Full-Time
Director of Software Engineering
Posted on 9/4/2026
Element Biosciences
201-500 employees
Low-cost next-generation DNA sequencing technology
Compensation Overview
$180k - $254k/yr
San Diego, CA, USA
In Person
Daily on-site work in San Diego is required.
Bachelor's
 Engineering Management (1) |
|---|
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- A bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Bioengineering, or a related field is required.
- At least 10 years of software engineering experience, including at least 3 years directly managing engineering teams, is required.
- A track record of shipping production-grade software across frontend, backend, cloud services, and workflow orchestration is required.
- Hands-on fluency with Go, React, MongoDB, Redis, gRPC, GraphQL, Temporal, Ubuntu, and AWS, or close equivalents, is required.
- Daily fluency with AI coding assistants such as Cursor or Claude and experience introducing or scaling agentic software development lifecycle workflows within a team are required.
- Experience shipping software spanning instrumentation, cloud software as a service, and command-line interface/application programming interface tooling is required.
- Strong analytical, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills are required, including comfort presenting to executives, customers, and technical stakeholders.
- Experience with life sciences, multi-omic systems, DNA sequencing, or scientific instrumentation software is required.
- Experience with regulated software workflows, including IEC 62304, ISO 13485, IVDR, or FDA 21 CFR Part 820, design controls, traceability, and verification and validation documentation for software as a medical device or instrument software, is required.
- Experience shipping machine learning or artificial intelligence features, including traditional machine learning pipelines or large-language-model and agent-based features such as retrieval-augmented generation, tool use, or evaluations, is required.
- Cross-organizational or inter-company collaboration experience is required.
- The ability to work flexible hours for customer support outside regular business hours is required.
- Lead, mentor, and grow a team of software developers spanning frontend, backend, cloud, and instrument software.
- Set technical direction, define priorities, and align team execution with company goals and product roadmaps.
- Own hiring, one-on-one meetings, performance reviews, career development, and resourcing decisions for the team.
- Foster a culture of ownership, quality, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
- Manage team budget, capacity planning, and cross-team dependencies while partnering with leaders across Informatics, Artificial Intelligence, Product, Hardware, and Chemistry.
- Champion and roll out agentic software development lifecycle practices using Cursor, Claude, and artificial-intelligence-driven workflows across the team and broader software organization.
- Contribute to software processes, practices, training, and quality and security assurance for the software department.
- Contribute hands-on across the stack, including React frontend, Go backend, AWS cloud services, Temporal workflow orchestration, Ubuntu instrument software, command-line interface/application programming interface tooling, and agentic tooling.
- Drive architecture and design for customer-facing products and internal tooling; run design reviews and set standards for production-grade code, testing, and observability.
- Own end-to-end delivery for product areas from requirements through deployment and sustaining.
- Partner with product owners, Chemistry, Hardware, and adjacent software teams to translate multi-omic workflows into scalable and performant software.
- Debug cross-system issues, determine root causes of complex bugs, and address customer-blocking problems when needed.
- Prototype with artificial-intelligence tools to validate ideas, pressure-test specifications, and reduce risk before implementation.
- Advocate for engineering systems, tools, and workflows that improve long-term product velocity.
- Support research-market and regulated software development within the team's scope.
- Own or oversee design controls, verification and validation documentation, risk analysis, and traceability for regulated products under IEC 62304, ISO 13485, IVDR, and FDA 21 CFR Part 820.
- Partner with regulatory affairs and quality management system teams to support audits, inspections, and submissions.
- An advanced degree is preferred.
Element Biosciences makes DNA sequencing with the AVITI System, a compact benchtop NGS platform that pairs high accuracy with low run costs. The system delivers sequencing data at about $1 per million reads and can be integrated into workflows through partnerships with companies like QIAGEN for end-to-end solutions. The company stands out by offering affordable, high-quality sequencing and by supporting researchers with programs such as the AVITI for All Grant that provides free sequencing. Its goal is to broaden access to sequencing, enabling more projects within typical budgets across academic and commercial settings.
Company Size
201-500
Company Stage
Series E
Total Funding
$853M
Headquarters
San Diego, California
Founded
2017
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Samsung invested $175 million on June 9, 2026, becoming Element's largest shareholder.
- VITARI launched February 19, 2026, with $100 genomes and pre-orders already booked.
- ISO 13485 certification on June 17, 2026 opens AVITI Dx and tissue profiling.
What critics are saying
- 10x sued Element on May 8, 2026; AVITI24 faces damages and injunction.
- Illumina is appealing Munich and fighting Delaware plus antitrust cases simultaneously.
- Failed diagnostics launches or patent losses could choke revenue before H2 2026 shipments.
What makes Element Biosciences unique
- AVITI and VITARI combine high accuracy, modular workflows, and lower sequencing costs.
- Element bundles genomics, multiomics, and partner software into one open platform.
- Munich court affirmed Element sequencing IP against Illumina on July 14, 2026.
