Data Engineer

Ginkgo Bioworks is a publicly traded (NYSE: $DNA), high-growth biotechnology company based in Boston’s Seaport District, that is redesigning the living world to solve some of the globe’s growing challenges in health, energy, food, material, and more. Our mission to “make biology easier to engineer” is poised to disrupt multiple industries by leveraging our innovative data, automation, and scale capabilities in biological engineering. 
In response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, we have launched a new division: Concentric by Ginkgo. We firmly believe that testing is an essential requirement to re-open the economy as quickly and safely as possible. Concentric is the largest provider of K-12 COVID-19 testing. We currently run state-level K-12 testing programs in more than 10 states and some of the nation’s largest school districts. To date, Concentric has sequenced more than 10,000 samples from a variety of sample types, in support of public health. As we continue to scale Concentric by Ginkgo, our work is also evolving and expanding into new and exciting directions. 
To help facilitate the Concentric initiative - and help drive our biosecurity work forward - we’re looking for a talented Data Engineer to join our team. With your expertise, you’ll help to build our Concentric platform that brings more COVID-19 testing to more people, with optimized testing programs that work across test modalities and a growing lab network. You’ll collaborate with a team of talented and diverse engineers and product managers, as well as experts in data analysis, bioinformatics, and epidemiology. You’ll design and maintain data pipelines, ETL/ELT workflows, data marts, and high quality views that empower data driven decision making for Concentric and our customers. You’ll continuously innovate new capabilities for Concentric’s platform to be the center of long-term biosecurity, and be part of the growing robust bioinformatics capabilities within Concentric. This is your chance to develop high quality data models that can truly leave an impact on the world.
We use PostgreSQL and Snowflake along with Tableau for internal-facing data tools, with DBT coming soon for the transformation layer. Our backend tech stack includes AWS, Aptible, Docker, Flask, Kubernetes, Postgres, and other modern tools and frameworks. Our languages of choice are Python and Javascript. While we don't expect you to be an expert in every platform, we do expect that you have a solid foundation in data engineering including top notch SQL skills, database and data warehouse design, data quality and cleaning, and to be able to master the technologies that we use today (and will adopt in the future). We expect you to learn the meaning behind our data, and the ways our data can bring value to the business and our customers.

Responsibilities

• Develop scalable data pipelines and transformations to support continuing increases in data volume, complexity, and use cases
• Develop solutions using Snowflake, Airflow, and DBT
• Work with the data platform team to continuously improve our data tech stack to ensure high data availability, consistency, and quality.Write and maintain complex queries as required for implementing ETL/ELT
• Participate in data collection and schema design discussions to ensure data is captured in a way that supports downstream use cases
• Identify, design, and implement internal process improvements: automating manual processes, optimizing data delivery, re-designing infrastructure for greater scalability, etc
• Work with analytics and stakeholder teams to support data-related technical issues and infrastructure needs.

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in associated field with 4+ years of relevant experience or Master’s degree with 3+ years of relevant experience 
• Expert-level skills in SQL
• Prior industry experience preferred

Preferred Capabilities and Experience

• Experience using Python, DBT, Airflow, or equivalent technologies
• Proficiency with Snowflake and the AWS cloud platform
• Proficiency with Git or comparable source control, and CI/CD tools
• Familiarity with data regulations such as HIPAA, GDPR, and SOX
• Familiarity with or interest in MLops and implementing statistical/ML/AI models
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Passion for understanding the meaning behind our data
• Familiarity with public health, epidemiology, and bioinformatics, with a passion for Concentrics mission to transform epidemiological surveillance
Please note: we don’t expect candidates to have all of these, so if you feel there is a good fit please consider applying!

Note on culture: Concentric by Ginkgo is a high energy, positive and fast paced environment where new challenges and opportunities arise every day, so this opportunity is ideal for people who thrive in those kinds of environments, and for people who like lots of variety in their day. There are lots of opportunities to learn and grow. The team is motivated by doing high impact work in service to society. To get a sense of the culture at Ginkgo, read some articles in Grow by Ginkgo, the company magazine we produce, which tells the story of synthetic biology in a Ginkgo-authentic way.
To learn more about Ginkgo, check out some recent press:What is it really like to take your company public via a SPAC? One Boston biotech shares its journey (Fortune)Ginkgo Bioworks resizes the definition of going big in biotech, raising $2.5B in a record SPAC deal that weighs in with a whopping $15B-plus valuation (Endpoints News)Ginkgo Bioworks CEO on scaling up Covid-19 testing: ‘If we try, we can win’ (CNBC)Ginkgo raises $70 million to ramp up COVID-19 testing for employers, universities (Boston Globe)Ginkgo Bioworks Redirects Its Biotech Platform to Coronavirus (Wall Street Journal)Ginkgo Bioworks Provides Support on Process Optimization to Moderna for COVID-19 Response (PRNewswire)The Life Factory: Synthetic Organisms From This $1.4 Billion Startup Will Revolutionize Manufacturing (Forbes)Synthetic Bio Pioneer Ginkgo Raises $290 Million in New Funding (Bloomberg)Ginkgo Bioworks raises $350 million fund for biotech spinouts (Reuters)Can This Company Convince You to Love GMOs? (The Atlantic)
We also feel that it’s important to point out the obvious here – there’s a serious lack of diversity in our industry, and that needs to change. Our goal is to help drive that change. Ginkgo is deeply committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion in all of its practices, especially when it comes to growing our team. Our culture promotes inclusion and embraces how rewarding it is to work with people from all walks of life.  
We’re developing a powerful biological engineering platform, so we must remain mindful of the many ways our technology can – and will – impact people around the world. We care about how our platform is used, and having a diverse team to build it gives us the best chance that it’s something we’ll be proud of as it continues to grow. Therefore, it’s critical that we incorporate the diverse voices and visions of all those who play a role in the future of biology.
It is the policy of Ginkgo Bioworks to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and employment applicants.