Software Engineer (Principal)

Biotechnology is rewriting life as we know it, from the medicines we take, to the crops we grow, the materials we wear, and the household goods that we rely on every day. But moving at the new speed of science requires better technology.

Benchling’s mission is to unlock the power of biotechnology. The world’s most innovative biotech companies use Benchling’s R&D Cloud to power the development of breakthrough products and accelerate time to milestone and market. 

Come help us bring modern software to modern science.

ROLE OVERVIEW

Benchling's data platform powers high-scale work at the world's leading biotech companies. Our Platform and Infrastructure teams build and maintain the overall architecture of Benchling and build new cross-service capabilities to support new teams and needs. We own all platform services, AI infrastructure, and building blocks on which applications are developed. We ensure the system is secure, performant, and reliable by default, and advise and assist application teams in doing the same for their areas of responsibility. 

The ideal candidate will have deep technical acumen, experience handling structured and unstructured data, and a strong understanding of industry trends in data architecture, data modeling, and AI/ML.

We are looking to you to lead and guide the development of core capabilities so that we won't need to rebuild them again years later. Your work will ensure the agility, performance, reliability, and security of Benchling. You will work alongside other platform-focused peers and teams. You'll collaborate with former Google, Facebook, and Stripe engineers to build our platform's highly reliable yet constantly evolving backbone.

RESPONSIBILITIES

As a Principal or Architect-level Engineer, you will work closely with our senior engineering and technical leaders to lead the most significant Data Platform projects at Benchling. This role will be hands-on; we expect you to design and implement systems for the long term, prototype new ideas, and write code. Core areas of impact will include:

• Provide technology direction as a Platform Architect reporting to VP/SVP of Engineering across Platform and Infrastructure organization.
• Design and maintain the overall data architecture strategy, including data models for product, data lakes, warehouses, and pipelines for enterprise.
• Collaborate with PMs and engineers to create and maintain a robust data architecture that supports data integration, data quality, and data governance.
• Identify key technology choices, lead the team to a sound design, and ensure development success. Develop early prototypes. Evaluate, select, and implement data-related tools, platforms, and frameworks.
• Use technical decision making as a tool of engineering strategy: identify how to best leverage existing system capabilities and engineering resources across teams to efficiently deliver solutions to our customers; use technical debt wisely as a tool to balance short- and long-term objectives; identify technical choices that add functionality quickly or preserve optionality for the long term.
• Empower engineering team members to deliver and improve the quality and velocity of their delivery through mentorship and teamwork.
• Stay up to date with the latest trends in data architecture, data modeling, and AI/ML to bring innovation to our solutions. Foster a culture of continuous learning and technical excellence within the team

QUALIFICATIONS

• 12+ years of experience in data architecture, distributed computing and storage, data engineering, or software architecture roles. Proven track record in designing and implementing lakehouse architectures is required.
• Experience working in a big data team at a leading SaaS/Internet company, with a track record of designing and implementing large-scale cross-functional projects
• Proficiency in common data warehousing technologies, including big data components, data modeling, and data governance, with experience in large-scale data processing. Experience with OLAP Engines, Databricks and Snowflake integrations will be a plus.
• Expertise in SQL, Python, and ETL/ELT frameworks for data transformation and analytics.
• Strong understanding of data governance, security, and compliance best practices in the cloud.
• Excellent verbal and written communication and stakeholder management skills with the ability to translate technical concepts into business value.
• Have a bachelor's degree or equivalent in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field.

PAST AND NEAR-FUTURE PROJECTS

These are examples of projects we've worked on in the past or may work on in the near future - our projects are often changing, but this will hopefully give you an id