Prolific Machines is ushering in a new era of biotechnology with light. Our first-of-its-kind optogenetic platform delivers unprecedented control, precisely guiding cellular behavior when and where it matters most. Unlike existing tools used to control biology, our technology enables dynamic, tunable control over virtually any cellular function in any cell type. We're enabling partners to unlock robust efficiency, quality, and reproducibility advantages across the most complex pharmaceuticals and therapeutic proteins. Prolific is supported by leading investors, including Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Mayfield and SOSV.
This is a high-ownership role with significant opportunity to shape the long-term direction of software systems at Prolific. As a foundational Software Engineer within the organization, you will have substantial influence over architecture, tooling, and long-term technical direction.
We’re looking for a Software Engineer to help define and build the next-generation software and controls platform underlying Prolific’s illumination systems. This role will serve as a foundational software hire within a multidisciplinary illuminator technology team, helping define software architecture across device control, cloud-connected infrastructure, internal tooling, and future customer-facing systems.
This individual will work closely with Firmware, Hardware, Data, and Bioprocess Engineering teams to develop scalable, production-ready control systems for next-generation illumination products. Over time, this role is expected to help define software architecture, interfaces, and development strategy as Prolific expands both internal software capabilities and external development partnerships.
This is not a traditional consumer web or SaaS role. Success in this position requires strong systems thinking and comfort operating across the hardware/software boundary. The ideal candidate enjoys working in-person, operating close to real-world systems and hardware, and is comfortable working across abstraction layers rather than specializing narrowly in frontend or backend development.
This role will be primarily based on-site in Emeryville, CA with some hybrid flexibility depending on current project needs.
Responsibilities
Architect and develop the software platform connecting Prolific illumination hardware, firmware, cloud infrastructure, internal tooling, and future operational and customer-deployed systems
Define software interfaces, communication layers, and subsystem boundaries across distributed control systems
Collaborate closely with firmware and hardware engineers to design robust hardware/software interactions
Establish scalable software infrastructure and engineering practices suitable for long-term productization
Help define technical scopes, interfaces, and development strategy for external software development partners and contractors where appropriate
Contribute hands-on across the stack while helping shape longer-term software technical direction
Requirements
MS with 5+ years or BS with 7+ years of professional software development experience. Degree in Software Engineering , Computer Science, or a related field preferred.
Strong systems-level thinking and ability to reason across software, firmware, hardware, and operational workflows
Ability to balance rapid prototyping with long-term architectural scalability
Experience decomposing complex systems into modular, maintainable subsystems
Fluency in Python and proficiency in at least one other general-purpose language (e.g. TypeScript, Go, Rust)
Experience defining requirements, designing, implementing, and deploying software
Experience designing software for reliability, maintainability, and operational robustness in mission-critical systems
Experience deploying and maintaining cloud-connected applications or services
Experience working with SQL databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, etc.)
Experience working closely with end users to iteratively improve software usability and workflows
Experience setting up and owning their own development environment (incl. unit/integration/end-to-end testing, continuous integration, etc.)
Experience interfacing software with hardware systems (serial, TCP/IP, etc.) and ability to debug issues across the software/hardware boundary
Comfort working in Linux environments
Nice to Haves
Experience leading technical projects involving external vendors, contractors, or distributed development teams
Exposure to the Industrial IoT / Industry 4.0 stack, e.g. protocols (MQTT Sparkplug B, OPC UA), system layers (HMI/SCADA, MES), and architectural patterns like Unified Namespace (UNS).
Experience with electronic records, audit trails, and data integrity principles for industrial or regulated settings
Experience developing software in the biotech or pharmaceutical industries where 21 CFR Part 11, GAMP 5, or ALCOA+ or similar regulations are relevant
Experience modernizing or replacing ad-hoc operational tooling (e.g. Airtable-based workflows)
Experience developing custom dashboards and data visualizers
Expertise in defining and building out devops, development workflows, and selecting toolchains
Embedded C/C++ development experience or knowledge about the limitations of firmware and embedded systems
Experience with Ignition, AirTable or the Particle Cloud systems.
About You
Enjoys taking projects all the way from concept to deployment
Comfortable in a dynamic startup environment with evolving requirements
Thrives in multidisciplinary environments alongside scientists, engineers, and operators
Comfortable making pragmatic technical decisions in an ambiguous, rapidly evolving environment
Excited to enable a technology and end product that will have a positive impact on people’s lives
