Director, Software Engineering (Remote)

Why join Freenome?

Freenome is a high-growth biotech company developing tests to detect cancer using a standard blood draw. To do this, Freenome uses a multiomics platform that combines tumor and non-tumor signals with machine learning to find cancer in its earliest, most-treatable stages. 

Cancer is relentless. This is why Freenome is building the clinical, economic, and operational evidence to drive cancer screening and save lives. Our first screening test is for colorectal cancer (CRC) and advanced adenomas, and it’s just the beginning. 

Founded in 2014, Freenome has ~500 employees and more than $1.1B in funding from key investors, such as the American Cancer Society, Andreessen Horowitz, Anthem Blue Cross, Bain Capital, Colorectal Cancer Alliance, DCVC, Fidelity, Google Ventures, Kaiser Permanente, Novartis, Perceptive Advisors, RA Capital, Roche, Sands Capital, T. Rowe Price, and Verily.  

At Freenome, we aim to impact patients by empowering everyone to prevent, detect, and treat their disease. This, together with our high-performing culture of respect and cross-collaboration, is what motivates us to make every day count. 

Become a Freenomer

Do you have what it takes to be a Freenomer? A “Freenomer” is a determined, mission-driven, results-oriented employee fueled by the opportunity to change the landscape of cancer and make a positive impact on patients’ lives. Freenomers bring their diverse experience, expertise, and personal perspective to solve problems and push to achieve what’s possible, one breakthrough at a time.

About this opportunity:

At Freenome, we are seeking a Director of Software Engineering to lead our diagnostic product teams that are building a platform for early cancer detection blood tests..  The ideal candidate is a servant-leader that is comfortable managing a growing team, navigating ambiguity and adapting to rapid change.  You are passionate about building a healthy, collaborative work environment and are a steward of our cultural values.  You have demonstrated the ability to lead teams in building software in a regulatory industry and you have the potential to have a significant impact on the continued growth of a high profile technology organization that is changing the landscape on early cancer detection.

The role reports to our Senior Director, Software Engineering.

What you’ll do:

Execution Excellence:

• Provide direct, strategic and tactical leadership to your department 
• Provide leadership in developing new strategies, methodologies, and solutions to improve execution towards department- and company-level objectives
• Partner with our QA Department to ensure the highest level of regulatory compliance with recognized quality best practice
• Translate business segment strategy into cross-functional plans and guide plan execution
• Accountable for the performance and results of your department (Monitoring performance and initiating action to strengthen results)
• Proactively communicate cross-functionally with key stakeholders to adapt as needed through reprioritization and alignment 
• Ensure budgets, resourcing and timelines meet company requirements
• Empowers department to take calculated risks and make mistakes as a team but collectively learn from these experiences, ensuring institutional knowledge is retained and applied in the future
• Comfortable navigating ambiguity, using trial and error to thoughtfully iterate towards the best solution balancing time and resource constraints
• Anticipate factors that could cause issues that have departmental or cross-functional impact and formulates preventive strategies

Communication and Collaboration:

• Proactively requests feedback from others and are open to continuous feedback
• Consistently delivers actionable and timely feedback to people at all levels in a way that strengthens relationships and enables functional initiatives to advance more quickly
• Provide consistent communications to key functional and cross-functional stakeholders on progress and updates 
• Guides department in effective communication and collaboration, avoiding triangulation or churn and fostering direct communication
• Adapts communications to audience requirements to optimize understanding and results, adapting to diverse communication styles
• Build and maintain strong, healthy relationships with cross-functional peers 
• Provide representation for your department to executive leadership through reporting, presentations and Quarterly Business Review type meetings

Culture::

• Lead by example, integrate and reinforce our Values and Principles as much as possible
• Coaches and provides guidance to direct reports to foster our Values and Principles across departments
• Recognizes Values and Principles gaps in your department on an ongoing basis and implement solutions and creates opportunities to grow in those areas

People Leadership:

• Coach managers and leads on how to develop their teams and execute on development plans
• Actively identifies internal transfer and growth opportunities, empowering team members to pursue them
• Perform quarterly talent reviews 
• Addresses performance issues with direct, constructive and actionable feedback
• Provides inspiration and leads department towards the company mission, vision, and culture
• Gives direction and organizational clarity in roles and responsibilities to execute on department and company OKRs more effectively
• Effectively cascades organizational strategy and contributes to the development of organizational procedures
• Actively involved in recruitment, attracting and retaining top talent to build high performing teams

Must haves:

• BS, MS or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Engineering or a related field; or equivalent training, fellowship, or work experience
• 5+ years of experience in engineering leadership and management
• 3+ years of programming experience with a track record of building and deploying software as part of a high-functioning team
• 3+ years experience leading teams in a highly regulated environment
• Proven expertise in building high performance teams
• A demonstrated ability to structure, grow, and optimize a team for execution, including attracting top talent and filling in gaps in the existing team quickly to accommodate growth
• Experience with project management and prioritization, risk management, problem-solving, and resource planning
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills up, down and sideways
• Strong leadership and collaboration skills

Nice to haves:

• Experience in biotechnology, bioinformatics, regulated software, or similar field 
• Experience in a startup environment
• Experience leading teams developing software as part of a Medical Device
• Exposure to big data, especially biological and clinical data

Benefits and additional information:

The US target range of our base salary for new hires is $221,000 - $300,000. You will also be eligible to receive pre-IPO equity, cash bonuses, and a full range of medical, financial, and other benefits dependent on the position offered.  Please note that individual total compensation for this position will be determined at the Company’s sole discretion and may vary based on several factors, including but not limited to, location, skill level, years and depth of relevant experience, and education. We invite you to check out our career page @ https://careers.freenome.com/ for additional company information.  

Freenome is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and we value diversity. Freenome does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, marital status, age, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, pregnancy, genetic information, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, or any other status protected under federal, state, or local law.

Applicants have rights under Federal Employment Laws.  

• Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
• Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)
• Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA)

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