Senior Software Engineer, Automation Software

Do you want to develop software that helps program biology? We seek strong Senior Software Engineers to help drive Ginkgo's state-of-the-art robotic automation software platform. This is your chance to not only develop algorithms and frameworks at the cutting edge of software technologies, but also work side-by-side with the brightest scientists, organism engineers, automation engineers and more. You'll have the opportunity to contribute to the exciting frontiers of synthetic biology, including DNA design, genome sequencing, and automating experiments at scales previously unheard of.

At Ginkgo, our mission is to make biology easier to engineer. Our bioengineers make use of an in-house automated foundry for designing and building new organisms. Today, our foundry is developing over 40 different organisms to make different products across multiple industries. We are in need of strong Senior Software Engineers to join a hybrid Software/Automation team that is responsible for building the software platform for our in-house automation. This team will work closely with the Automation and Software groups to seamlessly integrate this platform into the rest of Ginkgo's software solutions. You are well versed in software engineering best practices, have experience architecting and designing software solutions that scale, and can manage the complexities of building software that works with hardware constraints like automation & robotics.

Our tech stack includes AWS, Docker, Flask, REST APIs, GraphQL, React, MySQL, Postgres and other modern tools and frameworks. Our languages of choice are Python, Scala, and Javascript. We don't expect you to be an expert in every platform, but we do expect that you have a solid foundation in computer science and have no problem mastering the technologies that we use today (and will adopt tomorrow). And, most importantly, while you may not have a background in biology, you must be passionate about Ginkgo's mission of making biology easier to engineer.

Responsibilities

• Set software standards and define engineering best practices for the Software-Automation Team team (SDLC, CICD, etc.)

• Drive the technical roadmap for the Software Automation platform

• Design and implement scalable software solutions that address the needs of Ginkgo bioengineers

• Own the quality of your solutions by writing robust automated tests and overseeing deployments

• Mentor and coach junior engineers, developing those around you and raising the bar for your team

• Prototype new ideas, tools, frameworks and approaches

Desired Experience and Capabilities

• BS or MS in computer science or related technical field, plus 3-10 years relevant work experience

• Demonstrated experience building software services in an automated environment

• Experience with Python, Scala, and building cloud-native services (AWS, Google Cloud, etc.)

• Familiarity with task scheduling and optimization using solvers, such as constraints-based programming, a plus

• Knowledge of biology and robotics automation, a plus

• Experience with device drivers and network/firmware, a plus

• Eagerness to work hand-in-hand with Ginkgo's Foundry teams to architect the next generation of processes for engineering organisms

To learn more about our Software Team and how we're growing Ginkgo's platform, check out our team page. as well as some of the team's blog posts:

Using React Memo for a More Performant User Experience

Building a Data Processing Pipeline for NGS Part 1

Ginkgo's COVID-19 Pivot: Decisiveness and Agility

Day in the Life: Chris

Day in the Life: Dan

To learn more about Ginkgo, check out some recent press:

Ginkgo Bioworks Redirects Its Biotech Platform to Coronavirus (WSJ)

The Life Factory: Synthetic Organisms From This $1.4 Billion Startup Will Revolutionize Manufacturing (Forbes)

The engineering of living organisms could soon start changing everything (The Economist)

Synthetic Bio Pioneer Ginkgo Raises $290 Million in New Funding (Bloomberg)

Ginkgo Bioworks raises $350 million fund for biotech spinouts (Reuters)

Ginkgo Bioworks Is Turning Human Cells into On-Demand Factories (WIRED)

Can This Company Convince You to Love GMOs? (The Atlantic)

This food tech startup just raised $90 million to make it easier to invent new plant-based meats (Fast Company)

We also feel that it's important to point out the obvious here - there's a serious lack of diversity in our industry, and that needs to change. Our goal is to help drive that change. Ginkgo is deeply committed to diversity, equality, and inclusion in all of its practices, especially when it comes to growing our team. Our culture promotes inclusion and embraces how rewarding it is to work with people from all walks of life.

We're developing a powerful biological engineering platform, we must remain mindful of the many ways our technology can - and will - impact people around the world. We care about how our platform is used, and having a diverse team to build it gives us the best chance that it's something we'll be proud of as it continues to grow. Therefore, it's critical that we incorporate the diverse voices and visions of all those who play a role in the future of biology.

It is the policy of Ginkgo Bioworks to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and employment applicants.