Software Engineer Contractor, Instrument Control

Here’s what you’ll be doing: 
• You will provide on-call support for our instrument control software, root-causing 
complex technical issues reported by company-internal partners, using logs, 
sensor data, and images to trace and resolve problems through an interconnected 
robotic system. 
• You will develop software features that improve the stability and maintainability of 
our instrument software stack. 
• You will write a variety of automated tests and perform hands-on hardware-in-the
loop testing of our instruments in our lab space. 
• You will manage software installation and configuration across Linux and Windows 
platforms. 
• You will build automated tools for diagnostics and common support operations, 
making instrument support faster and more reliable. 
• You will participate in team sprint meetings and standups, tracking issue reports in 
Jira and regularly reporting on status. 
• You will write clear technical documentation that helps non-engineers use our 
instruments effectively and serves as a knowledge base for AI-assisted support 
tools. 

We need to see: 
• 5+ years of professional experience in software engineering, plus a relevant 4-year 
degree or equivalent experience. 
• Experience developing robust, well-tested software in Python. 
• Comfort reading and understanding C/C++ in embedded systems and RTOS 
contexts. 
• Experience developing software and automated tests for robotics or other 
integrated hardware-software systems. 
• Knowledge of state machines and other mechanisms for modeling hardware state. 
• Proficiency with git and with Python dependency management tools such as pipenv, 
poetry, or uv. 
• Comfort working in both Linux and Windows environments, including scripting in 
Bash and PowerShell. 
• Strong analytical skills. You can synthesize multiple data streams to identify the 
root cause of user-reported issues in interconnected systems. 
• Experience with agile methodologies for project management. 
• The ability to ramp-up quickly in unfamiliar codebases and work independently with 
minimal onboarding. 
• Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration skills. You’re 
comfortable reading and writing technical documentation, interpreting user error 
reports, and explaining solutions to non-software audiences. 

It’s a plus if: 
• You have experience with databases and cloud technologies, especially AWS. 
• You have experience with low-level communication protocols (e.g. TCP/UDP, RS
232/422/485). 
• You have worked in biotechnology before.