
Senior Full Stack Software Engineer
Ginkgo Bioworks
Visa & sponsorship
- A US security clearance is required, which effectively means citizens only.
Job description
-
We are seeking a Senior Full-Stack Software Engineer to join the Biosecurity engineering team
-
This role is ideal for someone who thrives in cross-disciplinary environments and is excited to build production software that directly supports biosecurity, epidemiology, and biological data workflows
-
You will work across the stack—from backend services and data pipelines to user-facing web applications—building reliable, scalable systems that turn complex biological data into actionable insights
-
Develop high-performance full-stack applications that translate complex biological data and operational needs into intuitive software using Python and modern JavaScript frameworks
-
Champion an AI-first mindset, leveraging generative AI tools and LLM-based assistants to accelerate feature development, optimize code quality, and automate routine engineering tasks
-
Collaborate with cross-functional domain experts to architect and operate on biological datasets (genomic, diagnostic, or epidemiological), ensuring that surveillance workflows maintain high standards for data integrity, provenance, and security
-
Influence the technical roadmap and long-term evolution of the Biosecurity platform, identifying and mitigating technical debt and architectural bottlenecks before they impact delivery
-
Design and implement robust CI/CD pipelines where automated unit, integration, and security testing are treated as mandatory gates for every code deployment
-
Drive engineering excellence by leading technical design reviews and providing critical feedback on software modularity, while upholding rigorous standards for documentation, observability, and long-term maintainability
-
Support production systems by monitoring performance, troubleshooting issues, and continuously improving reliability, including on-call support and triage in off hours
Benefits
-
Growth and development opportunities
-
Unlimited paid time off
-
Comprehensive health and parental leave benefits
-
Flexible work options
-
Commuter benefits
-
State-of-the-art labs, work spaces, and conference rooms
-
Competitive 401K contribution- We are looking for an engineer who is not only a technical expert but also a forward-thinker who embraces AI-augmented development and maintains a ‘deploy-with-confidence’ culture through rigorous CI/CD and automated testing
-
Solid grounding in software engineering fundamentals: data structures, system design, version control, and modern CI/CD patterns for automated testing and deployment
-
6-8+ years of professional software engineering experience, with significant full-stack development work, including ownership of complex systems and cross-team technical initiatives
-
Demonstrated ability to integrate AI-assisted development tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Cursor, or similar) into daily workflows to increase productivity and code reliability
-
Experience building and consuming APIs (REST and/or GraphQL)
-
Strong proficiency in Python for backend development (our primary programming language)
-
Experience developing modern web frontends using JavaScript/TypeScript and frameworks such as React
-
Proven experience collaborating domain experts (scientific, operations, product, etc) to translate complex biological data (genomic, diagnostic, or epidemiological) into robust software solutions and actionable insights
-
Prior experience in bioinformatics, computational biology, public health, or a related domain
-
Exposure to regulated or sensitive-data environments (e.g., HIPAA, public health data)
-
Experience with data pipelines, workflow orchestration, or analytics platforms
-
Familiarity with cloud infrastructure (e.g., AWS) and containerized environments (Docker, Kubernetes)
-
Demonstrate high levels of ownership and independent execution
-
Comfort working in fast-moving, ambiguous problem spaces where requirements evolve
-
Flexibility and willingness to work on the highest priority needs of the business
-
Due to the nature of this role, candidates should expect to support U.S. Government customers. Candidates must have the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance per business requirements. In connection therewith, candidates must be willing to undergo a background investigation and meet eligibility requirements. Clearance sponsorship will be available
-
Candidates who currently hold an active or recently inactive U.S. Government security clearance are encouraged to apply