Our mission is to detect cancer early—when it can still be cured. We work to change cancer mortality trends by bringing together stakeholders to adopt innovative, safe, and effective technologies that can transform cancer care.

We are a healthcare company pioneering new technologies for earlier cancer detection. We have assembled a multidisciplinary team of scientists, engineers, and physicians, applying next-generation sequencing (NGS), population-scale clinical studies, and advanced computer and data science to tackle one of medicine’s greatest challenges.

GRAIL is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, with offices in Washington, D.C., North Carolina, and the United Kingdom. We are supported by leading global investors as well as pharmaceutical, technology, and healthcare companies.

For more information, please visit https://grail.com.

We are seeking a visionary, execution-focused **Director of Software Engineering** to lead our Data Platform engineering organization. In this role, you will own the technical strategy, architecture, and delivery of our next-generation, cloud-native data platform.

The ideal candidate has 15+ years of software engineering experience, with strong expertise in big data, cloud infrastructure, and AI-driven workflows (including RAG and LLM applications). You will also have a proven record of scaling engineering teams (10+ people). You will partner with cross-functional executives to translate complex domain needs into scalable, secure, compliant, production-grade software.

This role is based in Sunnyvale, California. It offers a flexible work arrangement, with the option to work from our office or remotely. Our policy requires that at least 60% (24 hours) of your total workweek be on-site. Your exact schedule, developed with your manager, will reflect team and business needs and may require more than 60% on-site time. At our Sunnyvale campus, Tuesdays and Thursdays are the primary days we encourage in-person attendance for events and on-site activities, though candidates must remain flexible based on business needs.

**Responsibilities**

**Engineering & Organizational Leadership**
– **Team Scaling & Culture:** Lead, mentor, and grow a multidisciplinary global engineering organization, fostering a culture of high performance, continuous learning, and technical excellence.
– **Strategic Roadmap Delivery:** Own the technical roadmap and resource planning, ensuring 95%+ on-time delivery of strategic product milestones.
– **Agile Transformation:** Advance and mature Agile/Scrum practices to increase feature velocity, reduce turnaround time, and maintain high software quality.

**Strategic Technical Architecture & Data Innovation**
– **Cloud-Native Evolution:** Architect, govern, and optimize the transition to modern serverless and microservices architectures on AWS to improve cost efficiency and system elasticity.
– **Big Data Ecosystems:** Set the strategy for next-generation big data platforms using tools such as **Snowflake, Databricks, Apache Iceberg, and AWS Glue** to process, partition, and index petabyte-scale datasets.
– **Performance Engineering:** Lead ongoing improvements to query performance and data pipeline throughput by optimizing analytical and search data models.

**AI & Product Modernization**
– **AI-Driven Initiatives:** Lead the integration of AI-assisted SDLC tools and design LLM-enabled product capabilities, including **RAG-based semantic search** and conversational search workflows.
– **API & System Interoperability:** Oversee secure, scalable, high-throughput ETL pipelines and RESTful APIs built on **Java / Spring Boot** to support global data interoperability.

**Operational Excellence & Compliance**
– **DevOps & SRE Practices:** Mature CI/CD automation pipelines using infrastructure-as-code tools such as **Terraform, Ansible, and Jenkins** to automate provisioning and security patching.
– **Security & Compliance:** Ensure all platforms meet modern cybersecurity standards and applicable regulatory requirements (e.g., **GDPR, HIPAA**).

**Required Qualifications**
**Leadership & Soft Skills**
– **15+ years** of progressive software engineering experience, including **5+ years** in a dedicated engineering leadership role managing cross-functional, global teams.
– Proven ability to work with executive stakeholders (Product, UX, Architecture) to align engineering delivery with business goals.
– Strong experience managing substantial operational budgets and implementing strategic cloud cost-optimization practices.

**Technical Stack & Domain Expertise**
– **Backend & Architecture:** Expert knowledge of **Java, Spring Boot, and Spring MVC**, distributed systems design, database sharding, and high-performance microservices.
– **Data & Analytics:** Strong command of **Snowflake, Apache Iceberg, AWS Glue, Spark, and Elasticsearch**.
– **AI & Search:** Hands-on experience designing systems using **Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)**, Large Language Model (LLM) frameworks, and semantic/conversational search.
– **Cloud & DevOps:** Strong expertise in **AWS cloud infrastructure**, containerization, and IaC tools (Terraform, Ansible, Jenkins).
– **Domain Interoperability:** Experience working with high-volume, regulated data fields (e.g., genomics, healthcare, bioinformatics, or fintech) and data standards (e.g., GA4GH) is highly preferred.

**Education**
– **Master’s degree** in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a closely related technical field preferred.
– **Bachelor’s degree** in Computer Science or Engineering, or equivalent practical experience.

The expected full-time annual base pay range for this role in Sunnyvale, CA is **$224k–$321k**.

This position may also qualify for additional compensation, such as an annual bonus and/or incentives, depending on the terms of applicable plans and Company discretion. The range is an estimate of what the Company expects to pay for this role at hiring; actual compensation may vary based on qualifications. Employees in this role are also eligible for GRAIL’s comprehensive benefits package, in line with our plans and policies, which currently includes flexible time off, a 401(k) plan with employer match, medical/dental/vision coverage, and selected mindfulness programs.

GRAIL is an equal employment opportunity employer committed to a workplace where everyone can thrive. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. We also consider applicants with arrest or conviction records in accordance with applicable law and provide reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities. If you need an accommodation to apply, contact us at rc@grailbio.com.

GRAIL maintains a drug-free workplace. We welcome job seekers from all backgrounds to join us!