Senior Staff Software Engineer, Research Systems

Gilead’s mission is to discover, develop, and deliver therapies that will improve the lives of patients with life-threatening illnesses worldwide.

The Senior Staff Software Engineer serves as the primary support and operations lead for Research Informatics services. This role focuses on communication, training, documentation, user support, and operational excellence for systems used across drug discovery. The individual serves as the frontline communication channel for scientists, ensuring requests are addressed efficiently, information is communicated clearly, and platforms are effectively adopted.

The position combines user support, departmental communications, training, documentation, and Dotmatics project page administration. The role works closely with scientists, engineers, business analysts, platform owners, and IT to ensure systems remain useful, well-documented, and aligned with scientific needs.

Key Responsibilities

User Support & Request Coordination

• Serve as the frontline communication channel for Research Informatics.

• Monitor, prioritize, and coordinate user requests, questions, and enhancements.

• Coordinate issue resolution with platform teams and other RI staff.

• Escalate issues and communicate status to stakeholders.

Department Communications

• Develop and distribute communications related to Research Informatics platforms, releases, outages, process changes, and training opportunities.

• Manage communication channels, announcements, and distribution lists.

• Coordinate communications for software upgrades and organizational initiatives.

• Maintain visibility of support activities, services, and platform capabilities.

Training & User Enablement

• Lead onboarding for new users.

• Deliver training sessions, workshops, and office hours.

• Create and maintain training materials, reference guides, and self-service resources.

Documentation & Knowledge Management

• Maintain Confluence spaces, Jira resources, and departmental knowledge bases.

• Create and update SOPs, user guides, FAQs, workflow documentation, and training materials.

• Ensure documentation remains current and aligned with supported processes.

Dotmatics Project Page Administration

• Create and manage project spaces, templates, metadata, dashboards, and project content.

• Configure and maintain Dotmatics project pages following departmental standards.

Request Tracking & Operational Coordination

• Manage support activities through Jira.

• Track incidents, requests, enhancements, and operational tasks.

• Prepare operational metrics and adoption reports.

• Coordinate activities across RI, IT, vendors, and scientific stakeholders.

Platform Operations

• Support testing, validation, and deployment activities.

• Participate in change management and operational readiness reviews.

• Coordinate user acceptance testing and communications.

• Support vendor interactions and continuous improvement of support processes., + Develop Talent - understand the skills, experience, aspirations and potential of their employees and coach them on current performance and future potential. They ensure employees are receiving the feedback and insight needed to grow, develop and realize their purpose.

• Empower Teams - connect the team to the organization by aligning goals, purpose, and organizational objectives, and holding them to account. They provide the support needed to remove barriers and connect their team to the broader ecosystem.

• Bachelor’s degree with 6+ years relevant experience; OR

• Master’s degree with 4+ years relevant experience; OR

• PhD with relevant experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting scientific software platforms or research informatics systems.

• Experience with ELNs, registration systems, scientific databases, or research applications.

• Experience with Jira, Confluence, and knowledge-management platforms.

• Strong customer-service, communication, and problem-solving skills.

The focus at this level is execution, coordination, communication, training, and operational excellence.

Promotion Indicator: Advancement from this grade occurs when an individual is measured primarily by the services, standards, processes, and organizational improvements they create rather than the activities they personally perform.

The salary range for this position is: $146,540.00 - $189,640.00. Gilead considers a variety of factors when determining base compensation, including experience, qualifications, and geographic location. These considerations mean actual compensation will vary. This position may also be eligible for a discretionary annual bonus, discretionary stock-based long-term incentives (eligibility may vary based on role), paid time off, and a benefits package. Benefits include company-sponsored medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans*.

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Foster City, CA)

At Gilead, we’re creating a healthier world for all people. For more than 35 years, we’ve tackled diseases such as HIV, viral hepatitis, COVID-19 and cancer - working relentlessly to develop therapies that help improve lives and to ensure access to these therapies across the globe. We continue to fight against the world’s biggest health challenges, and our mission requires collaboration, determination and a relentless drive to make a difference.

Every member of Gilead’s team plays a critical role in the discovery and development of life-changing scientific innovations. Our employees are our greatest asset as we work to achieve our bold ambitions, and we’re looking for the next wave of passionate and ambitious people ready to make a direct impact.

We believe every employee deserves a great leader. People Leaders are the cornerstone to the employee experience at Gilead and Kite. As a people leader now or in the future, you are the key driver in evolving our culture and creating an environment where every employee feels included, developed and empowered to fulfil their aspirations. Join Gilead and help create possible, together., Gilead Sciences, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company that has pursued and achieved breakthroughs in medicine for more than three decades, with the goal of creating a healthier world for all people. The company is committed to advancing innovative medicines to prevent and treat life-threatening diseases, including HIV, viral hepatitis and cancer. Gilead operates in more than 35 countries worldwide, with headquarters in Foster City, California.