Automation and Robotics Engineer
Hi! We’re Radix. We’re building the next revolution of scientific tools so scientists can spend more time doing what they do best: science. Right now, scientists with PhDs and years of experience spend literal hours every day copying and pasting data in Excel and manually pipetting. We think this is a problem and we’d rather they got that time back so they could put more time into important scientific discoveries like curing cancer, alzheimers, and even rare genetic conditions. Radix brings to biology a framework and a set of tools much like the tools for CAD/CAM/CAE or VLSI Design.
The biggest roadblocks biologists face today aren’t scientific, they’re operational. They’re about the sheer scale and complexity of making labs work properly. Increasing combinatorial complexity, choppy data flows, awkward equipment integration and poor software compatibility are all holding scientists–and discovery–back. We’re solving these problems and doing it by making a compiler, operating system, and programming language for the computer architecture of the modern biology lab.
We’re a diverse and merry band of nerds, hackers, and cat affectionados. If you work for us, you won't be the only woman, non-binary or trans person, POC, Latino/a/x, non-US citizen, wearer of silly hats, or cat! A key commonality is that we love working with our smart, passionate teammates and customers and that we’re dedicated to improving biologists’ day to day, especially when it means solving hard problems in CS. We also like mechanical keyboards and interesting programming languages a lot. More than is remotely reasonable.
We’re making progress every day towards dramatically improving scientists day to day. Our products delight our clients who are able to do much more with the help of our software and are able to stop doing the boring mechanics that they hate. We strive to make practical, pragmatic steps towards useful solutions that’ll let our customers. Sounds like the sort of team you’d like to be a part of?
Key skills:
These are not requirements. If you think you have adjacent skills, have done a few of the things listed, or would enjoy similar work, please apply!
● Experience working with physical hardware, especially automation & robotics
● Think reverse engineering hardware and software from less-than-helpful vendors sounds like a challenge you’d enjoy, for example:
○ Calling into DLLs through the visual C++ CLR from Java Native code
○ This serial/web-socket/fill-in-the-protocol implementation doesn’t match the data sheet or documentation (docs are often wrong :( )
○ Wireshark or physical data capture to determine what a machine is canonically communicating
○ Searching through customer lab computers to find possible interface methods and/or documentation
● Experience with object oriented and functional programming (Scala, Ocaml, Haskell, Erlang, Java, Python, and/or C++) or a strong desire and a demonstrated capacity to learn
● Strong critical thinking, causal reasoning, and general tech knowledge
● Experience tracking down annoying software bugs and functionally testing software
● Experience with GNU/Linux (we do most our work in Linux) and Git for version control
● Keen to learn
Nice to have:
● Have done some things in a bio lab or think this sounds cool
● Interested in or have experience with compiler and run-time systems
● Experience with Akka or similar actor model systems (like ROS and DDS), the Java virtual machine (JVM), Raspberry Pis, Apache Kafka, type systems, optimization, data analysis, traveling salesman problems, run time optimization, and/or implementing complex math in code
● Human factors, user centered, or general design exposure
Radix is an exciting work environment. We care about each other. We’re also LGBTQ+, polyamory, kink, gender, minority, and most other things supporting. We're an enthusiastic equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.
