
Staff Software Engineer
Required skills
- C++
- Rust
- SaaS
- RDBMS
- NoSQL
- Elastic Search
- Cassandra
- MongoDB
- SOA
- web security architecture
Nice to have
- AngularJS
- KnockoutJS
- complex issues
- low-level debugging
- profiling tools
- GDB
Role summary
Illumina is seeking a Staff Software Engineer to contribute to their mission of expanding access to genomic technology. This role involves designing, coding, and maintaining cloud-based applications within a scrum team, ensuring architectural alignment with user requirements, and occasionally assisting with production issues. The engineer will also stay abreast of industry trends and provide technical leadership. Key responsibilities include leading performance optimization efforts, such as memory management and algorithm efficiency. The position requires strong proficiency in low-level programming languages like C++ or Rust, experience with SaaS multitenant database architectures (RDBMS, NoSQL), and a deep understanding of SOA, web security, REST APIs, and event-driven architecture. Experience with client-side MVC frameworks and source control management is also expected.
Responsibilities:
- Collaborate with product owners and other application developers to design, code, and maintain high quality, cloud-based applications against established processes in a scrum team setting
- Work with software teams to ensure alignment of architecture to user requirements
- Occasionally provide technical assistance to escalated production issues
- Maintain awareness of industry trends and evaluate applicability of new software technologies to platform development efforts
- Provide technical leadership to an Agile team if required
- Lead performance optimization efforts, including memory management, parallelization, and algorithm efficiency.
Requirements:
Typically requires a minimum of 8 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree; or 6 years and a Master’s degree; or a PhD with 3 years of experience; or equivalent experience.
Strong proficiency in one or more low-level programming languages, such as C++ or Rust, with a deep understanding of language internals, performance optimization, and memory management
Experience with SaaS multitenant database architectures using RDBMS, and noSQL stores such as Elastic Search, Cassendra, and MongoDb
Deep understanding of SOA, web security architecture, REST APIs, event-driven architecture, and other architectural patterns
Experience with client-side MVC Frameworks (i.e., AngularJS, KnockoutJS) is a plus
Proficient with source control management repositories (such as GIT, SVN, etc.) and CM practices
Extensive experience writing high quality unit tests against mock objects
Good understanding of object oriented analysis and design
Demonstrated success in collaborating in a fast-paced team environment and delivering high-quality software products using established agile development methodologies (such as Scrum, Kanban, etc.) against formal schedules
Desired:
- Possess proven troubleshooting skills. Experience debugging complex issues using low-level debugging and profiling tools (e.g., GDB, LLDB, perf, Valgrind, or equivalent).
- Be curious, detail oriented, and analytical, with a proven ability to learn quickly
- Be customer-focused, team-oriented, and motivated, taking ownership of assigned tasks
- Have proven ability to self-manage, as well as manage interdisciplinary relationships
- Have proven verbal and written communication skills
#LI-REMOTE
The estimated base salary range for the Staff Software Engineer role based in the United States of America is: $155,600 - $233,400. Should the level or location of the role change during the hiring process, the applicable base pay range may be updated accordingly. The range reflects long‑term growth in the role; therefore, most candidates are hired between the minimum and middle of the range. Placement depends on experience, skills, location, and internal equity. Additionally, all employees are eligible for one of our variable cash programs (bonus or commission) and eligible roles may receive equity as part of the compensation package. We offer a wide range of benefits as innovative as our work, including access to genomics sequencing, family planning, health/dental/vision, retirement benefits, and paid time off.We are a company deeply rooted in belonging, promoting an inclusive environment where employees feel valued and empowered to contribute to our mission. Built on a strong foundation, Illumina has always prioritized openness, collaboration, and seeking alternative perspectives to propel innovation in genomics. We are proud to confirm a zero-net gap in pay, regardless of gender, ethnicity, or race. We also have several Employee Resource Groups (ERG) that deliver career development experiences, increase cultural awareness, and offer opportunities to engage in social responsibility. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer committed to providing employment opportunity regardless of sex, race, creed, color, gender, religion, marital status, domestic partner status, age, national origin or ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, sexual orientation, pregnancy, military or veteran status, citizenship status, and genetic information. Illumina conducts background checks on applicants for whom a conditional offer of employment has been made. Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with applicable local, state, and federal laws. Background check results may potentially result in the withdrawal of a conditional offer of employment. The background check process and any decisions made as a result shall be made in accordance with all applicable local, state, and federal laws. Illumina prohibits the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in the application and interview process. If you require accommodation to complete the application or interview process, please contact accommodations@illumina.com. To learn more, visit: https://www.dol.gov/ofccp/regs/compliance/posters/pdf/eeopost.pdf. The position will be posted until a final candidate is selected or the requisition has a sufficient number of qualified applicants. This role is not eligible for visa sponsorship.
Sample Illumina interview questions
- 1
Create a scalable system for managing versioned data across distributed systems.
system designmedium - 2
Lowest Common Ancestor on an N-ary Tree Find the lowest common ancestor on an N-ary tree. Input: root = [1,null,2,3,4], p = 2, q = 3 Output: 1 Explanation: Both nodes 2 and 3 are direct children of the root node 1, making 1 the lowest common ancestor.
technicalmedium - 3
Vertical Order Traversal Perform a vertical order traversal of a binary tree. Input: root = [1,2,3,4,5,6,7] Output: [[4],[2],[1,5,6],[3],[7]] Explanation: Traverses the tree maintaining column indices, seamlessly grouping nodes that share the exact same vertical alignment.
technicalmedium - 4
Count Anagrammatic Substrings Count the number of anagrammatic substrings from one string present in another. Input: s = "abab", p = "ab" Output: [0, 1, 2] Explanation: The substrings "ab", "ba", and "ab" starting at indices 0, 1, and 2 respectively are all anagrams of the string "ab".
technicalmedium - 5
Sort a String by Frequency Sort a string by the frequency of its characters. Input: s = "cccaaa" Output: "cccaaa" or "aaaccc" Explanation: Both 'c' and 'a' appear three times, so sorting them by descending frequency keeps them grouped equally.
technicalmedium
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