Director, Software Engineering - AI, SciTech, Science

The Team

CZI supports the science and technology that will make it possible to help scientists cure, prevent, or manage all diseases by the end of this century. While this may seem like an audacious goal, in the last 100 years, biomedical science has made tremendous strides in understanding biological systems, advancing human health, and treating disease. 

Achieving our mission will only be possible if scientists are able to better understand human biology. To that end, we have identified four grand challenges that will unlock the mysteries of the cell and how cells interact within systems — paving the way for new discoveries that will change medicine in the decades that follow:

• Building an AI-based virtual cell model to predict and understand cellular behavior
• Developing state-of-the-art imaging systems to observe living cells in action
• Instrumenting tissues to better understand inflammation, a key driver of many diseases
• Engineering and harnessing the immune system for early detection, prevention, and treatment of disease

CZI’s work in science includes grantmaking programs, open-source software development, and close collaboration with the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Network. The CZ Biohub Network includes the San Francisco, Chicago, and New York Biohubs as well as the Chan Zuckerberg Imaging Institute. CZI also collaborates with institutional partners like the Kempner Institute for the Study of Natural & Artificial Intelligence at Harvard University. Join us in accelerating science.What You'll Do

As Director of Software Engineering - AI in the Science Technology Organization, you would be leading a group of highly motivated and talented engineers to build ML pipelines and services that scientists and biologists rely on every day in ways that enable them to draw more meaningful conclusions, or biological insights, more quickly. 

This role will lead a growing  software engineering team, that includes research engineers and enterprise software engineers, working closely with our AI Science teams and cross-functionally with Product Managers, UX Designers and Researchers, Application Scientists, and Computational Biologists to design, build and maintain ML pipelines for training Foundation Models as well services to execute models at run-time. Our AI Engineering function is a critical part of the Virtual Cell Platform and our mission to build an AI model of the cell.

• Lead an engineering team focused on AI services, developing and supporting ML  pipelines (to streamline Foundation Model training), model run-time services (e.g. model inference), and generative AI services (e.g. Agent-based orchestration, LLM-based workflows).
• Work cross-functionally with internal and external partners to develop and deliver on the roadmap and plan the long-term strategy for how AI comes to life on the Virtual Cell Platform. 
• Lead partnerships with industry-leading AI companies (e.g. NVIDIA, Microsoft) to accelerate our roadmap and increase our reach
• Participate in and encourage Agile software development practices to deliver frequent value to our users and enable continuous feedback loops.
• Guide the team on technical decisions and oversee that best practices are being followed. Ensure quality in the work we deliver. Be a hands-on manager to the team.
• Provide mentoring and career development support to direct reports.
• Hire and onboard engineers to fill resource gaps while building out a diverse team

What You'll Bring

• 10+ years of experience in Software Engineering, with 5+ years of engineering leadership experience (as a people manager)
• Expert knowledge of software engineering with the ability to translate theoretical knowledge into practical approaches involving research, analysis, conclusions and the creation and execution of action plans
• Experience working with an interdisciplinary team to shape product requirements and designs, and deliver software solutions.
• Expertise in building user-facing applications deployed in production environments using modern web technologies
• Ability to serve as an example on providing direction and guidance by communicating clearly, directly and respectfully while inspiring growth and collaboration across multiple audiences, with proven ability to coach and develop engineers’ skills and careers
• Ability to contribute to software design discussions and decisions.

The Redwood City, CA base pay range for this role is $323,000 - $485,000. New hires are typically hired into the lower portion of the range, enabling employee growth in the range over time. Actual placement in range is based on job-related skills and experience, as evaluated throughout the interview process. 

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