Lead Software Engineer

We have plants to thank for nearly every aspect of our existence, from the air we breathe to the energy we consume and the food we eat. But today, plant resources, Earth’s life support system, is in need of life support. 40% of plant species are threatened with extinction. We need new ways of collaborating with plants to ensure long-term access to the plant products we need and the ecosystems that provide them. At Foray, we’re building a new operating system for plants. We use the same “hardware," the plant cell, and design ways for these cells to grow in new and productive ways. Spun out of MIT in 2022, Foray combines advanced plant biology with computational tools to reimagine how we propagate, produce, and protect plants. Our biology is already live in the lab. Our software designed to streamline plant growth workflows is entering private beta. We’re looking for a Lead Software Engineer to help bring our software tools to life for a wider group of scientists, growers, and partners.

Role:

You’ll be our first dedicated software hire, hands-on from day one. You’ll write code, define architecture, and lay the foundation for a software team that grows with you. You’ll work directly with biologists, engineers, and early users to translate cutting-edge science into usable, scalable tools.

You:

• 5+ years of experience in a Software Engineering role
• Strong experience with Python backend development, such as FastAPI and modern Python tooling
• Expertise in frontend development with React/TypeScript and modern frameworks like Vite
• Experience with GCP infrastructure, particularly Cloud Run, Spanner DB, and CI/CD pipelines
• Proven ability to lead technical projects with recent, hands-on software development experience (actively building and shipping features)
• Comfortable in early-stage environments
• Nice-to-have: Practical experience with machine learning, data science, or computational biology; experience with predictive modeling, optimization, or inference is a plus.
• Must be authorized to work in the United States.