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Principal Software Engineer (Backend)

Remote

At Sage Bionetworks, we believe in the power of open science and interdisciplinary collaboration to create a new vision of human health. We strive for actionable biomedical insights through the responsible sharing and reuse of data, all guided by our deep scientific expertise and diligent governance controls.

We are hiring a Backend Software Engineer to join our technology team at Sage Bionetworks. Our engineers build the secure, scalable, and high-performance services that power open and collaborative science. From Synapse.org to our research portals and other applications in the Sage ecosystem, the tools you create will enable researchers and communities worldwide to share data, generate insights, and accelerate biomedical discoveries.

We pride ourselves on openness and collaboration.  All of our software is available in GitHub.  Our openness and non-profit status attracts support from a variety of collaborators, including major technology companies.  We prioritize productivity over arbitrary rules, allowing workers to choose the tools and work habits that suit them best, rather than dictating practices, top down. We prioritize software usefulness and stability rather than rushing to get features out the door.  We have close relationships with our user base, many in-house, ensuring that we stay relevant.

Job Summary:

As a Principal Backend Software Engineer, you will leverage your expertise to lead the design, prototyping, and development of core infrastructure and user-facing features across Sage Bionetworks’ platforms. You’ll drive architectural decisions that ensure our systems are secure, scalable, and extensible, while directly influencing product functionality and user experience. You’ll also have the opportunity to explore emerging technologies in cloud services, data science, and AI/ML, shaping the future of our platforms in support of open science and accelerating biomedical discovery.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Software Development: Lead the architecture and implementation of cutting-edge applications using programming languages and tools to create functional and efficient software. The main language used in this position is Java, though occasionally a project requires using another prominent language, like Python.
  • Cloud Computing: Our platform runs primarily in the AWS Cloud and uses a large variety of services, from fundamentals like S3, EC2 and CloudWatch to newer offerings like Bedrock.  
  • Relational Database Design: Our platform is backed by a relational database.  Designing and implementing schemas, transactions, and queries is core to the software development effort.
  • Requirement Analysis: Analyze user requirements to develop robust and efficient software solutions.
  • Teamwork: Our team follows an Agile process with scrums, issue scoping, backlog prioritization, and code reviews.  As a principal engineer you will provide guidance to more junior engineers.  You will work with product managers and designers.
  • DevOps: You will participate in monitoring the performance of the system and addressing issues that arise in production.  Over the past 15 years we have not required developers to be on call outside of business hours and are intentional about making our system robust so that it does not become necessary. 
  • Technical Documentation: Provide comprehensive technical documentation to support users and developers.
  • Community Engagement: Participate and lead in external groups and communities to stay informed on best practices.
  • Technology Trends: Stay aware of technological trends and advancements, recommending strategic product enhancements.
  • Productivity: Stay current regarding engineering productivity tools, include recent trends in AI/agent-based tools.

We’d Love to Hear from You If You Have:

  • A BS or MS in Computer Science, Bioinformatics, Software Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent training.
  • 8+ years of professional software development experience.
  • Expert level Java programming skills, experience with backend frameworks like Spring, plus experience with another modern backend language (e.g., Python, TypeScript/Node.js).
  • Expert level relational database experience, with knowledge of data modeling, schema design, transaction isolation and query construction.
  • Experience building, deploying, and supporting software in production environments.
  • Expertise with collaborative development through Git-based version control systems.
  • Practical experience with software development lifecycles, agile methodologies, and tools for organizing/prioritizing work, like Jira..
  • Familiarity with dependency management / build tools, including Maven.
  • Familiarity with continuous integration (CI), continuous deployment (CD) tools e.g., GitHub Workflows, AWS Code Pipeline.
  • Strong verbal, written, and organizational skills.
  • Curiosity to explore new tools and frameworks and contribute ideas that advance our technology.

Preferred but not Required:

  • Experience with cloud-native development and orchestration tools such as AWS ECS.
  • Knowledge of infrastructure-as-code tools (Terraform, AWS CDK, CloudFormation).

Job Functions and Physical Requirements

The following cognitive and physical activities outline the essential functions required for successful job performance. Reasonable accommodations may be provided to enable individuals with disabilities to fulfill these functions.

Physical Demands

  • Extended periods of sitting at a desk and using a computer.
  • Repeated wrist, hand, and finger movements.
  • Requires clear vision for tasks like data analysis, transcribing, computer use, and reading.
  • Occasionally lifting or moving objects weighing up to 10 pounds.

Cognitive Demands

  • Able to work effectively under deadlines.
  • Strong problem-solving and analytical skills.
  • Attention to detail and accuracy.
  • Flexibility to adapt to changing environments, priorities and multitask.

Additional Requirements

  • Travel is required a minimum of two times per year for on-site events in Seattle, WA. 
  • Effective verbal and written communication skills.
  • Works well in a team and maintains professionalism.
  • Follows company policies, procedures, and relevant laws and regulations.

Note: This list is not exhaustive and may be subject to modification as job duties evolve.

About Us

Sage Bionetworks is a nonprofit biomedical research organization that was founded in Seattle in 2009. We focus on advancing human health through open science practices and radical collaboration, with a view to breaking down existing silos in science and technology. Through our work, we guide responsible data sharing and reuse, benchmark scientific methods and results, and empower participants to be active partners in research. We are a bold team of scientists, engineers, product developers, governance specialists and business experts, working to bring data and communities together in unique ways that accelerate medical progress. As a growing organization, Sage is supported through a dynamic portfolio of competitive research grants, commercial partnerships, and philanthropic contributions.

Sage Bionetworks is pleased to offer a comprehensive benefit package, competitive to both commercial and not-for-profit life science organizations. The plan includes: health, dental, vision, life, AD&D and long term disability benefits; paid time off; a retirement plan; flexible spending accounts; a shared incentives plan, voluntary long term care insurance, and other voluntary products. Additional information can found here: Benefits – Sage Bionetworks

At Sage Bionetworks, we implement equitable workplace strategies to guarantee fair compensation. Actual compensation is determined based on current market data, experience, and internal pay parity. This position is classified as a Sage Principal, Advisory level position, with a hiring salary range of $124,900 to $169,230. New hires typically receive an offer between the minimum and midpoint of the range, although higher offers may be considered based on experience and market conditions.

We have a distributed workforce and support remote and/or on-site hybrid work arrangements within the United States. All interviews will be conducted virtually unless otherwise communicated.

At Sage Bionetworks, we uphold equal employment opportunities for all employees and applicants without bias to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, marital status, or veteran status. We strictly prohibit discrimination and harassment based on these protected categories, in compliance with federal and state equal employment opportunity laws.

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