Job Specifications
Position: DevOps Engineer
Position Type: Full-Time Employee
Department: R&D
Location: Boulder, onsite
Experience: BS/MS degree and 4+ years’ industry experience
Watchmaker is inviting applications for the full-time position of DevOps Engineer.
This role reports to the Bioinformatics Engineering Team Lead and focuses on developing the cloud infrastructure and platform services that power scalable bioinformatics pipelines and self-service analytics. This individual will lead projects involving the design, development, and implementation of reusable software services and infrastructure templates to enable research scientists, product developers, and other stakeholders to extract information critical to the development of innovative enzyme-based products for the growing genomics space. The development of automated analytical pipelines requires rigorous, scalable software development and testing, ideally involving a working understanding of existing tools for sequence data analysis. The ideal candidate will have a firm understanding of cloud-native development methodologies (CI/CD, IAC, observability, monitoring, debugging) and software engineering principles. The candidate will be exposed to cutting edge molecular biology and genomics technologies.
The successful candidate will thrive in a dynamic, fast-paced working environment, be an excellent communicator, and contribute directly to our company culture and success.
Responsibilities
Maintain and extend self-service bioinformatics software platforms and infrastructure
Ensure platform reliability, scalability, and maintainability by proactively identifying weak points, improving resilience, and reducing manual intervention
Own Terraform codebase and CI/CD pipelines to enable reproducible multi-environment deployments (production, staging, test, developer) across AWS accounts
Develop containerized build environments (e.g., Docker) and automation services (e.g., Lambdas, event-driven APIs) to standardize workflows and integrate systems
Contribute to efficient data management strategies, including standardized ingestion and preprocessing of NGS datasets
Collaborate with R&D teams to build infrastructure and services that accelerate scientific discovery
Skills And Requirements
The candidate should have a BS/MS degree with 4+ years’ experience, or equivalent years of industry background. Experience in biotech and a start-up environment are highly desirable.
The candidate must have a proven track record of developing scalable, observable, and robust software systems and cloud infrastructure. Strong software development skills and expertise with DevOps tools and concepts are required. Experience with / exposure to other areas including structural biology, bioinformatics algorithms, and next-generation sequencing platforms are a plus.
The following skills and experience are requirements for the position:
4+ years in a mixed Software Engineering and DevOps/Infrastructure role, or comparable related experience, ideally in a bioinformatics or computational biology setting
Proficient with AWS tools and infrastructure (e.g. EC2, S3, IAM, ECS, Lambda, Batch, CloudWatch, SQS/SNS)
Proficient with IAC tools (Terraform preferred), including modular multi-environment design
Proficiency with at least one programming language (Python preferred)
Proficiency with containerization tools (e.g. Docker, Apptainer)
Proficient with CI/CD tools (e.g. Jenkins, Github Actions, GitLab)
Strong Linux and Bash skills
Familiarity with workflow orchestration tools (e.g., Nextflow, Snakemake, Airflow) is a plus, but not required
Proficient with container orchestration systems in a cloud environment
Experience with observability/monitoring/alerting stacks (e.g., CloudWatch, Datadog, OpenTelemetry)
Familiarity with data warehousing solutions (e.g. RedShift, Snowflake)
Excellent interpersonal skills and communication with peers and all levels of management
Familiar with Scrum and Agile development methodologies
Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail
Ability to prioritize, deliver consistently under deadlines, and work independently with initiative
Good communication and personal task management skills and a high level of self-motivation and initiative
A creative and disciplined approach to problem-solving
Education And Experience
BS/MS in computer science, information systems, or related degree and a minimum of 4+ years of relevant industry experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Compensation
The base compensation for the DevOps Engineer role starts at $90,000-$110,000 + bonus + equity; actual pay will be adjusted based on skills and experience. Employees are eligible for Flexible Time Off, Holidays, employer covers 75% of base medical plan with buy-up options, EAP (employee assistance program), employer paid dental, employer paid vision, employer paid $25,000 life/AD&D policy, paid parental leave, and a 401(k) retirement plan with a 4% m
About the Company
Watchmaker Genomics is a biotechnology company that specializes in advanced enzymology to develop precision tools for life sciences. We utilize a platform that integrates computational biology, protein engineering, and enzyme production to create high-performance, precision tools for next-generation sequencing (NGS) and advanced applications, including rare variant detection, ctDNA analysis, transcriptomics, and epigenetics. Our product range includes RNA and DNA library prep kits, enzymes, and proteins, designed to improve ...
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