Senior Director of Software Engineering

Role Description

Baylor Genetics is seeking a Senior Director of Software Engineering to lead the Bioinformatics Software Engineering team and drive the strategy, architecture, delivery, and operational support of production-grade software platforms that enable clinical genomic diagnostics. This leader will be accountable for building and guiding a high-performing software engineering organization that develops scalable, reliable, validated, and maintainable systems supporting Baylor Genetics’ clinical laboratory, bioinformatics, data, and reporting operations.

This role provides senior technical and people leadership across software engineering, clinical bioinformatics workflow implementation, data integration, platform modernization, and production support. The Senior Director will set engineering priorities, establish standards for software quality and delivery, and ensure that scientific innovation, regulatory expectations, and business needs are translated into secure, efficient, and sustainable software solutions.

The Senior Director will partner closely with R&D, clinical laboratory, quality, operations, product, and executive stakeholders to define technical roadmaps, manage delivery commitments, and ensure production systems meet the reliability, scalability, traceability, and compliance needs of a genomic diagnostics organization.

• Oversee the transition of research methods and analytical prototypes into validated production workflows.
• Modernize legacy systems, strengthen software development lifecycle practices, and improve automation, documentation, and release management across the team.

Success in this role requires a seasoned engineering leader with strong software architecture judgment, practical knowledge of bioinformatics and clinical genomics workflows, experience leading software teams in regulated or quality-controlled environments, and the ability to balance strategic planning with hands-on technical oversight.

The ideal candidate will be a collaborative, accountable, and execution-oriented leader who can mentor managers and engineers, promote engineering excellence, and deliver software capabilities that advance Baylor Genetics’ diagnostic services and long-term technology strategy.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Genomics, Data Science, or a related quantitative or technical field.
• 12+ years of experience in software engineering, bioinformatics software development, clinical genomics technology, data platform development, or related computational technology roles.
• 7+ years of experience leading software engineering teams, including direct people management, performance management, mentoring, hiring, organizational planning, and management of technical leads or managers.
• Proven experience defining software engineering strategy, technical roadmaps, delivery priorities, resource plans, and operating models for complex software teams or platforms.
• Demonstrated experience leading development and support of production-grade software systems, bioinformatics workflows, data platforms, workflow automation, or reporting applications used in clinical, healthcare, laboratory, or regulated environments.
• Strong knowledge of software architecture, system design, API design, data integration, database-backed applications, workflow orchestration, scalable compute, and modern software development lifecycle practices.
• Experience establishing or improving engineering standards for requirements management, code review, automated testing, CI/CD, validation support, documentation, release management, incident management, and production support.
• Practical understanding of NGS data, clinical genomics workflows, bioinformatics pipelines, genomic data formats, variant analysis workflows, laboratory interfaces, or diagnostic reporting systems.
• Experience translating research prototypes, analytical methods, scripts, or proof-of-concept tools into scalable, tested, validated, documented, and maintainable production workflows.
• Experience working with quality, regulatory, privacy, security, traceability, and audit-readiness expectations in clinical diagnostics, healthcare technology, laboratory operations, or other regulated software environments.
• Strong technical fluency in software engineering tools and practices, including Git-based development, code review, automated testing, CI/CD, Linux environments, containerization, workflow orchestration, cloud or HPC compute, databases, APIs, and monitoring or observability tools.
• Ability to communicate complex technical concepts, delivery risks, architectural tradeoffs, and operational priorities clearly to executive, technical, scientific, clinical, quality, and business stakeholders.

Requirements

• Master’s degree or PhD in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Genomics, Data Science, or a related field.
• 12+ years of experience leading or managing software engineering, bioinformatics engineering, platform engineering, or data engineering teams in healthcare, diagnostics, life sciences, or regulated technology environments.
• Experience leading managers, technical leads, or multi-functional engineering teams across multiple platforms, programs, or product areas.
• Experience modernizing legacy systems, improving software architecture, reducing technical debt, and implementing scalable platform or workflow automation strategies.
• Experience with Nextflow, Docker, Kubernetes, cloud platforms, HPC environments, microservices, API-driven architectures, data lakes, data warehouses, or enterprise data integration patterns.
• Experience applying AI-enabled engineering tools, large language models, agentic AI, automation, or decision-support technologies to improve software development productivity, workflow automation, documentation, issue triage, or operational support.
• Experience supporting CAP/CLIA-regulated laboratory environments, molecular diagnostics, clinical genomics, variant interpretation, reporting workflows, or healthcare data interoperability.

Benefits

• Competitive salary and performance-based bonuses.
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance.
• Retirement savings plan with company match.
• Generous paid time off and holiday schedule.
• Opportunities for professional development and continuing education.

Company Description

Baylor Genetics is proud to be an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace. We welcome and encourage applicants from all backgrounds to apply. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, childbirth, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.