Staff Software Engineer (C++)

at  Illumina

What if the work you did every day could impact the lives of people you know? Or all of humanity?
At Illumina, we are expanding access to genomic technology to realize health equity for billions of people around the world. Our efforts enable life-changing discoveries that are transforming human health through the early detection and diagnosis of diseases and new treatment options for patients.
Working at Illumina means being part of something bigger than yourself. Every person, in every role, has the opportunity to make a difference. Surrounded by extraordinary people, inspiring leaders, and world changing projects, you will do more and become more than you ever thought possible.
What if the work you did every day could impact the lives of people you know? Or all of humanity?
At Illumina, we are expanding access to genomic technology to realize health equity for billions of people around the world. Our efforts enable life-changing discoveries that are transforming human health through the early detection and diagnosis of diseases and new treatment options for patients.
Working at Illumina means being part of something bigger than yourself. Every person, in every role, has the opportunity to make a difference. Surrounded by extraordinary people, inspiring leaders, and world changing projects, you will do more and become more than you ever thought possible.
Staff Software Engineer (C++ development) / Staff Bioinformatics Scientist
San Diego, California
Onsite/Hybrid/Remote
DRAGEN Product Development team
As a Staff Software Engineer you will help optimise and implementation activities for our Dragen platform and ensuring the quality of Illumina software adheres to our standards, with support of your colleagues in region and the US.
Why us
The exponential growth of Illumina means limitless opportunities for you to explore, grow, and contribute to the cause.
Illumina offers a dynamic work environment with new challenges every day and a group of people ready to help solve them with you. We are a place where you can do unmatched work, build meaningful relationships, and grow as an individual.
Software engineers at Illumina develop tools and software solutions that impact human health throughout the world.
Illumina’s employee benefits are industry-leading and include, flexible time off, private medical insurance, compassion and care time off, leisure travel insurance, pension, lifestyle allowance, employee stock purchasing program, volunteer time off and much more!
Why you
Our team members are bright, energetic and dedicated - they are the driving force behind our innovation and impact. To attract the best and brightest, we offer a competitive employee benefits program. We view it as a smart investment in our people, one that recognizes the tremendous value they bring to our business every day
As our Staff Software Engineer you will require extensive experience using C++ and ideally be familiar with genomic pipelines, bioinformatics algorithms and data structures within a development function would be an advantage. You will be collaborative with product owners and other application developers to design, code, and maintain high quality applications against established processes in a scrum team setting to be successful in this role.
This role chiefly involves software development and project coordination to map existing secondary analysis algorithms from one platform to another, making appropriate changes to bend each algorithm into something more amenable to the new deployment target whilst keeping functional and (where feasible) bit accuracy. Further, this involves working with the systems/QA engineer(s) to assure quality and performance targets are met and also involves working with the greater DRAGEN team on support and continuous improvement.

Responsibilities include

• Implement and improve sequence analysis algorithms to produce high-performance, production-grade software.
• Benchmark, find bottlenecks, optimize code.
• Work with software teams to ensure alignment of architecture to user requirements
• Occasionally provide technical assistance to escalated production issues
• Lead technical discussions on complex technologies with the team
• Maintain awareness of industry trends and evaluate applicability of new software technologies to platform development efforts
• Provide technical leadership to a project or product team as required

Preferred background, skills and experience

• Extensive knowledge and experience in C++ development
• Expertise in high-performance software development
• Strong background in genomic mapping and alignment algorithms and implementation, including the ability to interpret genomic pileup data
• Experience or knowledge in key considerations for translating software algorithms to hardware and vice versa; e.g., fixed- vs. floating-point representations, memory bandwidth estimation, software code profiling, bottleneck mitigation, alternate numerical methods, linear- vs. log-domain, etc.
• Proficient with source control management repositories (such as GIT, SVN, etc.) and CM practices
• Extensive experience writing high quality unit tests against mock objects
• Good understanding of object-oriented analysis and design
• Demonstrated success in collaborating in a fast-paced team environment and delivering high-quality software products using established agile development methodologies (such as Scrum, Kanban, etc.) against formal schedules
• BS/MS/PhD in Computational Biology/Bioinformatics/Software Engineering/Computer Science/EE or related fields

Desired:

• Familiarity with genomic pipelines, bioinformatic algorithms and data structures would be an advantage
• Possess proven troubleshooting skills
• Be curious, detail oriented, and analytical, with a proven ability to learn quickly
• Be customer-focused, team-oriented, and motivated, taking ownership of assigned tasks
• Have proven ability to self-manage, as well as manage interdisciplinary relationships
• Have proven verbal and written communication skills

Additional nice-to-Haves

• User experience running the DRAGEN Bio-IT platform on genomic data and analyzing the results
• Information theory, Bayesian inference, signal processing, image processing, machine learning, and/or applied math background and/or experience
• OpenCL, XRT-lib, high-level synthesis and/or other rapid software-to-RTL implementation methods and tools
• VHDL experience

All listed requirements are deemed as essential functions to this position; however, business conditions may require reasonable accommodations for additional task and responsibilities.
What can you expect
Our team members are bright, energetic and dedicated - they are the driving force behind our innovation and impact. To attract the best and brightest, we offer a competitive employee benefits program. We view it as a smart investment in our people, one that recognizes the tremendous value they bring to our business every day. At Illumina, we push boundaries. We think beyond the conventional. We dream big. With the energy of so many bright and accomplished people, the opportunities are endless.
The estimated base salary range for the Staff Software Engineer (C++) role based in the United States of America is: $152,600 - $228,800. Should the level or location of the role change during the hiring process, the applicable base pay range may be updated accordingly. Compensation decisions are dependent on several factors including, but not limited to, an individual’s qualifications, location where the role is to be performed, internal equity, and alignment with market data. Additionally, all employees are eligible for one of our variable cash programs (bonus or commission) and eligible roles may receive equity as part of the compensation package. We offer a wide range of benefits as innovative as our work, including access to genomics sequencing, family planning, health/dental/vision, retirement benefits, and paid time off.
At Illumina, we strive to foster a diverse and inclusive workplace by cultivating an environment in which everyone contributes to our mission. Built on a strong foundation, Illumina has always been rooted in openness, collaboration, and seeking alternative views and perspectives to propel innovation in genomics. We are proud to confirm a zero-net gap in pay, regardless of gender, ethnicity, or race. We also have several Employee Resource Groups (ERG) that deliver career development experiences, increase cultural awareness, and demonstrate our collective commitment to diversity and inclusion in the communities we live and work. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer committed to providing employment opportunity regardless of sex, race, creed, color, gender, religion, marital status, domestic partner status, age, national origin or ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, sexual orientation, pregnancy, military or veteran status, citizenship status, and genetic information. If you require accommodation to complete the application or interview process, please contact accommodations@illumina.com. To learn more, visit: https://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/posters/pdf/eeopost.pdf. This role is not eligible for visa sponsorship

• Implement and improve sequence analysis algorithms to produce high-performance, production-grade software.
• Benchmark, find bottlenecks, optimize code.
• Work with software teams to ensure alignment of architecture to user requirements
• Occasionally provide technical assistance to escalated production issues
• Lead technical discussions on complex technologies with the team
• Maintain awareness of industry trends and evaluate applicability of new software technologies to platform development efforts
• Provide technical leadership to a project or product team as require