VP of Software Engineering

About Multiply LabsMultiply Labs is a cutting-edge startup based in San Francisco, California, supported by top-tier tech and life science investors such as Casdin Capital, Lux Capital, and Y Combinator. Our mission is to build the best robots in the world, and use them to make the most advanced life-saving therapies accessible to all.
We are revolutionizing the manufacturing of cell therapies by developing advanced robotic systems designed to automate and scale the production of these life-saving treatments. Our robots empower biopharma companies to produce cell therapies at scale without significantly changing their existing processes, reducing regulatory barriers and risks. While traditional approaches are time-consuming and lead to extremely high costs for patients (typically $1M+ per patient), using robotics can make these transformative treatments more accessible and affordable to patients in need. 
To learn more and to view a video of our robots in action, visit us at www.multiplylabs.com and follow us on LinkedIn.
About the RoleAs our VP of Software Engineering, you will lead Multiply Labs’ growing software and robotics engineering organization during an exciting phase of scaling customer deployments and product evolution. You will report directly to the CEO and play a central leadership role on the executive team.
We are looking for a collaborative technical leader to drive the strategic growth of our software engineering organization. You will manage the leads of our Robotics and Systems software teams, helping to scale our organization and professionalize our engineering practices while preserving the collaborative culture that makes our team unique. You are someone who can balance the strategic need for industry-standard processes with the startup need for speed and execution.

Requirements: Engineering Excellence & Standards

• Lead Technical Evolution: Build upon our existing software architecture across Robotics (motion planning, kinematics) and Platform (cloud, scheduling, distributed systems). You will translate ambiguity into clear technical plans and scope minimum viable solutions, ensuring the stack remains robust and maintainable as system complexity increases.
• Innovation Transfer: Partner with our R&D Software team to transition frontier robotic advancements into commercial production. You will bridge the gap between research and production, ensuring that experimental features are rigorously integrated and stabilized before they reach our deployed clusters.
• Standards & Excellence: Evaluate our current Software Development Lifecycle and provide strategic feedback to close process gaps. You will guide the team in adopting and refining industry standards for code reviews, release management, versioning strategies, and technical documentation.
• Reliability & Testing Strategy: Champion a strategy for mission-critical reliability. You will oversee the maturation of our testing frameworks—building on our existing simulation and integration tests—and guide the strategic ramp-up of Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) testing.

Requirements: Strategic Leadership & Product Partnership

• Product Alignment: Work alongside Hardware, Product, and Biology leadership to ensure software roadmaps align with physical constraints. You will help translate complex biological protocols and physical constraints into realistic software roadmaps.
• Customer Focus & Technical Strategy: Occasionally meet with customers to understand their needs and ensure our engineering efforts are solving the right problems. You will use this context to define the strategy for balancing new feature delivery with the reduction of technical debt, ensuring sustainable velocity.

Requirements: Team Growth & Culture

• Scale the Organization: You will prepare the engineering team for a critical phase of growth—moving from a single Process Development (PD) unit to a fleet operating in both PD and regulated GMP environments. You understand the operational rigor required to support commercial GMP systems without stifling the agility needed for ongoing development.
• Mentorship & Career Guidance: You will take an active role in the professional development of your team. You will provide coaching, define clear career pathways, and ensure that engineers have the mentorship they need to evolve into technical leaders and effective managers.
• Team Culture & Values: Champion our existing culture of positivity and collaboration, ensuring these values persist as the organization scales. You will foster an environment of high trust and personal ownership, where intellectual honesty is val