Software Specialist

Company Description

At GitLife, we are building the future of traceability and collaboration in synthetic biology. Our flagship platform, CellRepo, enables scientists and organisations to version-control living materials with the same ease that developers track code. By combining cutting-edge software engineering with life sciences, we're empowering researchers, startups, and industry partners to make biology more reliable, transparent, and scalable.

We're a small, interdisciplinary team with big ambitions – and we're looking for someone to own the development of CellRepo as we scale it into the global standard for biological traceability.

Role Description

We're seeking a Software Specialist with a background in synthetic biology, computational biology, or bioinformatics. This isn't a back-office coding role – you'll be working directly with our clients and users, helping them onboard, understanding their pain points, and co-designing solutions.

Your mission: make CellRepo intuitive, robust, and indispensable for biologists worldwide.

The role is remote/hybrid-friendly, but because our clients are working at the lab bench, you'll occasionally need to travel within the UK to meet them face-to-face. Strong interpersonal and communication skills are just as important here as your technical expertise.

What You'll Do

• Work closely with CellRepo users to provide technical support, identify friction points and translate their needs into practical software solutions.
• Implement a smooth CellRepo onboarding process and onboard new users to the platform.
• Lead the development lifecycle: specification, documentation, design, coding, testing, deployment.
• Build scalable and secure systems using Ruby on Rails, , AWS S3, and Heroku (or equivalents).
• Design and implement modern front-end interfaces and graphical user tools tailored for life sciences applications.
• Architect and maintain web services and APIs that enable seamless integrations.
• Implement Agile practices and CI/CD pipelines to deliver results quickly and reliably.
• Run performance profiling, stress testing, and security reviews to ensure robustness under real-world conditions.
• Collaborate with colleagues, partners, and customers to develop prototypes, explore feasibility, and push the boundaries of what CellRepo can do.

What we're Looking for

• Experience in computational biology, bioinformatics, or synthetic biology.
• Hands-on full-stack development experience (Rails, , JavaScript, cloud deployment).
• Strong grasp of modern front-end frameworks (React, Vue, or similar) and UX design for complex scientific workflows.
• Proven ability to run Agile projects and deliver on deadlines.
• Experience with CI/CD, test-driven development, and deployment best practices.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills – you enjoy engaging with users as much as building features.
• Willingness to travel occasionally within the UK for client meetings and workshops.

What we're Looking for

• Shape the future of synthetic biology software – you'll have direct ownership of a product that is redefining how researchers work with living systems.
• Interdisciplinary environment – work at the cutting edge of computing and biology, alongside scientists, entrepreneurs, and innovators.
• Flexible working – remote-first with hybrid options, plus autonomy to manage your schedule.
• Impactful collaborations – partner with universities, biotech startups, and industry leaders who are shaping tomorrow's technologies.
• Growth opportunity – as one of our early engineer
  s
  , you'll help define our technical direction and grow with the company.

How to Apply

If this sounds like you, we'd love to hear from you. Please send your CV, portfolio/GitHub