Director of Software Engineering - Data Platforms - #4919

GRAIL; Sunnyvale (CA); Hybrid; USD 224,000 - 321,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible time-off

401(k) with employer match

Medical, dental, and vision coverage

Mindfulness programs

Job summary

GRAIL seeks a visionary Director of Software Engineering to lead its Data Platform engineering, shaping strategy, architecture, and delivery of cloud-native data solutions in Sunnyvale, CA. The role requires collaboration with executives to transform complex requirements into scalable software.

The ideal candidate has 15+ years in software engineering, 5+ years in leadership, and deep expertise in big data, cloud, and AI-enabled workflows, including RAG and LLM applications.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of software engineering experience, including leadership roles.
• 5+ years leading cross-functional, global engineering teams.
• Experience interfacing with executives to align engineering with growth.

Responsibilities

• Scale a multi-disciplinary global engineering organization while fostering performance and learning.
• Own the technical roadmap and ensure >95% on-time milestones.

Skills

Team leadership

Java & Spring Boot

Distributed systems

Big data

AWS Cloud

RAG & LLM

Education

Master's degree

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Snowflake

Apache Iceberg

AWS Glue

Databricks

Spark

Elasticsearch

Terraform

Jenkins

Job description

Our mission is to detect cancer early, when it can be cured. We are working to change the trajectory of cancer mortality and bring stakeholders together to adopt innovative, safe, and effective technologies that can transform cancer care.

We are a healthcare company, pioneering new technologies to advance early cancer detection. We have built a multi-disciplinary organization of scientists, engineers, and physicians and we are using the power of next-generation sequencing (NGS), population-scale clinical studies, and state-of-the-art computer science and data science to overcome one of medicine’s greatest challenges.

GRAIL is headquartered in the bay area of California, with locations in Washington, D.C., North Carolina, and the United Kingdom. It is supported by leading global investors and pharmaceutical, technology, and healthcare companies.

For more information, please visit grail.com

We are seeking a visionary and execution-focused Director of Software Engineering to lead our Data Platform engineering organization. In this role, you will drive the technical strategy, architecture, and delivery of our next-generation, cloud-native data platform.

The ideal candidate brings over 15 years of software engineering experience, combining deep technical expertise in big data, cloud infrastructure, and AI-driven workflows (including RAG and LLM applications) with a proven track record of scaling engineering teams (10+ headcount). You will collaborate closely with cross-functional executives to translate complex domain requirements into scalable, secure, and compliant production-grade software.

This role is based in Sunnyvale, California. It offers a flexible work arrangement, with the ability to work from GRAIL's office or from home. Our current flexible work arrangement policy requires that a minimum of 60%, or 24 hours, of your total work week be on-site. Your specific schedule, determined in collaboration with your manager, will align with team and business needs and could exceed the 60% requirement for the site. At our Sunnyvale campus, Tuesdays and Thursdays are the key days where we encourage on-site presence to engage in events and on-site activities but candidates must be flexible based on the needs of the business.

Responsibilities

• Team Scaling & Culture: Lead, mentor, and scale a multi-disciplinary global engineering organization, fostering a culture of high performance, continuous learning, and technical excellence.
• Strategic Roadmap Delivery: Own the technical roadmap and resource allocation, ensuring 95%+ on-time execution of strategic product milestones.
• Agile Transformation: Champion and mature Agile/Scrum methodologies to optimize feature velocity, minimize product turnaround time, and maintain high software quality.

Strategic Technical Architecture & Data Innovation

• Cloud-Native Evolution: Architect, govern, and optimize the transition to modern serverless and microservices architectures on AWS, driving structural cost optimization and system elasticity.
• Big Data Ecosystems: Define the strategy for next-generation big data platforms utilizing Snowflake, Databricks, Apache Iceberg, AWS Glue, etc. to process, partition, and index petabyte-scale datasets.
• Performance Engineering: Oversee analytical and search data model optimizations to continually improve query performance and data pipeline throughput.

AI & Product Modernization

• AI-Driven Initiatives: Direct the integration of AI-assisted SDLC tools and architect LLM-enabled product features, including RAG-based semantic search and conversational search workflows.
• API & System Interoperability: Oversee the development of high-throughput ETL pipelines and secure, scalable RESTful APIs built on Java / Spring Boot to ensure global data interoperability.

Operational Excellence & Compliance

• DevOps & SRE Practices: Mature CI/CD automation pipelines using infrastructure-as-code Terraform, Ansible, Jenkins to automate provisioning and security patching.
• Security & Compliance: Ensure all platforms strictly adhere to modern cybersecurity standards and regulatory compliance frameworks (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA).

Required Qualifications

Leadership & Soft Skills

• 15+ years of progressive experience in software engineering, with 5+ years in a dedicated engineering leadership role managing cross-functional, global teams.
• Proven ability to interface with executive stakeholders (Product, UX, Architecture) to align engineering outputs with business growth.
• Strong experience managing large operational budgets and implementing strategic cloud cost-optimization practices.

Technical Stack & Domain Expertise

• Backend & Architecture: Expert-level knowledge of Java, Spring Boot, Spring MVC, distributed systems design, database sharding, and high-performance microservices.
• Data & Analytics: Deep proficiency with Snowflake, Apache Iceberg, AWS Glue, Spark, and Elasticsearch.
• AI & Search: Hands‑on architecture experience with Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), Large Language Model (LLM) frameworks, and semantic/conversational search.
• Cloud & DevOps: Strong expertise in AWS Cloud infrastructure, containerization, and IaC tools (Terraform, Ansible, Jenkins).
• Domain Interoperability: Experience in high-volume, regulated data fields (e.g., genomics, healthcare, bioinformatics, or fintech) and data standards (e.g., GA4GH) is highly desirable.

Education

• Master’s Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a highly related technical field preferred.
• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or Engineering or equivalent practical experience.

The expected, full-time, annual base pay scale for this position is $224k-321k in Sunnyvale, CA

This role may be eligible for other forms of compensation, including an annual bonus and/or incentives, subject to the terms of the applicable plans and Company discretion. This range reflects a good‑faith estimate of the range that the Company reasonably expects to pay for the position upon hire; the actual compensation offered may vary depending on factors such as the candidate’s qualifications. Employees in this role are also eligible for GRAIL’s comprehensive and competitive benefits package, offered in accordance with our applicable plans and policies. This package currently includes flexible time-off or vacation; a 401(k) retirement plan with employer match; medical, dental, and vision coverage; and carefully selected mindfulness programs.

GRAIL is an equal employment opportunity employer, and we are committed to building a workplace where every individual can thrive, contribute, and grow. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, status as a protected veteran, , or any other class or characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, and local laws. Additionally, GRAIL will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records in a manner consistent with applicable law and provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. Please contact us at [e-mail] if you require an accommodation to apply for an open position.

GRAIL maintains a drug-free workplace. We welcome job-seekers from all backgrounds to join us!