Senior Software Engineer II - Connected Systems & Platforms
Culture Biosciences
About Us:
Culture’s mission is to simplify and accelerate bioprocess development to enable our customers to bring their biopharmaceutical products to market faster.
With a focus on upstream cell culture process development, Culture has developed a unique platform that merges products, services and data management that can be applied to mammalian, microbial and viral vector production processes. This platform enables high-throughput process development projects to be rapidly and seamlessly executed directly by our customers in their own facilities, in our service laboratories, or both, all driven by our cloud-connected web application, accessible from anywhere, for designing, managing and analyzing experiments.
At Culture, we combine our passions for biomanufacturing, engineering, and operations to build new solutions that make bioprocess development and scale-up faster. We value collaboration for exceptional results, innovate with purpose, and earn our customers’ trust every day.
We are seeking a Senior Software Engineer with experience in automation and cloud-connected systems. You’ll design and implement software solutions that integrate instruments, analyzers, and control systems with our cloud-native platform. While familiarity with bioprocessing equipment is a plus, what matters most is your ability to bridge hardware, software, and data systems.
In this role, you'll collaborate with a small, highly passionate team of software developers, systems engineers, data scientists, and hardware specialists—so thriving in a cross-functional environment is essential.
You will be responsible for integrating new hardware systems with the cloud, building features that span the full technology stack (from embedded control to cloud applications), and taking full ownership of your domain.
What you'll do:
- Design, build, test, and maintain software solutions, tools and scripts to run physical automation systems
- Implement feedback control loops, data smoothing algorithms, and graceful failure modes
- Develop process-aware automation workflows tailored for bioreactor and upstream cell culture systems
- Quickly prototype proof-of-concept systems and evaluate technical feasibility
- Balance technical performance, complexity, and reliability
- Work cross-functionally to develop and maintain automation systems, including user testing and feedback, training, and documentation
- Collaborate with end-users, other software engineers, and mechanical engineers to understand design requirements and implement feedback
- Partner with scientists and process engineers to translate bio-process requirements (e.g., pH, DO, temperature, agitation, feeding strategies) into software and control logic
- Participate in design reviews across the whole software team
- Work on multiple projects simultaneously
- Mentor more junior engineers and provide guidance on best practices
Basic Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field
- 8+ years overall experience in software engineering, with exposure to automation, cloud systems, or connected hardware
- 5+ years of experience building enterprise or cloud software
- Strong programming skills in Python and familiarity with tools like Docker and Infrastructure as Code
- Understanding of sensors, actuators, pumps, and data acquisition systems relevant to process automation
- Ability to bridge complex workflows with hardware/software implementation to enable scalable automation (background in life sciences or bioprocessing is a plus, but not required)
- Strong communicator, comfortable working in a small, collaborative, multidisciplinary team
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience developing software that interfaces with hardware systems, such as working with embedded code, PLCs, or integrating sensors and instruments
- Familiarity with laboratory or pilot-scale equipment (e.g., bioreactors, fermenters, or other process systems) — or strong interest in learning about these domains
- Exposure to process data (e.g., pH, DO, temperature, feed strategies) and ability to apply domain knowledge—or willingness to grow in this area—to automation software
- Comfortable with development best practices such as continuous integration and automated testing
- Familiarity with AWS or other cloud platforms and connected edge devices
- Proven ability to take a thoughtful, pragmatic, and efficient approach to problem solving
- Passionate about up-leveling yourself and those around you through curiosity, mentorship, and fostering a collaborative and inclusive team environment
- Awareness of regulated or quality-driven environments (e.g., GLP/GMP, ISO), or interest in learning about compliance considerations in automation systems
In return, we will support you by:
- Placing a high degree of trust in your ideas and execution.
- Making ourselves available for collaboration.
- Caring about you as a whole person.
- Supporting your personal and professional growth.
Why Join Us?
- Hands-on experience in testing a cloud-based biotech platform.
- Work closely with a small, passionate team of experienced developers.
- Gain exposure to modern software testing practices and cloud technologies.
- Contribute to software that has a direct impact on biotech and research innovation.
Location & Schedule:
- This is a hybrid position. We’re looking for someone based in the San Francisco Bay Area who is able to work in person at our office in South San Francisco at least 3 days per week.
Base Salary Range:
- Culture Biosciences's compensation package includes market competitive salary, equity for all full time roles, and great benefits. Our expected salary range for this role is $180,000 - $210,000. We are hiring for multiple levels and backgrounds so final offers may vary within the range provided based on experience, expertise, and other factors.
Benefits:
- Competitive salary and equity compensation
- Medical, Dental, Vision, and Life insurance
- Medical and Dependent Care FSA (prorated based on start-date)
- 401(k) plan with company match
- Responsible Time Off (non-accrual based) policy, 11 paid company holidays and a week-long winter break
- 12 weeks of parental leave at full salary
Culture Biosciences provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants. We seek to build a company that promotes inclusion and expands the diversity of our industry as a whole. We encourage people with identities underrepresented in biotech and technology to apply.
