Application Software Architect - Scientific Instrumentation

Application Software Architect - Scientific Instrumentation

Location:Santa Clara, CA

Bay Area - Primarily onsite with occasional remote flexibility

Role Summary:

We're hiring an Application Software Architect to define and evolve the top-tier software layer for next-generation CRDS systems. This layer sits above the embedded systems and below the UI/UX, orchestrating instrument control, data handling, and workflow logic. You'll modernize a large legacy codebase while instituting clean code practices, robust documentation, scalability, deployability, and high testing rigor - ensuring our software is as precise and reliable as our hardware.

Key Responsibilities:

• Define and evolve the application layer architecture with clear module boundaries, well-defined interfaces, and strong separation of concerns
• Modernize a large, legacy codebase through refactoring, repository standardization, dependency management, and incremental migration strategies
• Establish and enforce coding standards, code review processes, and documentation practices
• Build rigorous testing strategies - unit, integration, and system-level - integrated into CI pipelines
• Design and maintain stable interfaces with embedded/FPGA services and UI/UX layers
• Optimize application performance, reliability, and observability through profiling, logging, and resource management
• Oversee production readiness including packaging, deployment strategies, and configuration management

Qualifications:

• BS/MS in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related field
• 10+ years developing application-level software for complex hardware systems, preferably in scientific or industrial instrumentation
• Proven success modernizing large legacy codebases
• Proficiency in C++ and/or Python, with experience in IPC/messaging and data serialization (e.g., gRPC/REST, protobuf/JSON)
• Experience with CI/CD systems, automated testing frameworks, and code quality enforcement
• Strong collaboration skills across software and hardware engineering domains

The salary range for this role is $190K to $210K annually. Our total compensation packages includes base salary, bonus eligibility, and equity.

Why Join Us?

Shape the architecture of software that powers some of the most advanced measurement systems in the world, working with a multidisciplinary team committed to engineering excellence.

About Picarro:

Picarro, Inc. is the world's leading producer of greenhouse gas and optical stable isotope instruments, which are used in a wide variety of scientific and industrial applications, including: atmospheric science, air quality, greenhouse gas measurements, gas leak detection, food safety, hydrology, ecology and more. The company's products are all designed and manufactured at Picarro's Santa Clara, California headquarters and exported to countries worldwide. Picarro's products are based on dozens of patents related to cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) technology. Picarro's solutions are unparalleled in their precision, ease of use, portability, and reliability.

Honors awarded the Company include the World Economic Forum Technology Innovation Pioneer, IHS CERA Energy Innovation Pioneer, the U.S. Department of Energy Small Business of the Year, the TiE50 Winner and the Red Herring Global 100 Winner.

Key investors include Benchmark Capital Partners, Greylock Management Corporation, Duff, Ackerman & Goodrich, Stanford University, Focus Ventures, Mingxin China Growth Ltd., NTT Finance and Weston Presidio Capital.