Systems Engineer

Exthymic; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 115,000 - 135,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical coverage

Dental coverage

Vision coverage

401k match

Job summary

Exthymic is an early-stage deep-tech startup aiming to democratize life-saving cell therapies by integrating hardware, software, and biology. We seek a systems engineer who can manage complex requirements across biology, chemistry, instrumentation, and engineering domains.

You will define interfaces, maintain system architectures, and lead verification planning while coordinating multiple teams. A strong QMS background and hands-on lab experience are essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in an engineering or scientific discipline, or equivalent industry experience.
• 5+ years at the intersection of biology, chemistry, and instrumentation.
• Experience building and maintaining a requirements set in a requirements management tool through research to product development.
• Experience keeping multiple engineering teams aligned across design reviews and interfaces.
• Experience working within a QMS with design history files and supporting artifacts.
• Hands-on laboratory experience and collaboration with bench scientists.

Responsibilities

• Keep one shared picture of what the system must do with requirements tracked in a management tool.
• Define and maintain interfaces between mechanical, electrical, fluidic, software, and cell biology subsystems.
• Maintain interface control documents and system block diagrams; raise integration risks early.
• Support verification and validation planning at subsystem and system level; ensure risks are mitigated in requirements.
• Work with quality and regulatory to keep DHF artifacts current as designs settle.
• Help with prototype assembly and testing with engineering and biology teams; feed learnings back into requirements.

Skills

Systems engineering

Requirements management

Cross‑functional alignment

Interface definition

Verification & validation planning

Risk analysis & mitigation

Prototype assembly & testing

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in engineering or science

Tools

DOORS

Jama

Flow Engineering

Job description

About Us

Exthymic is an early-stage deep-tech startup on a mission to prevent millions of cancer deaths by making curative cell therapies widely accessible. Our platform enables the manufacturing of patient-specific treatments at the point of care. Led by experienced industry pioneers, we blend hardware, software, and biochemical engineering to disrupt the status quo and democratize life‑saving therapies. Join us to solve complex challenges and drive global healthcare innovation.

About You

You have a strong quantitative background and like working across disciplines. You are comfortable navigating both the rigor of a structured development process and the ambiguity inherent in early‑stage product development. When two teams are solving the same problem with different assumptions, you notice early and get them realigned.

• Keep one shared picture of what the system must do. Ensure that requirements are being addressed and defined in development, and track them in a requirements management tool. Translate market and user needs into clear, testable design inputs across biology, hardware, and software.
• Define and maintain the interfaces between mechanical, electrical, fluidic, software, and cell biology subsystems so teams can build in parallel without surprising each other. Maintain the interface control documents and system block diagrams that record those agreements, and raise integration risks while they are still cheap to fix.
• Support verification and validation planning at the subsystem and system level, and maintain the system risk analyses that drive it. Make sure risk mitigations land in the requirements and get verified, and work with quality and regulatory to keep DHF artifacts current as designs settle.
• Help with prototype assembly and testing. Work alongside the engineering and biology teams on builds and test runs, and feed what you learn back into the requirements and interfaces.
• Contribute to program planning and milestone tracking with the functional leads, and flag schedule and technical risks early.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in an engineering or scientific discipline, or equivalent industry experience.
• Typically 5+ years at the intersection of biology, chemistry, and instrumentation.
• Systems engineering experience building and maintaining a requirements set in a requirements management tool (e.g., DOORS, Jama, Flow Engineering), ideally through the transition from research to product development.
• Experience keeping multiple engineering teams aligned: running design reviews, resolving requirement conflicts, and settling interface disagreements.
• Experience working within a QMS, including design history files and supporting design artifacts.
• Hands‑on laboratory experience and comfort collaborating with bench scientists.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in cell therapy manufacturing or another regulated bioinstrumentation product.
• Track record working in an interdisciplinary R&D / early product development setting.
• Familiarity with model-based systems engineering (MBSE) methods and tools.
• Experience using AI tools in engineering work, such as requirements drafting, documentation, andor literature review.

Competitive salary and benefits package, including Medical, Dental, Vision, and 401k match.

Salary Range

$115,000 - $135,000, commensurate with experience

Benefits

We offer our employees comprehensive benefits, including medical, vision, and dental coverage, as well as retirement savings plans. Optional benefits include accident and term life offerings.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Exthymic Corporation is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, ancestry, age (40 and over), disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, military or veteran status, reproductive health decision-making, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. We comply with all applicable equal employment opportunity laws and will make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities throughout the application and employment process.

Agencies

We work directly with candidates and do not accept unsolicited resumes or referrals from recruitment agencies, search firms, or staffing companies. Any resumes submitted by an agency without a signed agreement in place will be considered the property of Exthymic and no fee will be owed. If you are interested in partnering with us on a future search, please contact our HR team directly.