Senior Python Engineer - Instrument Control Software Engineer

Key Responsibilities

• Develop, maintain, debug, and improve Python-based instrument-control software.
• Quickly understand and take ownership of portions of a large existing codebase.
• Diagnose failures involving interactions between software and multiple hardware subsystems.
• Debug complex integration issues across robotics, motion control, sensors, imaging, microfluidics, and custom electronics.
• Investigate intermittent and difficult-to-reproduce instrument failures.
• Improve stability, reliability, observability, and fault handling throughout the instrument-control platform.
• Integrate Python applications with hardware devices and custom firmware interfaces.
• Work with real-time or near-real-time telemetry generated by multiple instrument components.
• Analyze logs, telemetry, device state, and system behavior to identify root causes.
• Develop robust error recovery and fault-management mechanisms.
• Collaborate directly with firmware, electrical, mechanical, systems, scientific, and software engineers.
• Support instrument integration, testing, and troubleshooting on physical hardware.
• Improve documentation and engineering knowledge transfer within the instrument- control codebase.
• Contribute to architectural improvements as the platform matures.

Required Skills

• 7+ years of software engineering experience, with significant hands-on Python development.
• Advanced proficiency with Python in production systems.
• Strong Linux experience, including command-line debugging, processes, permissions, networking basics, logs, and device interaction.
• Demonstrated experience integrating software with physical hardware or embedded systems.
• Experience controlling or coordinating multiple hardware components simultaneously.
• Strong debugging skills across complex distributed or hardware-integrated systems.
• Experience consuming, processing, or troubleshooting real-time/streaming telemetry.
• Understanding of asynchronous/concurrent programming and event-driven systems.
• Experience interfacing Python applications with firmware, embedded controllers, device APIs, serial interfaces, network-connected devices, or similar systems.
• Ability to understand unfamiliar, complex codebases quickly.
• Strong software engineering fundamentals, including testing, version control, code review, and maintainable architecture.
• Excellent communication skills and comfort working across software and hardware engineering disciplines.