About this role
About Inari...
Inari is the SEEDesign™ company. We embrace the diversity and complexity of nature in every aspect of our business to drive innovation – to push the boundaries of what is possible. Through our unrivaled technology platform, Inari uses predictive design and advanced multiplex gene editing to develop step-change products. We are taking a nature positive approach to unlock the full potential of seeds that will transform the food system. The results will lead to more productive acres delivering value creation for farmers and a more sustainable future for our planet.
Our success is dependent on great minds, collaborating to generate bright ideas and deliver exceptional outcomes.
We have 200 employees, with research sites in Cambridge, MA (USA) and Ghent (Belgium), as well as a product development site in West Lafayette, IN (USA). We’ve deliberately built a team that brings diversity of thought to all aspects of our business, to generate new ideas, approaches, and ways of operating. And we've intentionally combined experience with potential, bringing agriculture industry experts with the desire to innovate together with bright minds from academia, human therapeutics, software, and consulting. If you want to be part of a diverse and inclusive team developing unique solutions to feed the world while protecting our planet’s natural resources, we’d love to hear from you!
About the role...
The Opportunity
Inari is transforming agriculture through predictive design and AI - and the platform powering that mission matters enormously. We're looking for a senior engineer who will play a key role in shaping Inari’s Data & AI Platform and be a force multiplier for our engineering team.
This role is for someone who loves the architecture whiteboard, the messy integration problem, the well-designed API, and the occasional "why is this thing broken in prod?" mystery. You'll take ownership of building and scaling the systems and capabilities that bring our Data & AI platform together – powering internal applications, tools, data workflows, AI systems that our scientists and engineers rely on every day to advance our predictive design engine and product pipelines. You’ll be a key member of the platform engineering team while being able to shape the system architecture of Inari.
What You'll Do
- Design, build, and operate core platform services that power Inari's Data & AI ecosystem, including APIs, agentic workflows, MCP servers, and internal developer tooling.
- Build reusable platform foundations (authentication and authorization, CI/CD, infrastructure as code, observability, deployment frameworks) so engineering teams can build, deploy, and operate applications and AI solutions through self-service.
- Build and evolve the integration layer across software, data, AI/ML, and scientific computing platforms. This includes backend services, event-driven systems, and workflow orchestration across AWS, Databricks, SageMaker, Kubernetes, Quilt/S3, and Bedrock.
- Own the reliability, scalability, security, and operational health of platform services, with a steady focus on automation, performance, and developer experience.
- Drive engineering excellence through architecture discussions, code reviews, documentation, and reusable patterns and standards.
What You'll Bring
Required
- 4+ years of experience in software engineering, platform engineering, systems engineering, or related technical roles.
- Strong hands-on experience designing and building distributed systems, platform services, or cloud-native infrastructure, ideally in data, AI, or scientific computing environments.
- Proficiency in Python and hands-on experience with AWS and serverless architecture.
- Experience building and integrating complex systems such as APIs, orchestration frameworks, data pipelines, workflow platforms, internal tools, or AI/ML infrastructure.
- Experience deploying and operating containerized applications in production Kubernetes environments.
- Hands-on experience with infrastructure as code (Terraform preferred), CI/CD pipelines, and observability tooling.
- Clear communication skills, with the ability to explain technical designs, tradeoffs, and operational considerations to engineers and cross-functional partners.
- A bias toward building modular, reusable, scalable systems that teams can use and operate.
Great to have
- Experience building AI-enabled platforms, including agentic systems, MCPs, RAG pipelines, model-serving infrastructure, or similar technologies.
- Familiarity with modern data and AI platforms such as Airflow, Databricks, SageMaker, MLflow, or Quilt.
- Experience implementing authentication, authorization, secrets management, auditability, and least-privilege access patterns.
- Background in life sciences, agriculture, biotechnology, or other scientific computing environments.
Why You'll Love This Role
- Build the platform behind the science. Turn scientists' big ideas into infrastructure that actually ships. We have a collaborative culture that enables our innovation.
- Play in a rare technical sandbox. AI, biology, data, cloud, APIs, MCPs. Boring isn't on the menu.
- Untangle the knots. Apps, pipelines, AI workflows, and scientific systems that grew independently and apart. You get them working together.
- Build for people who'll push the limits. Scientists and engineers need real horsepower, not a toy.
- Leave your fingerprints on what Inari builds next. Your platform decisions become the defaults everyone else builds on.
Inari pays competitively and rewards results.
The salary range for this position is $127,000 - $175,000. Whether you are full-time or part-time, Inari provide three different components of pay – base, short-term incentive, and long-term equity along with a one-time new hire stock option grant. That's rare!
We also offer a comprehensive benefits package including both a Preferred Provider Network (PPO) and High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) with a company-funded health savings account (HSA), vision, dental, and several flexible spending accounts (FSA), a host of voluntary benefits, and a robust wellness program. In addition, Inari offers a 401k plan with a company matching and a flexible paid time off policy.
Consistent with our commitment to pay transparency, salary range information is being disclosed. Please note that offers are based on the candidate's qualifications & experience as well as market demand.
Inari is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.
Learn more about us:
About Inari: https://inari.com/about/
Multiplex Gene Editing – The Key to Unlocking the Full Potential of Seed: https://inari.com/multiplex-gene-editing-matters-for-the-population-the-planet-and-the-people-who-grow-our-food/
The Promise of AI in Plant Breeding: https://inari.com/the-promise-of-ai-in-plant-breeding-2/
Unseen Upside Podcast: AI & Agriculture – Data-Driven Fields, Resilient Futures: https://www.cambridgeassociates.com/podcasts/agriculture/
AgTech Breakthrough AgTech Company of the Year: https://inari.com/inari-repeats-as-agtech-company-of-the-year/
Bloomberg: Inari AgTech Startup: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-07/agtech-startup-inari-raises-equity-at-2-17-billion-valuation
BBC: Disaster-Proofing Crops: https://inari.com/bbc-news-how-crops-are-being-disaster-proofed/
Reuters: Gene Editing Wheat: https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/australian-trial-gene-edited-wheat-aims-10-bigger-yields-2024-05-23/#:~:text=CANBERRA%2C%20May%2023%20(Reuters),and%20make%20farming%20more%20sustainable
Inari at Databricks Data + AI Summit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJG-r3ob-n0
Job Applicant Privacy Notice: https://inari.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Job-Applicant-Privacy-Notice.pdf
FOR U.S. CANDIDATES: Please note that we use the resume you submit with your application during our background check process. To ensure an efficient and accurate background verification, we kindly ask that you carefully review and accurately represent your work history, education and other relevant information on your resume. Any discrepancies or inaccuracies found during the background check may impact your candidacy for the position.
Inari Agriculture provides immigration sponsorship for candidates in certain qualified roles that meet performance criteria. However, the company will not provide sponsorship to H-1B candidates whose employment would require payment of the $100,000 fee mandated by the Presidential Proclamation “Restriction on Entry of Certain Nonimmigrant Workers.