Reverse Engineer

Hi! We’re Radix. We’re building the next revolution of scientific tools so scientists can spend more time doing what they do best: science. Right now, scientists with PhDs and years of experience spend literal hours every day copying and pasting data in Excel and manually pipetting. We think this is a problem and we’d rather they got that time back so they could put more time into important scientific discoveries like curing cancer, alzheimers, and even rare genetic conditions. Radix brings to biology a framework and a set of tools much like the tools for CAD/CAM/CAE or VLSI Design.

The biggest roadblocks biologists face today aren’t scientific, they’re operational. They’re about the sheer scale and complexity of making labs work properly. Increasing combinatorial complexity, choppy data flows, awkward equipment integration and poor software compatibility are all holding scientists–and discovery–back. We’re solving these problems and doing it by making a compiler, operating system, and programming language for the computer architecture of the modern biology lab.

We’re a diverse and merry band of nerds, hackers, and cat affectionados. If you work for us, you won't be the only woman, non-binary or trans person, POC, Latino/a/x, non-US citizen, wearer of silly hats, or cat! A key commonality is that we love working with our smart, passionate teammates and customers and that we’re dedicated to improving biologists’ day to day, especially when it means solving hard problems in CS. We also like mechanical keyboards and interesting programming languages a lot. More than is remotely reasonable.

We’re making progress every day towards dramatically improving scientists day to day. Our products delight our clients who are able to do much more with the help of our software and are able to stop doing the boring mechanics that they hate. We strive to make practical, pragmatic steps towards useful solutions that’ll let our customers. Sounds like the sort of team you’d like to be a part of?

This position focuses on figuring out interfaces. While you’ll likely write some code, the bulk of this work will be figuring out wtaf is going on. Whenever possible, we go in through the frontdoor via an api or asking vendors nicely. However, this doesn’t work when those options aren’t available. In those cases, we have to find a side door so we can enable biologists to do their important work.

A note about our hiring process: we look at candidates holistically without regard to positions that are open. We ask two simple questions: “Will this person make Radix a stronger and more capable team?” and “Are we excited to work with them?” If the answer to both of those questions is yes, we make an offer. As a result, none of the skills are hard requirements and you won’t see desired years of experience in any of our job postings. We are happy to hire people who are new grads (and non-grads) through to industry veterans. If you think this work sounds exciting, please apply!

Key skills (pick any 2-3):

● Bad and unjust software makes you angry enough that you want to do something about it.

● Experience reverse engineering .exe and .dll binaries and/or USB, RS232, and IP protocols. We presently use DotPeak, Ghirda, API Monitor, and WireShark, but similar tools are fine, too.

● Experience safely working with and not breaking physical hardware, especially automation & robotics.

● Sketchy documentation makes you happy. You can read sporadic documentation and BusinessSpeak and draw inferences that you can apply.

● Experience mentoring, collaborating, and learning with engineers at all levels and across focus areas. We learn from each other and collaborate a lot. Interdisciplinary work is required to make our products usable.

● Not above using a screwdriver to see what it’s inside or calling up a vendor to ask questions as appropriate.

● Good at working with and supporting others and asking for help. We solve hard problems. Sometimes this work feels like getting through a brick wall by beating your head against it. We support each other technically and emotionally.

Nice to have:

● Experience with object oriented and functional programming (Scala, Ocaml, Haskell, Erlang, Java, Python, and/or C++) or a strong desire and a demonstrated capacity to learn

● Strong critical thinking, causal reasoning, and general tech knowledge

● Experience tracking down annoying software bugs and functionally testing software

● Have done some things in a bio lab or think this sounds cool

● Interested in or have experience with compiler and run-time systems

Radix is a exciting work environment. We care about each other. We’re also LGBTQ+, polyamoroy, kink, gender, minority, and most other things supporting. We're an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.