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Software Engineer, Molecular Biology (High Seniority)

San Francisco, CA

Biotechnology is rewriting life as we know it, from the medicines we take, to the crops we grow, the materials we wear, and the household goods that we rely on every day. But moving at the new speed of science requires better technology.

Benchling’s mission is to unlock the power of biotechnology. The world’s most innovative biotech companies use Benchling’s R&D Cloud to power the development of breakthrough products and accelerate time to milestone and market. 

Come help us bring modern software to modern science.

ROLE OVERVIEW

We’re a full-stack web application development team focused on creating powerful, intuitive tools that support a broad range of scientific workflows. From designing DNA constructs and analyzing protein sequences to performing gene editing experiments and drawing chemical compounds, we build the features that help scientists better plan, execute, and understand their research.

RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Drive complex, end-to-end projects: Lead the design, implementation, and delivery of high-impact features and systems across the stack (React + Python). Translate product requirements into scalable architecture and thoughtful user experiences, while proactively identifying risks and tradeoffs.
    • Shape technical direction and architecture: Make foundational engineering decisions that improve system performance, reliability, and scalability. Collaborate with other senior engineers to evolve our platform and influence long-term technical strategy.
    • Collaborate cross-functionally: Work closely with product managers, designers, customer success, and other engineering teams to ensure alignment on goals, seamless handoffs, and shared understanding of scientific user needs.
    • Identify and address technical debt: Own proactive improvements to the codebase and infrastructure. Refactor critical systems for maintainability and performance, and champion investments that improve long-term developer velocity.
    • Design for performance and scale: Build systems that can handle the complexity and scale of life sciences R&D. Optimize backend performance, frontend responsiveness, and system reliability.
  • Mentor and support other engineers: Act as a technical mentor and sounding board for other engineers. Help grow the team’s technical skills through guidance, pairing, and knowledge sharing.
    • Elevate code quality and engineering practices: Set high standards for code quality, testing, documentation, and operational excellence. Lead by example, perform thorough code reviews, and help raise the bar across the team.
  • Embrace ambiguity and domain complexity: Operate effectively in a fast-paced environment with evolving scientific requirements. Rapidly learn new technologies and bio/chem workflows, and help the team do the same.
  • Act with ownership and accountability: Take responsibility not just for your code, but for the outcomes it enables. Push for clarity, follow through on commitments, and support others in doing the same.

QUALIFICATIONS

  • 8+ years of professional software engineering experience
  • Strong coding skills and engineering fundamentals – able to turn product requirements into well-architected, maintainable, and tested code
  • Experience building scalable, reliable systems with attention to performance and user impact
  • Leadership in engineering practices – drives and upholds high standards in testing, code quality, reviews, version control, and team development workflows
  • Proven ability to work across teams – partnering with product, design, and platform groups to ship cohesive solutions
  • Strategic problem solving – tackles complex, ambiguous technical challenges with a focus on long-term impact, scalability, and user value
  • Comfortable pushing back thoughtfully – advocate for technical solutions that improve quality, scalability, and maintainability
  • Experience mentoring others and contributing to team growth – through onboarding, pairing, and process improvement
  • Clear and effective communicator, especially in cross-functional settings
  • Curiosity and adaptability – excited to learn about life sciences and work in a fast-changing domain (no prior domain knowledge required – though it’s a huge bonus )

HOW WE WORK

Flexible Hybrid Work: We offer a flexible hybrid work arrangement that prioritizes in-office collaboration. Employees are expected to be on-site 3 days per week.

SALARY RANGE

Benchling takes a market-based approach to pay.  The candidate's starting pay will be determined based on job-related skills, experience, qualifications, interview performance, and work location. For this role the base salary range is $186,622 -  $252,488. 

Total Compensation includes the following:
  • Competitive total rewards package
  • Broad range of medical, dental, and vision plans for employees and their dependents
  • Fertility healthcare and family-forming benefits
  • Four months of fully paid parental leave
  • 401(k) + Employer Match
  • Commuter benefits for in-office employees and a generous home office set up stipend for remote employees
  • Mental health benefits, including therapy and coaching, for employees and their dependents
  • Monthly Wellness stipend
  • Learning and development stipend
  • Generous and flexible vacation
  • Company-wide Winter holiday shutdown
  • Sabbaticals for 5-year and 10-year anniversaries

#LI-Hybrid 

#BI-Hybrid 

#LI-GP1

Benchling welcomes everyone. 

We believe diversity enriches our team so we hire people with a wide range of identities, backgrounds, and experiences. 

We are an equal opportunity employer. That means we don’t discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We also consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law, including but not limited to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.

 

Please be aware that Benchling will never request personal information, payment, or sensitive details outside of Greenhouse or via email. All official communications will come from an @benchling.com email address or from an approved vendor alias. If you are contacted by someone claiming to represent Benchling and are unsure of their legitimacy, please reach out to us at recruiting-fraud-alert@benchling.com to verify the communication.

 

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