Principal Software Engineer, Data

aijoblist; San Francisco, Cambridge (CA, MA); On-site; USD 204,000 - 348,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision coverage

Flexible time off

Paid parental leave

Educational assistance program

Commuter benefits

Job summary

Lila Sciences in San Francisco is looking for a Principal Software Engineer to shape the future of science. This role focuses on building cutting-edge tools for automated scientific analysis, collaborating closely with software engineers, lab scientists, and machine learning engineers.

You will design and build APIs, manage diverse data systems, and optimize performance across large-scale workloads. With 8-15 years of engineering experience, you're equipped to handle significant challenges in scalable backend design.

Join us for competitive compensation, bonus potential, and a comprehensive benefits package.

Qualifications

• 8-15 years of engineering experience building and deploying large-scale systems.
• Experience developing web apps across the full stack (React, TypeScript, etc.).
• Familiarity with data science and ML libraries (pandas, numpy, etc.).
• Strong understanding of scalable backend solutions.

Responsibilities

• Design and build high-performance, secure APIs.
• Develop schemas and manage diverse data systems for optimal performance.
• Optimize system bottlenecks ensuring high availability.

Skills

Backend system design

Cross-functional collaboration

Communication skills

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field

Tools

AWS

Kubernetes

Python

FastAPI

Job description

Cambridge, MA USA; San Francisco, CA USA

Join us in shaping the future of science! We are seeking Principal Software Engineers with backend experience to join our Data Platform Team (Data), where you’ll collaborate with software engineers, lab scientists, and machine learning engineers to build cutting-edge tools for automated scientific analysis and more. If you thrive in a collaborative, fast-paced environment and bring best practices in git, development workflows, and user-centered design, we want to hear from you!

About The Team

The Data Platform Team (Data) builds and supports the data systems that underpins Lila's AI Science Factory. Every experiment run in our labs, every measurement from an instrument, and every signal from our operational systems flows through the platform they build. Their work spans real-time ingestion, large-scale analytical storage, workflow orchestration, and the self-service tools scientists, engineers, and ML teams use to go from raw measurements to discoveries. They build the data backbone of Scientific Superintelligence, so the science moves faster and each experiment makes the next one smarter.

What You'll Be Building

• Design & Build APIs: Design and build high-performance, secure, and well-documented APIs that integrate with AI-driven applications.
• Database Architecture & Scaling: Develop schemas and manage diverse data systems (SQL, NoSQL, Vector DBs, and others) for optimal performance and scalability.
• Performance & Reliability: Diagnose and optimize system bottlenecks, ensuring high availability and low-latency performance across large-scale workloads.
• Cloud & Infrastructure: Leverage AWS services, Kubernetes and modern DevOps practices to build and deploy production-grade systems at scale.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work with ML researchers, engineers, and scientists to integrate data pipelines, APIs, and cloud infrastructure into scientific workflows.

What You'll Need To Succeed

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.
• 8-15 years of engineering experience building and deploying large-scale systems in production. You must be strong in scalable backend system design.
• Full Stack Development: Experience developing web apps across the full stack (React, TypeScript, Monorepos like Nx, TailWind, FastAPI, SQL/NoSQL, Python, Pydantic)
• Experience with ORMs: Experience with and web services for CRUD services (SQL Alchemy, SQLModel, FastAPI, Django).
• Orchestration Systems: Experience with orchestrators tools (Airflow, Prefect, Temporal, Dagster).
• Familiarity with Python for Science: Familiarity with data science and ML libraries (pandas, numpy, scipy, jax, pytorch).
• Hands on experience using AI coding assistants to drive productivity is required.
• Communication & Collaboration: Acute listening and writing skills, and a proven track record of working cross-functionally with scientists, data engineers, and product teams; able to explain complex ideas to diverse audiences.
• Problem Solving: Proven ability to design complex backend solutions, balancing trade-offs between scalability, performance, and maintainability.

Bonus Points For

• Cloud & DevOps Knowledge: Hands-on experience with AWS; strong understanding of Kubernetes and containerization, infrastructure-as-code (Terraform, CloudFormation), and CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions).
• Domain Background: Exposure to laboratory software or analytics for life sciences, material sciences, or related fields.
• Experience with laboratory devices, robotics, or hardware

Compensation

We offer competitive base compensation with bonus potential and generous early-stage equity. Your final offer will reflect your background, expertise, and expected impact.

U.S. Benefits

Full-time U.S. employees receive a comprehensive benefits program including medical, dental, and vision coverage; employer-paid life and disability insurance; flexible time off with generous company wide holidays; paid parental leave; an educational assistance program; commuter benefits, including bike share memberships for office based employees; and a company subsidized lunch program.

International Benefits

Full-time employees outside the U.S. receive a comprehensive benefits program tailored to their region. USD salary ranges apply only to U.S.-based positions; international salaries are set to local market.

Expected Base Salary Range

$204,000 - $348,000 USD

EEO Statement

Lila Sciences is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.

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