Software Engineer II, Lab Software

Lila Sciences; Cambridge (MA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage

Employer-paid life and disability insurance

Flexible time off and holidays

Paid parental leave

Educational assistance program

Commuter benefits

Company subsidized lunch program

Job summary

Lila Sciences in Cambridge, Massachusetts is seeking a Software Engineer II to join our Lab Software Team. In this role, you will design and build high-performance UI and APIs, manage data systems, and drive full-stack application development.

The ideal candidate has 2-5 years of backend engineering experience, strong skills in cloud services like AWS, and is proficient in technologies like React and Python. We offer a competitive salary range of $120,000 — $180,000 along with a comprehensive benefits package.

Qualifications

• 2-5 years of engineering experience building and deploying large-scale systems.
• Strong backend engineering skills are essential.
• Hands-on experience using AI coding assistants is required.

Responsibilities

• Design and build high-performance, secure, and well-documented UI and APIs.
• Develop schemas and manage diverse data systems.
• Drive the implementation of front-end and backend services.

Skills

Full Stack Development

Backend Engineering

Cloud Services (AWS)

Communication & Collaboration

Problem Solving

Education

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

Tools

React

TypeScript

TailWind

FastAPI

Python

Pydantic

Kubernetes

Job description

Your Impact at LILA Join us in shaping the future of science! We are seeking a Software Engineer II with backend experience to join our Lab Software Team (LaS), where you’ll collaborate with software engineers, lab scientists, and machine learning engineers to build cutting‑edge tools for automated scientific analysis and more.

What You’ll Be Building

• Design & Build UI and APIs: Design and build high‑performance, secure, and well‑documented UI and 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.
• Application Development: Drive the implementation of front‑end and backend services, focusing on performance, maintainability, and reliability.
• 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.
• 2‑5 years of engineering experience building and deploying large‑scale systems in production. You must be strong in backend.
• Full Stack Development: Experience developing web apps across the full stack (React, TypeScript, TailWind, FastAPI, SQL/NoSQL, Python, Pydantic).
• Hands‑on experience using AI coding assistants to drive productivity is required.
• Communication & Collaboration: Acute listening 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 take ownership of complex backend challenges, balancing trade‑offs between scalability, performance, and maintainability.

Bonus Points

• Domain Background: Exposure to laboratory software for life sciences, material sciences, or related fields.
• Lab Automation Experience: Experience with laboratory devices, robotics, or hardware drivers.
• Orchestration Systems: Experience with software orchestration platforms (Airflow, Prefect, Temporal, Dagster) and design patterns.
• 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).

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. USD salary ranges apply only to U.S.-based positions; international salaries are set to local market. Expected Base Salary Range $120,000 — $180,000 USD.

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.
• Full‑time employees outside the U.S. receive a comprehensive benefits program tailored to their region.

Equal Employment Opportunity

LILAASciences 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.