Sr. Software Engineer

inari; Cambridge (MA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Inari is seeking a Senior Engineer to shape the Data & AI Platform and empower our engineering teams. You will own core platform services, APIs, and integration layers that enable scientists and engineers to build and deploy AI-powered workflows.

You will drive reliability, security, and automated operations while collaborating across teams to raise architectural standards and developer experience.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of experience in software engineering, platform engineering, or related roles.
• Proficiency in Python and hands-on experience with AWS and serverless architecture.
• Experience deploying containerized applications in production Kubernetes environments.
• Experience with infrastructure as code (Terraform) and CI/CD pipelines.
• Strong communication skills and ability to explain designs to cross-functional partners.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and operate core platform services powering Inari's Data & AI ecosystem.
• Build reusable foundations: authentication, CI/CD, IaC, observability, deployment frameworks.
• Evolve the integration layer across software, data, AI/ML, and scientific computing platforms.
• Own reliability, scalability, security, and operational health of platform services.
• Drive engineering excellence through architecture discussions and code reviews.

Skills

Software engineering

Python

Distributed systems

Serverless architecture

Clear communication

Tools

AWS

Kubernetes

Terraform

CI/CD

Observability tooling

Job description

About Inari...

Inari is the SEEDesign™ company. We embrace the diversity and complexity of nature in every aspect of our business to drive innovation - to push the boundaries of what is possible. Through our unrivaled technology platform, Inari uses predictive design and advanced multiplex gene editing to develop step-change products. We are taking a nature positive approach to unlock the full potential of seeds that will transform the food system. The results will lead to more productive acres delivering value creation for farmers and a more sustainable future for our planet.

Our success is dependent on great minds, collaborating to generate bright ideas and deliver exceptional outcomes.

We have 200 employees, with research sites in Cambridge, MA (USA) and Ghent (Belgium), as well as a product development site in West Lafayette, IN (USA). We've deliberately built a team that brings diversity of thought to all aspects of our business, to generate new ideas, approaches, and ways of operating. And we've intentionally combined experience with potential, bringing agriculture industry experts with the desire to innovate together with bright minds from academia, human therapeutics, software, and consulting. If you want to be part of a diverse and inclusive team developing unique solutions to feed the world while protecting our planet's natural resources, we'd love to hear from you!

About the role...

The Opportunity

Inari is transforming agriculture through predictive design and AI - and the platform powering that mission matters enormously. We're looking for a senior engineer who will play a key role in shaping Inari's Data & AI Platform and be a force multiplier for our engineering team.

This role is for someone who loves the architecture whiteboard, the messy integration problem, the well-designed API, and the occasional "why is this thing broken in prod?" mystery. You'll take ownership of building and scaling the systems and capabilities that bring our Data & AI platform together - powering internal applications, tools, data workflows, AI systems that our scientists and engineers rely on every day to advance our predictive design engine and product pipelines. You'll be a key member of the platform engineering team while being able to shape the system architecture of Inari.

What You'll Do

• Design, build, and operate core platform services that power Inari's Data & AI ecosystem, including APIs, agentic workflows, MCP servers, and internal developer tooling.
• Build reusable platform foundations (authentication and authorization, CI/CD, infrastructure as code, observability, deployment frameworks) so engineering teams can build, deploy, and operate applications and AI solutions through self-service.
• Build and evolve the integration layer across software, data, AI/ML, and scientific computing platforms. This includes backend services, event-driven systems, and workflow orchestration across AWS, Databricks, SageMaker, Kubernetes, Quilt/S3, and Bedrock.
• Own the reliability, scalability, security, and operational health of platform services, with a steady focus on automation, performance, and developer experience.
• Drive engineering excellence through architecture discussions, code reviews, documentation, and reusable patterns and standards.

What You'll Bring

Required

• 4+ years of experience in software engineering, platform engineering, systems engineering, or related technical roles.
• Strong hands‑on experience designing and building distributed systems, platform services, or cloud-native infrastructure, ideally in data, AI, or scientific computing environments.
• Proficiency in Python and hands‑on experience with AWS and serverless architecture.
• Experience building and integrating complex systems such as APIs, orchestration frameworks, data pipelines, workflow platforms, internal tools, or AI/ML infrastructure.
• Experience deploying and operating containerized applications in production Kubernetes environments.
• Hands‑on experience with infrastructure as code (Terraform preferred), CI/CD pipelines, and observability tooling.
• Clear communication skills, with the ability to explain technical designs, tradeoffs, and operational considerations to engineers and cross‑functional partners.
• A bias toward building modular, reusable, scalable systems that teams can use and operate.

Great to have

• Experience building AI‑enabled platforms, including agentic systems, MCPs, RAG pipelines, model‑serving infrastructure, or similar technologies.
• Familiarity with modern data and AI platforms such as Airflow, Databricks, SageMaker, MLflow, or Quilt.
• Experience implementing authentication, authorization, secrets management, auditability, and least‑privilege access patterns.
• Background in life sciences, agriculture, biotechnology, or other scientific computing environments.

Why You’ll Love This Role

Build the platform behind the science. Turn scientists' big ideas into infrastructure that actually ships. We have a collaborative culture