Software Engineer, Molecular Biology

About the position

Benchling builds modern software for research and development across life sciences and biotechnology. Our tools help scientists work more efficiently as they explore the mechanisms of biology and chemistry, driving innovation across health, agriculture, drug discovery, and more. The Molecular Biology team focuses on building powerful, intuitive features that support a wide range of scientific workflows—from designing DNA constructs to analyzing protein sequences, performing gene editing experiments, and streamlining complex experimental data management.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end project development: Take ownership of projects from understanding product requirements and designs to planning, implementing, testing, and deploying solutions.
• Collaborate with product managers and designers: Work closely with cross-functional teams to turn product requirements into actionable tech plans.
• Write clean, maintainable code: Contribute to both frontend (React) and backend (Python) development, ensuring high-quality, scalable code.
• Refactor and manage technical debt: Take responsibility for improving and cleaning up existing code while building new features.
• Design and implement robust testing and metrics: Write comprehensive tests for new and existing features, ensuring software reliability.
• Collaboration with Other Engineers: Work effectively within a team of engineers, especially in cross-functional settings.
• Ownership and Accountability: Self-manage, prioritize tasks, and drive projects forward without heavy supervision.
• Scalability and Performance Optimization: Build scalable systems and optimize performance.
• Adaptability and Openness to New Challenges: Handle ambiguity and quickly learn new technologies or domains.
• Cross-functional Communication: Communicate clearly across teams, including data scientists and biologists.

Requirements

• 3+ years of professional software engineering experience.
• Proven ability to take product requirements and transform them into actionable technical plans and high-quality code.
• Solid understanding of software engineering best practices, including writing clean, maintainable code, testing, version control, and working within Agile workflows.
• Strong problem-solving skills, with the ability to iteratively improve solutions based on feedback and real-world performance.
• Experience collaborating with other engineers in a team setting.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams.
• A passion for learning and growth, especially in the life sciences or biotechnology space.

Benefits

• Competitive total rewards package
• Broad range of medical, dental, and vision plans for employees and their dependents
• Fertility healthcare and family-forming benefits
• Four months of fully paid parental leave
• 401(k) + Employer Match
• Commuter benefits for in-office employees and a generous home office set up stipend for remote employees
• Mental health benefits, including therapy and coaching, for employees and their dependents
• Monthly Wellness stipend
• Learning and development stipend
• Generous and flexible vacation
• Company-wide Winter holiday shutdown
• Sabbaticals for 5-year and 10-year anniversaries