The Staff Data Engineer will manage the end-to-end data lifecycle, develop data pipelines, ensure compliance, and mentor team members in a hybrid role focused on early cancer detection.
Our mission is to detect cancer early, when it can be cured. We are working to change the trajectory of cancer mortality and bring stakeholders together to adopt innovative, safe, and effective technologies that can transform cancer care.
We are a healthcare company, pioneering new technologies to advance early cancer detection. We have built a multi-disciplinary organization of scientists, engineers, and physicians and we are using the power of next-generation sequencing (NGS), population-scale clinical studies, and state-of-the-art computer science and data science to overcome one of medicine’s greatest challenges.
GRAIL is headquartered in the bay area of California, with locations in Washington, D.C., North Carolina, and the United Kingdom. It is supported by leading global investors and pharmaceutical, technology, and healthcare companies.
For more information, please visit grail.com
GRAIL is seeking a Staff Software Engineer for the Data Team. This team designs, builds, and operates the software systems that manage GRAIL’s end-to-end data lifecycle, from sample ingestion through downstream analysis, while meeting rigorous clinical, regulatory, and privacy standards. Our work directly supports clinical research, operations, and decision-making in the fight against cancer.
In this role, you will take technical ownership of systems that produce trusted, analysis-ready datasets for use across GRAIL’s research and clinical programs. This is a software engineering role focused on building complex production-grade systems that work with data in dynamic, regulated environments as opposed to assembling off-the-shelf ETL tools or writing SQL heavy pipelines,.This position offers significant autonomy and scope for impact. You’ll collaborate closely with research, clinical lab operations, and scientific teams, and lead efforts to improve how we structure, validate, and deliver critical scientific and clinical data.
This is a hybrid role based in either Menlo Park, CA (moving to Sunnyvale, CA in Fall 2026) or Durham, NC. Our current hybrid policy requires on-site presence at least 60% of the time, including key in-person collaboration days.
Responsibilities
- Design and implement software systems that turn raw clinical, lab, and operational data into reliable, analysis-ready datasets
- Partner with scientists, clinicians, lab operations, and data teams to understand data generation, transformation, and usage needs
- Develop services, libraries, data models, and workflow components that enforce data integrity, access control, and compliance by design
- Navigate complex data requirements such as schema evolution, blinding, consent, and privacy compliance
- Collaborate on cross-functional initiatives involving data quality, testing strategy, monitoring, and operational excellence
- Lead software engineering efforts for long-lived systems that must evolve alongside active clinical and research programs
- Mentor engineers and collaborate with scientists to ensure software decisions support both technical and scientific outcomes
- [Contribute to documentation, onboarding materials, and processes that support cross-functional adoption and data literacy across teams]
- [Participate in incident response or investigation processes related to data quality or availability issues in production systems]
These responsibilities summarize the role’s primary responsibilities and are not an exhaustive list. They may change at the company’s discretion.
Required Qualifications
- 7+ years of experience building production-grade software systems
- Strong software engineering fundamentals, including system design, data modeling, API design, and writing well-tested production code.
- Experience building and operating data-intensive software systems, not just declarative pipelines or SQL-only workflows
- Proficiency in Go or Python (or similar general-purpose language)
- Experience with data modeling, validation, and transforming real-world data into usable formats
- BS in Computer Science, Engineering or Bioinformatics, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
Preferred Qualifications
- 2+ years experience working in regulated or clinical data environments (e.g., HIPAA, CLIA, GCP, FDA compliance)
- Direct experience working with or supporting scientific teams (e.g., bioinformatics, wet lab, clinical research)
- Experience designing systems that manage laboratory or bioinformatics data (e.g., LIMS, sequencing pipelines, assay metadata)
- Familiarity with GxP practices and regulatory reporting requirements in clinical studies is a plus
- Prior experience working in biotech, diagnostics, or life sciences companies
- Experience supporting sample tracking, structured scientific data pipelines, or cross-functional data lifecycle management
- Experience designing systems with data sequestration, permissioning, or privacy controls
- Experience writing or contributing to software libraries, shared tooling, or reusable components used by other teams
- Advanced degree (MS or PhD) in computer science, engineering, bioinformatics or a related discipline
Expected full time annual base pay scale for the RTP area is $142K-$200K. Actual base pay will consider skills, experience and location.
This role may be eligible for other forms of compensation, including an annual bonus and/or incentives, subject to the terms of the applicable plans and Company discretion. This range reflects a good-faith estimate of the range that the Company reasonably expects to pay for the position upon hire; the actual compensation offered may vary depending on factors such as the candidate’s qualifications. Employees in this role are also eligible for GRAIL’s comprehensive and competitive benefits package, offered in accordance with our applicable plans and policies. This package currently includes flexible time-off or vacation; a 401(k) retirement plan with employer match; medical, dental, and vision coverage; and carefully selected mindfulness programs.
GRAIL is an equal employment opportunity employer, and we are committed to building a workplace where every individual can thrive, contribute, and grow. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, status as a protected veteran, , or any other class or characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, and local laws. Additionally, GRAIL will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records in a manner consistent with applicable law and provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. Please contact us at [email protected] if you require an accommodation to apply for an open position.
GRAIL maintains a drug-free workplace. We welcome job-seekers from all backgrounds to join us!
Top Skills
Apache Airflow
AWS
Aws Glue
Azure
Dbt
Go
GCP
Kubernetes
Python
R
Spark
SQL
Terraform
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