Principal Software Engineer

About Us

At Matterworks we are building AI tools to extract insights from the ever-growing corpora of biological data and to unlock opportunities in therapeutic discovery, development, and manufacturing. We are building large-scale deep learning models of biological data to predict the phenotype and behavior of biological systems.

Position Overview

Matterworks is seeking a Principal Software Engineer who can drive architectural and product vision, planning and delivery as part of a small team. With 10+ years of experience across the entire software development lifecycle you will join an interdisciplinary team, collaborating directly with engineering as well as machine learning, applied sciences, and product team members. Success in this role demands a blend of hands-on technical expertise across the whole stack and leadership to help solve ambiguous problems, mentor upcoming talent and align solutions with business goals in a fast-paced environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Architectural Vision and Strategy: Define and drive the long-term vision for our core software architecture, making critical decisions on infrastructure, product, and platform that span the full stack from low level cloud systems to user-facing interfaces.
• Product & Platform Development: Lead the end-to-end design and implementation of new capabilities, focusing on high leverage work that derisks existential challenges and enables iterative value delivery in a scaling environment.
• Engineering Leadership: Provide technical guidance, coordinating cross-team efforts, and building organizational capacity. Stay ahead of industry advancements, applying best practices to elevate our engineering culture and processes.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with leadership in engineering, AI, product, and scientific discovery to align engineering initiatives with company-wide goals. Use experience to keep initiatives moving smoothly.
• Mentorship and Guidance: Mentor and develop our team of software engineers, fostering a culture of technical excellence, creativity, and high performance.

About You

• 10+ years of professional experience developing software using modern programming languages (e.g., Python, Java, JavaScript), with proven ability to work across the full stack from cloud infrastructure design and debugging to user experience and delivery.
• Demonstrated experience having led a functional area within a team or organization (e.g., data, platform, or infrastructure engineering).
• Proficiency in agile development, with a demonstrated ability to deliver value iteratively while balancing technical depth and business impact.
• Strong attention to detail with a keen ability to balance priorities while operating with minimal oversight.
• Industry experience in life sciences, biotechnology, biochemistry, or a related field.
• Proficient in architecting end to end solutions using a cloud provider (AWS, Azure or GCP)
• Proficient in several batch and streaming data processing technologies (Spark, Kafka, Flink, Trino, Airflow, Elasticsearch, SQL etc.)
• Demonstrated ability to communicate and collaborate with product, machine learning, applied science and other engineers while reducing complex business questions into valuable, reliable technical solutions.
• A passion for contributing to an early-stage startup where autonomy, eagerness to learn, and enthusiasm for solving novel scientific challenges prevail over rigid processes and egos.

Working at Matterworks

Given the cross-disciplinary and innovative nature of our work, effective collaboration and communication are critical to our progress. We operate in a flexible hybrid model that accommodates both fully remote team members and those who work full-time from our Somerville, MA office. While some positions may require regular in-person presence for hands-on work or local collaboration, many roles can be performed remotely with team members distributed across various locations.

Compensation and Benefits

Matterworks offers a competitive base salary, stock options, and benefits (health & dental, vision, long- and short-term disability, life insurance, 401k with company match). Employees enjoy a flexible work & unlimited time away policy, commuter benefits and parking, regular team meals and outings, and company support for continued education/coursework and conference participation.

Matterworks, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. All candidates for employment at Matterworks are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other category protected by law.