Senior AI-Enabled Software Engineer for Drug Discovery

Xairatherapeutics; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 205,000 - 275,000; Full time

Job summary

Xaira Therapeutics is hiring on the X-Scientist team to build AI-powered systems that connect models, biology tools, and workflows. You will develop backend services, APIs, and developer tools to enable scientists to run analyses, inspect steps, and iterate results.

You will work at the crossroads of AI, software engineering, and therapeutic discovery, building reliable, scalable solutions for long-running, multi-step workflows in a dynamic biotech environment.

Qualifications

• Strong Python engineering fundamentals, with clean, typed, tested, maintainable code.
• Experience building at least one of: a production library, CLI, API, SDK, backend service, workflow system, or developer platform.
• Familiarity with LLM application development, agent frameworks, tool calling, MCP-style interfaces, or orchestration systems.
• Comfort working with complex systems that combine multiple components, external calls, domain-specific logic, and evolving user needs.
• Good instincts for abstraction, error handling, reliability, and designing software that can grow across use cases.
• Strong communication skills and ability to work in a collaborative, multidisciplinary environment.

Responsibilities

• Backend systems and APIs that connect AI models to scientific tools, datasets, and analysis workflows
• Tool-calling infrastructure, CLIs, SDKs, and workflow runners that scientists and ML researchers use day-to-day
• Agentic interfaces where users can run analyses, inspect intermediate steps, and iterate on results
• Observability and testing for long-running workflows that call external tools and produce scientific outputs
• Design reliable systems for long-running, multi-step workflows with strong testing, observability, logging, and maintainability.
• Collaborate with scientific and technical teams to turn complex research workflows into usable, extensible software.

Skills

Python

Backend systems

APIs

LLM applications

Orchestration systems

Testing

Tools

CLI

SDKs

API design

Workflow systems

Job description

Xaira Therapeutics is hiring on the X-Scientist team to build AI-powered systems that connect models, biology tools, and workflows. You will develop backend services, APIs, and developer tools to enable scientists to run analyses, inspect steps, and iterate results.

You will work at the crossroads of AI, software engineering, and therapeutic discovery, building reliable, scalable solutions for long-running, multi-step workflows in a dynamic biotech environment.