DevOps Engineer

BioSpace; San Rafael (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

A global biotechnology company is seeking a talented DevOps Engineer to support its Research and Data Sciences teams in San Rafael, California. The role involves developing cloud platform solutions, managing Linux-based systems, and supporting bioinformatics applications. Ideal candidates have extensive experience with cloud services, scripting, and CI/CD processes alongside strong communication skills. Applicants should possess a Bachelor's degree in a related field and be ready to make a significant impact in an innovative team-oriented environment.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience implementing and managing Linux-based systems, especially HPC environments.
• Proven track record with cloud IaaS and PaaS services in Azure and/or AWS.
• Strong knowledge of cloud architecture and storage solutions.
• Experience developing infrastructure-as-code using Terraform.
• Effective communication with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience in Agile environments.

Responsibilities

• Facilitate cloud platform resources for the R&D department.
• Develop user-centric cloud platform solutions while adhering to compliance standards.
• Manage the system development lifecycle for bioinformatics applications.
• Engage with scientists to promote adoption of bioinformatics tools.

Skills

Linux-based systems

Cloud IaaS and PaaS services (Azure/AWS)

Python

Bash

PowerShell

Git-based source control

CI/CD pipelines

Infrastructure-as-code

Agile Scrum

Effective communication skills

Education

Bachelor's degree in computer science, bioinformatics, or engineering discipline

Tools

Terraform

GitHub Actions

Azure Pipelines

SLURM

Databricks

Job description

Overview

Who We Are BioMarin is a global biotechnology company that relentlessly pursues bold science to translate genetic discoveries into new medicines that advance the future of human health. Since our founding in 1997, we have applied our scientific expertise in understanding the underlying causes of genetic conditions to create transformative medicines, using a number of treatment modalities. Using our unparalleled expertise in genetics and molecular biology, we develop medicines for patients with significant unmet medical need. We enlist the best of the best – people with the right technical expertise and a relentless drive to solve real problems – and create an environment that empowers our teams to pursue bold, innovative science. With this distinctive approach to drug discovery, we’ve produced a diverse pipeline of commercial, clinical and preclinical candidates that have well-understood biology and provide an opportunity to be first-to-market or offer a substantial benefit over existing therapeutic options.

Summary: The BioMarin R&D IT team seeks a highly talented and motivated DevOps Engineer to support BioMarin’s Research and Data Sciences teams. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to partner closely with both IT professionals and scientists from multiple groups across the organization. They will play a key role in evaluating, designing, developing, and maintaining computational infrastructure and platforms used for analytics pipelines, scientific research projects, and clinical data analysis. A strong candidate will have a successful track record implementing, maintaining, and/or working with shared data science or bioinformatics platforms using DevOps processes in cloud Linux ecosystems. Experience with pharmaceutical/biopharmaceutical fields would be a plus. BioMarin is a high-performing, team-based organization, where colleagues are flexible, multi-skilled and empowered to make decisions. Applicants must bring a high level of initiative, energy and motivation to the role and have excellent communication and organizational skills.

Responsibilities

• Facilitate the delivery of computation platform resources to a diverse R&D department by leveraging modern DevOps processes and tooling, promoting collaboration among users, and empowering user autonomy
• Develop, implement, and document flexible, user-centric cloud platform solutions within the data science, bioinformatics, and computational science space that encourage user freedom while adhering to corporate security, governance, and compliance standards
• Proactively identify and mitigate existing technical debt while minimizing further accumulation, fostering a culture of effective resource management and sustainable engineering practices
• Closely manage and own the complete system development lifecycle for data science and bioinformatics applications, ensuring seamless design, development, testing, deployment, and ongoing support, while maintaining industry best practices and regulatory guidelines
• Proactively engage with scientists and researchers to facilitate the adoption and deployment of future bioinformatics tools, fostering a cutting-edge environment and optimizing research efforts through continuous exploration and evaluation of innovative solutions

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience implementing and managing Linux-based systems and solutions, especially HPC environments
• 5+ years of experience designing, deploying, and maintaining cloud IaaS and PaaS services in Azure and/or AWS
• 5+ years of experience using languages such as Python, Bash, and PowerShell; developing scripts and automation, writing unit/integration tests, and following test-driven development processes
• Strong knowledge of cloud-based compute, storage, and database workload architectures – authentication/authorization, service connections, resourcing, monitoring, and data flows
• Extensive familiarity with Git-based source control management tools like GitHub, GitLab, and Azure Repos
• Demonstrated experience designing and implementing CI/CD pipelines for testing and deploying infrastructure and applications through tools such as GitHub Actions, GitLab CI/CD, and Azure Pipelines
• Experience developing and maintaining infrastructure-as-code solutions using tools such as Terraform, AWS CDK/CloudFormation, and Azure ARM/Bicep templates
• Expert working with and supporting job schedulers like SLURM, AWS Batch, and Azure Batch
• Experience working in an Agile Scrum environment for project and task management
• Effective and proactive communication skills when engaging with scientific, technical, and non-technical stakeholders, with the ability to interface between them and determine and translate requirements
• Strong emphasis on prioritization, delivering results with high quality, technical rigor, and attention to detail

Preferred Experience

• Relevant professional certifications in AWS (e.g., AWS Certified DevOps Engineer, AWS Certified Developer Associate, AWS Certified Solutions Architect…) or Azure (e.g., Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert, Microsoft Certified: Azure Developer Associate, Microsoft Certified: Solutions Architect Expert…)
• Experience managing cloud platform operations, including compute and storage cost optimization and cloud security assessments and remediations
• Experience with cloud platform observability and monitoring, and developing platform integrations and dashboards to surface relevant insights and key performance/availability metrics
• Experience with GenAI infrastructure and tooling, such as the Azure AI stack (OpenAI Service, AI Foundry, AI Search…), ChatGPT Enterprise, or open-source alternatives
• Experience developing custom GenAI solutions, especially for biotechnology and life sciences use cases
• Experience integrating, maintaining, and supporting interactive data science and bioinformatics platforms like Databricks, Posit (RStudio), DNAnexus, or Seqera
• Familiarity with broad software libraries and applications in bioinformatics or data sciences domains (i.e. conda, CRAN R packages, Bioconductor)
• Prior experience in a validated/qualified GxP environment
• Data pipeline engineering experience using a workflow management system such as Nextflow or Snakemake is a plus
• Experience with next generation sequencing platforms such as PacBio or Illumina is a plus

Education

• Bachelor's degree in computer science, bioinformatics, or other engineering discipline (or equivalent experience) and five years of relevant professional experience OR equivalent experience

Note: This description is not intended to be all-inclusive, or a limitation of the duties of the position. It is intended to describe the general nature of the job that may include other duties as assumed or assigned.

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.