Want to know if this job is worth applying to?
Emeryville, California, United States
Hybrid
Prolific Machines is ushering in a new era of biotechnology with light. Our mission is to make next-generation therapies broadly available to patients. Our first-of-its-kind Photomolecular Platform uses light to precisely guide how cells produce complex biologics, enabling higher titers, improved quality, and faster development timelines. By helping partners overcome today’s manufacturing bottlenecks, we’re accelerating the delivery of life-changing medicines. Prolific is supported by leading investors, including Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Mayfield, and SOSV.
Help us create a brighter tomorrow with biology. We're looking for mission-driven, talented, and kind people to join our team.
Architect and develop the software platform connecting Prolific illumination hardware, firmware, cloud infrastructure, internal tooling, and future operational and customer-deployed systems
Define software interfaces, communication layers, and subsystem boundaries across distributed control systems
Collaborate closely with firmware and hardware engineers to design robust hardware/software interactions
Establish scalable software infrastructure and engineering practices suitable for long-term productization
Help define technical scopes, interfaces, and development strategy for external software development partners and contractors where appropriate
Contribute hands-on across the stack while helping shape longer-term software technical direction
MS with 5+ years or BS with 7+ years of professional software development experience. Degree in Software Engineering , Computer Science, or a related field preferred.
Strong systems-level thinking and ability to reason across software, firmware, hardware, and operational workflows
Ability to balance rapid prototyping with long-term architectural scalability
Experience decomposing complex systems into modular, maintainable subsystems
Fluency in Python and proficiency in at least one other general-purpose language (e.g. TypeScript, Go, Rust)
Experience defining requirements, designing, implementing, and deploying software
Experience designing software for reliability, maintainability, and operational robustness in mission-critical systems
Experience deploying and maintaining cloud-connected applications or services
Experience working with SQL databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, etc.)
Experience working closely with end users to iteratively improve software usability and workflows
Experience setting up and owning their own development environment (incl. unit/integration/end-to-end testing, continuous integration, etc.)
Experience interfacing software with hardware systems (serial, TCP/IP, etc.) and ability to debug issues across the software/hardware boundary
Comfort working in Linux environments
Experience leading technical projects involving external vendors, contractors, or distributed development teams
Exposure to the Industrial IoT / Industry 4.0 stack, e.g. protocols (MQTT Sparkplug B, OPC UA), system layers (HMI/SCADA, MES), and architectural patterns like Unified Namespace (UNS).
Experience with electronic records, audit trails, and data integrity principles for industrial or regulated settings
Experience developing software in the biotech or pharmaceutical industries where 21 CFR Part 11, GAMP 5, or ALCOA+ or similar regulations are relevant
Experience modernizing or replacing ad-hoc operational tooling (e.g. Airtable-based workflows)
Experience developing custom dashboards and data visualizers
Expertise in defining and building out devops, development workflows, and selecting toolchains
Embedded C/C++ development experience or knowledge about the limitations of firmware and embedded systems
Experience with Ignition, AirTable or the Particle Cloud systems.
Enjoys taking projects all the way from concept to deployment
Comfortable in a dynamic startup environment with evolving requirements
Thrives in multidisciplinary environments alongside scientists, engineers, and operators
Comfortable making pragmatic technical decisions in an ambiguous, rapidly evolving environment
Excited to enable a technology and end product that will have a positive impact on people’s lives
Benefits: Generous equity package in an early stage company, retirement plan with company contribution, flexible PTO with healthy time off minimums, company-covered medical, dental, and vision insurance, life and disability insurance, career coaching, mental health support, free team lunches everyday, great snacks, and companywide social events!
Diversity: Prolific Machines values diverse perspectives, backgrounds, experiences, and ideas. We are committed to building an inclusive workplace where all employees can bring their authentic selves to work and have equal opportunities to succeed. Prolific Machines is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
