleshooting.
• Front-end development (TypeScript, React or similar frameworks).
• Understanding of FPGA and ASIC integration.
• Familiarity with data storage technologies.
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) for data storage and deployment infrastructure.
• Master's or PhD in Computer Science or related technical field.
• Mastery of object oriented programming concepts, and clean software architecture design.
• Familiarity with hardware integration, system bring-up and validation.
• Ability to take a hands-on approach to software and hardware development.
• Image processing experience.
• Experience with Git or similar version control systems.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's or PhD in Computer Science or related technical field.
• Electrical and mechanical engineering experience is a big plus.
• Experience with the latest .NET is a plus.
• WPF experience is a big plus, and an eye for clean UI design is greatly appreciated.
• Interest and ability to learn other programming languages as needed.

Pay Range

The pay range for this role is $175,000 - $210,000 USD per year (HQ).