Simons Foundation
Director/Senior Director of Research Software Engineering
160 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY · Director · Full-time
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Sponsors, but it's cap-subject — you still face the weighted lottery (~61% per draw at Level IV). Good if you win; have a cap-exempt backup on your list.
Lottery odds assume a STEM candidate.
Personalize to your clock →H-1B wage level
the lottery is wage-weighted — each level is one more entry
This range already reaches Level IV — the maximum four lottery entries.
DOL prevailing wage, 2026-27 wage year · Software Developers (15-1252) · New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ. Wage level is derived by USCIS from the offered wage, occupation and worksite; the occupation shown is inferred from the job title.
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About the role
- Informatics stewards the scientific data produced by A&N research programs across their full lifecycle - from collection and processing to sharing and analysis.
- The Director of Research Software Engineering will play a central role in that mission, leading the engineering team responsible for the software systems that make that complex scientific data accessible and useful to the broader research community.
- The RSE Director is part of a broader Informatics leadership team that includes study systems engineering, bioinformatics, and product analytics - each responsible for distinct stages of scientific data.
Responsibilities
- Drive Informatics-wide engineering standards (e.g., testing, documentation, code review, and security) across research software and ensure systems are reliable, maintainable, and scalable.
- Oversee the full-stack development and ongoing evolution of SFARI Base, the foundation's primary platform for researcher data access, while leading the design and development of new systems that give researchers richer ways to explore and analyze A&N scientific datasets.
- Manage, build, mentor, and scale a team of software engineers, drive adoption of modern engineering practices, and cultivate a team culture that values technical excellence, collaboration, and openness to new ideas.
- Collaborate closely with other Informatics teams and A&N program staff to understand researcher needs and translate them into software solutions.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Bioinformatics, or a related field
- 12+ years of software engineering experience, with 7+ years in a leadership or management role
- Proven experience leading full-stack software development teams, including modern web application development
- Strong proficiency in Python and experience with Python-based web development, including frameworks such as Django
- Excellent communication skills, with the ability to engage technical and non-technical audiences, including senior leadership
- Strong cross-functional collaboration skills, with a track record of working effectively with non-engineering stakeholders to translate needs into software solutions
Nice to have
- Advanced degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Bioinformatics, or a related field
- Expertise in bioinformatics, including experience with genomic data processing, analysis pipelines, and related computational methods
- Familiarity with AWS or other major cloud platforms
- Experience with high-performance computing (HPC) environments
- Please submit a résumé and cover letter stating your interest in the position.
- $255,000-$275,000, depending on experience.
- Our Commitment to Expanding Pathways to Science & Opportunities for All:
- Many of the greatest ideas and discoveries come from a diverse mix of minds, backgrounds, and experiences.
Skills
- Related Skills & Other Requirements
Compensation
- The full-time annual compensation range for the Director level is
- The full-time annual compensation range for the Senior Director level is $275,000-$310,000, depending on experience.
Benefits
- In addition to competitive salaries, the Simons Foundation provides employees with an outstanding benefits package.
Company info
- As part of the Informatics leadership team, they shape how AI is incorporated into A&N's research software and the broader researcher experience.
- This is a unique opportunity to shape how the research community accesses and works with some of the world's richest autism and neuroscience datasets, and to build the systems that define that experience.
This listing is sourced directly from Simons Foundation's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.