Senior Software Engineer

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Senior Software Engineer - LIMS Modernization based in the United States.

This senior engineering role sits at the center of a major modernization initiative for a mission-critical Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS).

You will combine modern software engineering practices with deep analysis of a long-lived enterprise codebase and its business logic.

The role gives you the opportunity to transform undocumented legacy knowledge into clear specifications, architecture, tests, and production-ready software.

You will work closely with senior engineers, cloud and platform architects, infrastructure teams, and laboratory leadership.

AI-assisted development will be a core part of the engineering workflow, alongside Spec-Driven Development, Test-Driven Development, and clean architecture.

Your work will directly influence the future architecture, reliability, scalability, and maintainability of systems supporting laboratory operations.

This is an opportunity to modernize a critical platform while building software that ultimately supports environmental protection and healthier communities.

• Drive Spec-Driven Development: Establish a “blueprints before bricks” approach by clarifying designs in Markdown specifications before implementation and documenting architecture as code using Markdown and Mermaid.js.
• Build with Test-Driven Development: Create comprehensive automated test coverage, maintain quality standards, and establish architectural guardrails that preserve modularity and prevent the system from reverting to a monolithic structure.
• Apply AI-assisted engineering: Use tools such as Cursor, Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, or comparable solutions for codebase archaeology, documentation, prototyping, and development while applying sound engineering judgment to AI-generated code.
• Reverse-engineer legacy systems: Analyze unfamiliar code and produce detailed module-level documentation covering purpose, inputs and outputs, dependencies, data models, and known technical debt.
• Document critical data flows: Create version-controlled Mermaid diagrams covering sample lifecycles, enterprise integrations, billing and invoicing triggers, instrument interfaces, and authentication and authorization.
• Manage technical debt: Contribute to integration inventories and technical-debt registers, helping prioritize components for immediate remediation, documentation, deferral, or accepted risk.
• Support cloud modernization: Help define the system’s placement within Azure cloud infrastructure and environment tiers while accounting for high availability, hybrid deployment, and local network requirements for laboratory instruments.
• Collaborate on architecture: Partner with staff-level engineering, cloud, platform, and laboratory stakeholders to ensure the modernization aligns with broader enterprise architecture and avoids unnecessary duplication.
• Develop reference implementations: Build prototypes and proof-of-concept implementations for the highest-risk areas of the target architecture, using evidence to inform technical decisions.
• Accelerate delivery: Help transition the modernization effort from architectural readiness into active development and production delivery without unnecessary ramp-up.
• Create reusable AI workflows: Contribute to prompt libraries, coding standards, and AI-assisted development practices that can be adopted consistently across the engineering team.

• 7+ years of professional software engineering experience with a strong track record delivering production software.
• Strong cloud-native engineering fundamentals; Azure experience preferred, with AWS or GCP experience also considered.
• Demonstrated experience with Spec-Driven Development, Test-Driven Development, clean architecture, and domain-driven design.
• Hands-on experience using AI-assisted software development tools such as Cursor, Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, or similar technologies.
• Ability to confidently read, understand, reverse-engineer, and improve an unfamiliar or legacy codebase.
• Experience creating technical documentation and diagrams as code using Markdown, Mermaid.js, and Git-based workflows.
• Strong understanding of automated testing, modular architecture, software quality, and architectural guardrails.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to explain technical reasoning to experienced engineers and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Comfortable constructively challenging technical decisions while remaining open to feedback and alternative perspectives.
• Flexible, resilient, curious mindset with an ability to learn from existing systems while continuously seeking better approaches.
• Preferred: Experience maintaining or reverse-engineering Perl or another long-lived legacy programming language.
• Preferred: Background in LIMS, scientific software, or regulated and compliance-driven environments, including areas such as environmental reporting, chain of custody, or laboratory accreditation.
• Preferred: Experience with Oracle and evaluating database migration strategies, including potential transitions toward PostgreSQL or Snowflake.
• Preferred: Familiarity with Podman, Docker, containerization, and hybrid on-premises/cloud deployment patterns.
• Preferred: Experience with enterprise integrations such as Workday.
• Preferred: Familiarity with prompt engineering and AI workflow optimization.

• Annual compensation: $200,000–$210,000 USD, depending on experience, skills, and geographic location.
• Fully remote work opportunity within the United States.
• Opportunity to work on a strategically important enterprise modernization initiative from its architectural and implementation stages.
• Exposure to modern cloud-native technologies and AI-assisted development practices.