Principal Engineer, Instrument Software
Volta Labs
Boston, MA, USA
Posted on Wednesday, July 17, 2024
ABOUT US:
Volta Labs is an applications company that is revolutionizing the future of genomics. We are a Boston based, venture-backed biotech startup that makes extracting vital information from biological samples is as simple as pressing a button, through our flagship product Callisto. Our product speeds up processing time for scientists and increases accessibility to important genetic information for patients. Sitting at the intersection of science and engineering, we invite you to join us on our journey to shape the future of genomics, where insatiable curiosity is encouraged and every Voltarian makes an impact.
THE TEAM:
You'll join a team of innovative thinkers who love to experiment, collaborate, and win together. We are passionate about pushing the boundaries of automation, biology, computing, robotics, design, and user experience to benefit our customers and the world.
The Principal Instrument Software Engineer will report to the Head of Electrical and Software Engineering and be a primary architect, mentor, developer and trusted interdisciplinary partner within Volta. Areas of work include firmware, instrument control, real-time video processing, and telemetry. Join us if you are passionate about the interaction of software, hardware, and biology and want to define the future of automation in the life sciences! This role will act as a technical lead rather than a people manager, and is perfect for a seasoned software engineer who wants technical ownership of a complex electromechanical and biomechanical product.
Day to Day and Year 1
- Our team splits their time on average 30% in meetings like standups, strategy sessions, and brainstorms, and 70% hands-on work, be it designing, coding, testing and debugging, or code reviews.
- Partner with non software stakeholders such as the Hardware, manufacturing, Product and Biology teams to outline requirements and design for new processes to build into the Volta instrument.
- Facilitate the successful launch of the Volta system and participate as a key player early on in the company's evolution.
- Design, develop, test, and implement code for the new processes, then iterate with various interdisciplinary partners to ensure we meet KPIs.
- Influence improvements for next generation biology systems to both improve quality, features, complexity and reduce cost.
- Identify new data points to capture for performance measurement, maintain data accuracy, and continuously improve outcomes in a data-driven way.
- Facilitate hardware bring up and failure analysis. Regularly getting your hands dirty on hardware
Within 3 months you’ll… Have completed onboarding, ramped into the code base and fully understand our product and opportunity. You should be providing mentorship, code review, and technical influence to the team. You’ll collaborate with cross functional peers and senior leadership to outline the immediate priorities for Callisto software development, and start executing on them.
By 6 months you’ll… Craft the 12mo roadmap for Callisto capabilities with the product and biology teams, and be actively supporting architectural decisions and technical conversations at a strategic level. You will also begin influencing software development practices and hygiene. Be participating in hiring decisions, onboarding fellow engineers, and shipping multiple new chemical process capabilities to Callisto’s software.
At 12+ months you’ll… Continued software development and improvements. Influence of future systems designs including SW pipelines, SW infrastructures, device SW architectures, and hardware component selection such as motor controllers, MCUs, sensors, and computing systems. Influence continuous improvement to the organization's software best practices.
Your Experience
- You have designed, launched, and executed on a software development roadmap to balance elements of team bandwidth, stakeholder needs, and market opportunity.
- You have demonstrated experience in creating software best practices.
- You have demonstrated experience balancing good quality practices and delivering.
- You are a solutions oriented contributor with a bias towards action over perfection.
- You have deep understanding of modern Python capabilities for robotics or electromechanical device applications.
- You have deep understanding of real time embedded systems within Linux or POSIX like operating systems environments.
- You have deep understanding of bare metal MCU applications in C/C++ or Rust.A desire to be hands-on writing code
- You are comfortable with hardware and can read schematics
- Acting as a technical and cultural leader for a team that is actively growing, learning, and looking for mentorship and direction
This is a full-time position that requires a significant amount of in-person work and collaboration onsite at our Seaport Office in Boston, MA. If you are unable to relocate or commute to the Boston MA area, this role won't be a match.
Our Benefits and Perks:
• Robust Equity Program, to build future wealth through stock options with high growth potential
• Comprehensive Healthcare Coverage, including Medical, Dental, & Vision
• HSA with monthly company contribution, & FSA
• Sponsored Commuter Benefit Plans
• Access to Our 401K Plan, to save for your future
• 12 Weeks of Paid Parental Leave
• Paid Time Off, because we understand the importance of time off for rest and adventure
• 11 Paid Holidays
• Twice Weekly Company Lunches, office snacks, beverages, & treats
• Monthly Team Happy Hours and regular team outings!
We are an equal opportunity employer and foster diversity and inclusion at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status, and we actively seek out and value diverse backgrounds and experiences.
Even if you don't check every box, but see yourself positively contributing, please apply. Help us build an inclusive community that will change the face of genomics!