Director / Senior Director of Software Engineering

Xilis, Inc. is an innovation-driven biotech company developing its proprietary MicroOrganoSphere (“MOS”) Technology for functional precision oncology. Xilis’ MOS Technology enables rapid and scalable generation of patient tumor models that retain patient-specific tumor biology and tumor microenvironment, representing one of the most translationally-relevant ex vivo technologies for precision oncology drug discovery and development. Located in Research Triangle Park, Durham, NC, Xilis is building a functional precision medicine platform that incorporates scaled multi-modal profiling of therapeutic activity and AI/ML-enabled analytics to catalyze functional precision medicine drug discovery, development and diagnostics. Collectively, Xilis aims to harness its MOS Platform to enable development of the most effective therapeutics and guide them to the right patients at the right time.

The (Senior) Director of Software Engineering will play a crucial role in driving Xilis’ technological innovation. This position requires a strong leader who can bridge the gap between software development and cutting-edge biotechnology applications. The ideal candidate will spearhead the development of sophisticated software solutions that support Xilis' mission, managing a team of talented engineers while collaborating closely with cross-functional teams. Liaising with R&D, Quality, and Data Science, in particular, will be a key feature of this role, defining user requirements and appropriate system/UI design to ensure the success and utility of developed systems. This role demands a unique blend of hands-on technical expertise, strategic thinking, and leadership skills to build scalable, efficient systems that can handle complex biological data and processes.

Xilis’ mission is to industrialize cutting-edge 3D tumor model technology to bring functional precision medicine to oncology patient care. The software and data management systems required to handle the scale and complexity of multi-modal data being generated are crucial to enable current and future insight generation from the data. The (Senior) Director of Software Engineering will have the opportunity to develop and drive this vision and build the infrastructure from the ground up at a fast-paced techbio startup.

• Lead and manage the software engineering team
• Mentor and grow existing and new team members
• Define headcount needs and empower the team with appropriate opportunities
• Develop and implement software strategies aligned with company goals
• Oversee the design, development, and maintenance of software systems
• Drive cross-functional collaboration, in particular Research & Development and Data Science, to integrate software with biotech wet and drylab processes
• Ensure software quality, reliability, and scalability and compliance with any requisite regulatory agencies. Direct validation efforts for these software systems.
• Promote best practices for software engineering via design and code reviews
• Manage project timelines, resources, and budgets
• Stay current with emerging technologies and industry trends
• Oversee the design and implementation of a robust data management infrastructure, including a Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) that integrates into custom hardware and software systems
• Oversee management and optimization of AWS cloud environment for scalability and cost-effectiveness as well as DevOps initiatives to streamline development and deployment processes.
• Oversee IT strategy and implementation across the company
• Drive the implementation of data visualization tools for actionable insights

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related field; Master's preferred
• 10+ years of software engineering experience, with 5+ years in leadership roles
• Strong background in software architecture and design patterns
• Experience with biotech or healthcare software development preferred
• Proficiency in relevant programming languages (Python) and knowledge of AWS services and cloud architecture
• Excellent communication and team management skills
• Ability to work in a fast-paced startup environment
• Experience in designing and managing data management infrastructure (Bonus: Proficiency in LIMS implementation and customization for biotech applications)
• Experience in overseeing IT operations and infrastructure

Xilis was created when its three founders — an engineer, a physician, and a biologist — decided to come together and commercialize their technology to transform cancer care. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, or Veteran status. Furthermore, even if your work experience isn't perfectly aligned with what we've described above, if you're excited about what we're building then we want to talk to you!

Xilis offers comprehensive health, vision, dental & retirement plans, and unlimited PTO. We are a remote-friendly team: our headquarters are in Durham, North Carolina, but we have team members across the US (and beyond!).