Software Development Engineer IV - Windows Instrumentation and Automation

Overview

Bruker is enabling scientists to make breakthrough discoveries and develop new applications that improve the quality of human life. Bruker’s high-performance scientific instruments and high-value analytical and diagnostic solutions enable scientists to explore life and materials at molecular, cellular, and microscopic levels. In close cooperation with our customers, Bruker is enabling innovation, improved productivity and customer success in life science molecular research, in applied and pharma applications, in microscopy and nanoanalysis, and in industrial applications, as well as in cell biology, preclinical imaging, clinical phenomics and proteomics research and clinical microbiology.

Today, worldwide more than 11,000 employees are working on this permanent challenge at over 90 locations on all continents. Bruker continues to build upon its extensive range of products and solutions, its broad base of installed systems and a strong reputation among its customers. Being one of the world’s leading analytical instrumentation companies, Bruker is strongly committed to further fully meeting its customers’ needs as well as continuing to develop state-of-the-art technologies and innovative solutions for today’s analytical questions.

The Bruker NANO group is seeking a Staff SW Engineer for Windows Instrumentation and Automation. The Senior Software Engineer will provide programming design and development for Bruker’s world leading nano-scale Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) product lines. You will work with other software developers, engineers, and scientists supporting and advancing the state-of-the art nanoscale systems technology by developing software from application design to hardware control. This position requires initiative, innovation, and responsibility working within a cooperative team environment to support existing and realize new customer products.

Location and Work Model

Santa Barbara, California, or fully remote. Remote employees must be able to collaborate effectively with a Santa Barbara-based team with no more than a three-hour time difference. Remote employees may be asked to travel to Santa Barbara up to two times per year.

Position Summary

Join the team building software for the world’s most capable automated atomic force microscopes used in leading semiconductor fabs. Our software operates precision hardware, turns complex measurements into reliable results, and gives scientists and engineers intuitive control over sophisticated instruments.

We are seeking a hands-on Staff Software Engineer to own architecture and implementation across Windows desktop applications, real-time and non-real-time instrument workflows, hardware integration, automation, data acquisition, processing, persistence, and interactive visualization. You will provide technical leadership without stepping away from production code.

This is a Windows desktop, scientific instrumentation, and hardware-control position. It is not a web, mobile, or cloud application development role. Candidates whose experience is primarily web application development will not meet the core requirements.

Agentic software development is part of how our team engineers software, not an occasional productivity aid. We use GitHub Copilot Business with leading AI models throughout design, implementation, testing, debugging, refactoring, and review. The successful candidate will bring meaningful production experience with AI coding agents and will be expected to use and advance these workflows responsibly.

Responsibilities

• Architect, design, implement, debug, test, and deploy production software for automated scientific instruments and semiconductor metrology systems.- Develop responsive, multithreaded Windows applications using C#, .NET, WPF, and modern C++/STL.- Integrate desktop software with precision motion, nano-positioning, vision, data-acquisition, control, and automation subsystems.- Design low-latency software that coordinates real-time hardware behavior with non-real-time workflows, data persistence, and intuitive interactive controls.- Own architecture for new capabilities and guide their integration into a mature product codebase through sound interfaces, layering, refactoring, and incremental delivery.- Diagnose complex behavior across software and hardware boundaries; lead technical investigations, articulate options and risks, and drive issues to resolution.- Lead software integration and product deployments in pa…