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Benefits
100% company-paid medical, dental, & vision coverage
Flexible spending & health savings accounts
Premier mental health care
401(k) with immediately vested 4% company match
Company-paid Life and AD&D insurance
Stock option grants
Flexible time off
10 paid annual holidays
8-weeks paid parental leave
Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
↑ 0%1 year growth
↑ 0%2 year growth
↑ 0%Samsung Electronics has invested $175 million (approximately ₩270 billion) in US genetic analysis equipment company Element Biosciences, becoming its largest shareholder. This marks Samsung's second funding round in Element, following its Series D participation last year. Founded in 2017, Element specialises in DNA sequencing technology with 99.99% accuracy at reduced costs. Its multiomics platform analyses DNA, RNA, proteins and cellular changes through a single system, a capability particularly valuable for disease diagnosis and drug discovery. Samsung plans to integrate Element's genomic analysis technology with data from its Galaxy Health ecosystem, including Galaxy Watch and Galaxy Ring devices, to develop personalised healthcare services powered by AI. The investment aligns with Samsung's broader MedTech strategy, following previous acquisitions of companies like Samsung Medison and Sonio.
Samsung Electronics has become the largest shareholder in Element Biosciences, a US-based genetic sequencing equipment company, following a $175 million investment in the firm's Series E funding round. This follows Samsung's participation in Element's Series D round in July 2024. Founded in 2017 in San Diego, Element develops DNA sequencing technology with 99.99% genome analysis accuracy and low costs. The company launched its AVITI mid-sized sequencing device in 2022 and is preparing to introduce VITARI, which increases analysis capacity fivefold whilst reducing costs by over half. Samsung aims to secure core technologies in the precision medicine market and strengthen growth drivers in medical devices, digital health and AI. The investment will not result in management control changes at Element.
Element Biosciences has secured an upsized Series E financing round, including $175 million from Samsung Electronics and undisclosed amounts from other investors. The funding will accelerate commercialisation of the company's genomic and multiomic solutions and expand its global presence. The capital will support Element's product portfolio, including its AVITI sequencing platform, the recently announced VITARI high-throughput system, and upcoming launches of AVITI Dx and tissue profiling capabilities. Since launching AVITI in 2022, Element has expanded to serve customers in over 40 countries across academic, pharmaceutical and clinical research organisations. The financing, subject to regulatory approval, follows Element's $277 million Series D round announced in July 2024. The San Diego-based company develops platforms for genomic, transcriptomic, protein, spatial and cellular analyses.
Week in Brief: week ending 27th february. Lyndsey Fletcher 2 March 2026 What's been going on in the life sciences world this week? Check out Week in Brief for an overview of the biggest news from the last seven days. New announcements have taken the sequencing world by storm this week as several companies announced the launch of new products, and provided updates on their technology: * Element Biosciences announced the launch of the VITARI system, a high-throughput benchtop sequencer capable of sequencing a whole genome for $100. * Ultima Genomics launched the UG200 series, which features two configurations, UG200 and UG200 Ultra, designed to deliver up to 30,000 and 60,000 genomes a year respectively. * Illumina published an 18 month roadmap for the NovaSeq X platform, which aims to improve accuracy, throughput and turnaround time, and expand the applications of the platform. A study has found that many genetic variants that increase the risk of autoimmune hypothyroidism also tend to lower the risk of skin cancer. The findings suggest a shared genetic basis where heightened immune activity can protect against cancer but promote autoimmunity. Scientists have used a high-throughput method to test over 220,000 DNA variants and create detailed maps showing which specific genetic changes affect gene activity in different cell types. The work has clarified how variants influence traits like blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar, helping to narrow down actionable mutations. A phase I clinical trial for a prostate cancer treatment has shown that a 'cloaking device' helped to keep an immunotherapy drug hidden and inactive until it reached tumour cells. This mechanism meant that side effects were minimised, and nearly half of the patients involved in the trial saw tumour shrinkage. In another prostate cancer drug trial, a novel targeted radiotherapy injection delivered radioactive therapy directly to cancer cells, shrinking or halting growth of tumours in over 80% of participants. The drug uses a 'homing device' to identify a specific antigen on the surface of the tumour cells. A new study has found that exposure to cigarette smoke causes epigenetic changes in key retinal cells, accelerating aging. These findings explain why smokers are more likely to develop age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness. Researchers have discovered that getting 'chills' or tingles when listening to music or engaging with art or literature is partly heritable. Some of the genes linked to this response were associated with other personality traits, and some had an impact across music, poetry and visual arts. A new study has found that 'jumping' segments of human DNA known as genetic parasites can destabilise the genome early in tumour development, creating mutations that fuel cancer evolution. These mobile DNA elements may play a critical role in the initial stages of cancer formation by promoting genomic instability. Scientists have discovered that high-dose vitamin B3 supplements dramatically extended survival and reversed symptoms in a mouse model of NAXD deficiency, a fatal childhood genetic disorder. This approach also identified other genetic conditions that might respond to B-vitamin therapy. Check out last week's Week in Brief here. Share via:
Biomodal, an omics-based life sciences technology company, has announced that its duet multiomic solutions are now compatible with Element Biosciences' AVITI24 5D multiomics and AVITI sequencing instruments. The integration, validated at the University of Minnesota Genomics Center, aims to enhance sensitivity for cancer, ageing and neurodegenerative disease research. The collaboration combines biomodal's 5-base and 6-base sequencing solutions with Element's sequencing systems, enabling complete methylation detection and delivering actionable insights within a single streamlined process. AVITI users gain access to biomodal's software pipeline, creating an end-to-end workflow for next-generation sequencing. Biomodal's platform-agnostic technology integrates pre-sequencing workflow with post-sequencing informatics to generate genetic and epigenetic data from a single sample in one run.