Senior Software Engineer, Scheduling and Optimization

Level: 4
Salary band: $150,000 - $190,000 (we have broadened our typical L4 band at the top end to allow for applications from more senior folks)
Bonus: 8% performance-based, discretionary
Location: Hybrid - work in our Cambridge, MA office up to 3x/wk

At Automata, we're on a mission to transform how scientists work by making automation accessible to every lab in the world. We believe that by giving labs the power to automate, we can unlock discoveries that will shape the future of life sciences—from diagnostics and drug discovery to synthetic biology.

But we’re more than just a company disrupting the industry—we're a team of innovators, problem-solvers, and creators passionate about empowering scientists. Our LINQ platform combines hardware and software to streamline workflows, making lab automation fast, flexible, and affordable. This means our customers can focus on groundbreaking research, while we take care of the rest.

Why Work at Automata?

• Impact: Your work will directly contribute to advancements in science and medicine, supporting labs around the globe as they push boundaries in research and innovation.
• Innovation: You’ll be part of a team solving complex problems (seriously, no one else has figured out how to do this yet), using cutting-edge technology (we have robots).
• Growth: We invest in our people. Whether through hands-on experience, professional development, or collaborative projects, you’ll grow both professionally and personally.
• Community: Join a diverse, passionate team that values collaboration (golf on a Thursday, Soccer once a month, movie nights whenever we fancy it).

We're looking for a Senior Software Engineer based in Boston to join our Boston Engineering Team to focus on developing sophisticated scheduling and optimization solutions that tackle complex lab automation challenges.

Our mission is to build lab automation products at the intersection of hardware and software in the life-sciences automation space that can transform the industry, accelerating science.

About the team:

Our engineers are more than just technically skilled; they're driven by curiosity and a growth mindset. They find immense joy in seeing the software power the robots and the hardware bench, transporting plates from instrument to instrument. They understand the profound impact of their work on the life sciences industry, and this fuels their passion.

The core skills we’d like to see:

• Solver technology and algorithms to drive our workflow scheduling solver engine i.e. Google OR-Tools, Gurobi, linear programming

• Python for our application code, APIs and SDK, and scripting

We are flexible and look for the right folks. You are not expected to know everything, but here are some other of our core technologies and what our environment looks like:

• Typescript with React

• SQL and NoSQL databases: PostgreSQL, Couchbase, DynamoDB

• Event-driven architecture, employing technologies such as Kafka, gRPC and Protobuf for event definitionsDeployment on AWS to IoT Greengrass, ECS, Lambda and EKS, with infrastructure managed via Terraform and pipelines via CircleCI

• Kubernetes and Docker for running our applications

• Observability platform via Datadog

• Feature flags to enable us to experiment and control when we release new features to customers

In this role, you will be responsible for:

• Shipping and building a resilient product with scale and reliability in mind so that we can entrust our product into the hands of our customers with pride, accounting for quality and security.

• Taking pragmatic approaches and keeping it simple by solving for problems that we have, not for problems we might encounter.

• Building an agile architecture that is expected to evolve and is flexible to adapt.

• Collaborating and supporting your team because code is just one part of the job, but being a team player is a massive part. We prioritise working together with product partners, design and engineering to ensure transparency and alignment in our direction.

• Putting customers at the heart of what you do by understanding what makes sense for our users and engaging with them with integrity.

What it takes:

• Production experience across the core technology stack of Python, ideally working on data-intensive applications, microservices, event-driven architecture, SaaS or edge services. We also welcome diverse experiences in other languages, such as Golang and Rust.

• Collaborative problem solver in assisting engineering teams in improving developer productivity, solving complex challenges and enabling value delivery to customers, with a keen interest in developing mathematical optimization models using commercial solvers (e.g. Gurobi, CPLEX) or open-source frameworks (e.g. Google OR-Tools).

• Have a product mindset, always keen to understand customer needs. Participate in product and design discussions, contributing ideas to ensure we do the most impactful work that will improve the product and user experience.

• Effective stakeholder management in supporting customer engagement and navigating teams through customer environments.

• Comfortable dealing with ambiguity, thinking through the problem space, shaping the product, seeking feedback, and adjusting the product through iterations.Automation-focused with a DevOps mindset in setting up pipelines for managing our deployments and quality gates.

• Delivery-focused and pragmatic in ensuring customer value is delivered efficiently, with necessary trade-offs considered, balancing strategic direction, quality and resiliency.

US team benefits:

Healthcare 🩺
Competitive healthcare for you and your family

401k 💰
We offer a 401(k) retirement savings plan

Well-being budget ☀️
Invest in your own well-being, personal growth, and hobbies

Holiday 🏖
30 days + 8 public holidays

Additional leave days ☺️
Time off for dependents, 'Me days', birthdays and volunteering days off

Birthday trees 🌳
Planting a tree for every employee on their birthday, every year

Paid sick leave 🏥
10 days paid sick leave to stay home and focus on rest and recovery

Mental health support 🧠
Access the therapy for you and your family through Spill

Career progression frameworks 💫
Each department & discipline has a progression framework

We are an equal-opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Discrimination of any kind based on race, colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran status is strictly prohibited.