Lead/Principal Software Engineer

Current Surgical Inc.; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Current Surgical Inc. is seeking a lead software engineer to lay the foundations of our software organization.

You will write most of the code initially and become the architect and first manager as we scale through first-in-human studies and beyond. You will design, develop, test the software at the heart of the clinical prototype: robust infrastructure that coordinates hardware, supports high-performance data and image processing, and delivers a responsive UI.

Qualifications

• 8+ years building complex systems software.
• Architectural ownership of multi-device data-intensive or real-time systems.
• Proficiency in Python and depth in at least one systems language (C/C++/Rust).
• Entrepreneurial, self-motivated, and independent; strong technical and analytical capability, plus communication skills.
• Willingness to work within a regulated medical software quality system.

Responsibilities

• Own software direction and architecture for the system.
• Design, develop, and test the software for the clinical prototype.
• Coordinate communication between hardware devices and software components.
• Oversee real-time data processing and desktop UI design and architecture.
• Collaborate with clinicians and other engineering teams to achieve clinical goals.

Skills

Python

C

C++

Rust

Real-time systems

Leadership

Education

BS/MS/PhD in CS/EE/BME

Tools

Qt (PySide/PyQt)

ZeroMQ

DDS

gRPC

QNX RTOS

Real-time Linux

USB/CAN protocols

OpenCV / scikit-image

NumPy / SciPy

Job description

About Current Surgical Inc.

Current Surgical is a startup company developing technology on the frontier of engineering and biology. Our first product is a smart microinvasive needle that precisely destroys tumors without damaging healthy tissue, allowing doctors to treat cancers that are untreatable today.

Our technology is backed by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and top tier venture capital firms (True Ventures, Draper, 1517, and SciFounders) interested in dramatically improving the accuracy and accessibility of surgery.

About the role

We are looking for a lead software engineer who is excited to develop technology at the forefront of medical devices and precision surgery. You will be the foundation of our software organization, writing most of the code yourself at first, and its architect and first manager as we grow through first-in-human studies and beyond. Working directly with the co-founders, you will design, develop, and test the software at the heart of our clinical prototype: robust infrastructure that coordinates communication between a number of hardware devices, sustains high-performance data and image processing, and offers a compelling, responsive user interface.

These are difficult hands-on engineering challenges that integrate biophysics, image processing, deep learning, novel electronics, ultrasound, and real-time signal processing that can only be solved with a tight-knit multidisciplinary team. You will work closely with the mechanical, electrical, and research teams, as well as directly with clinicians, to achieve our fundamental clinical goals. The software you architect will be used in our first human procedures.

You will help define the foundational infrastructure of the company, judging what "just enough process" means at each stage. This includes how to trade off prototyping velocity with longer term regulated development concerns (IEC 62304 lifecycle, ISO 14971 risk management, ISO 13485 traceability). You will also set our policy for AI-assisted development: where modern tools accelerate us, and where the verification burden in a regulated software lifecycle outweighs the benefit.

About you

The ideal candidate is someone who wants both the breadth of an early-stage hardtech startup and the responsibility of owning its software direction. This is a unique opportunity to work across many areas of a hardtech biomedical startup, including preclinical studies, interfacing with clinicians, and device and tool development.

Requirements

• 8+ years building complex systems software, with demonstrated ownership of the architecture of a multi-device, data-intensive, or real-time system
• A strong individual contributor who has also mentored or led engineers (and wants to continue to do so)
• Proficiency in Python, plus depth in at least one systems language (C, C++, or Rust)
• Entrepreneurial, self-motivated, and independent; excellent technical and analytical capability, coupled with strong written and verbal communication skills
• Willingness to work within (and help build) a regulated medical software quality system

We expect you to be deep in several (not all) of the following

• 2D and 3D medical image handling and visualization (VTK, ITK, or similar)
• Communication and coordination between hardware devices: messaging libraries such as ZeroMQ, DDS, or gRPC, down through lower-level protocols (CAN, USB, etc.)
• Robust real-time software design: real-time operating systems such as QNX, or real-time Linux with deterministic scheduling
• Desktop user interface design and architecture (e.g., MVP, MVVM, Elm architecture), ideally with Qt in Python (PySide or PyQt)
• High-rate data logging, numeric analysis (numpy, scipy), and image processing (opencv, scikit-image)

Nice to have

• Prior development under IEC 62304 / ISO 13485 design controls
• Experience in surgical robotics, surgical navigation, or image-guided surgery
• General knowledge of medical imaging (e.g., ultrasound, CT, MRI); experience applying image processing, computer vision, and/or deep learning techniques to medical images
• Experience with ultrasound prototyping hardware (e.g., Verasonics, Cephasonics)
• Familiarity with cloud backends (e.g., Google Cloud) for offloading data and processing, including setting up machine learning pipelines

Educational background

• BS, MS, or PhD in computer science, electrical engineering, biomedical engineering, medical physics, or a closely related field or equivalent demonstrated depth

We've seen great fits come from surgical robotics and navigation, medical imaging, aerospace and other safety-critical systems, and game-engine development: anywhere people build performant, reliable, visually rich real-time software with an interest in bringing that craft to medicine.