Physical Electronics USA seeks a Software Architect to guide the long-term technical direction of its instrument software platform. The role blends architectural leadership with hands-on software development in hardware control, automation workflows, and scientific data analysis. This onsite position is based in Chanhassen, MN, with a compensation range of USD 115,000 to 140,000 per year.
Responsibilities
- Guide the long-term architecture and evolution of PHI’s instrument software platform
- Design and implement robust object-oriented software systems for instrument control, automation, and data analysis
- Define and improve API architecture that enables modular, extensible, and maintainable software systems
- Identify opportunities to improve system architecture, scalability, reliability, and maintainability
- Contribute to the modernization and evolution of existing software platforms
- Work with scientists and engineers to translate analytical procedures into reliable automation workflows
- Improve the user experience of complex instrumentation software
- Mentor software engineers and provide architectural guidance across the development team
- Lead design discussions and participate in architecture and code reviews
- Collaborate with engineering teams in the United States and Japan
Requirements
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related technical discipline
- 8+ years of professional software development experience
- Strong expertise in object-oriented software design and architecture
- Experience designing modular systems and API-based architectures
- Experience developing complex software systems involving automation, workflow management, or hardware integration
- Excellent analytical, troubleshooting, and problem-solving skills
- Strong communication skills and ability to work effectively in cross-disciplinary teams
About Physical Electronics
Physical Electronics USA (PHI) is the world’s leading supplier of ultra-high vacuum surface analysis instrumentation. PHI develops sophisticated software that controls complex scientific instruments, orchestrates automated experiments, acquires scientific data, and enables advanced analysis workflows. Our engineers collaborate closely with scientists and multidisciplinary engineering teams to translate analytical workflows into reliable software systems.
Position Overview
PHI is seeking a Software Architect to guide the long-term technical direction of our instrument software platform. This role combines deep software development expertise with architectural leadership in a multidisciplinary environment involving hardware control, automation workflows, and scientific data analysis. The Software Architect will help evolve PHI’s software platform while maintaining the reliability and performance required for advanced analytical instrumentation used by research institutions and industry worldwide. This role is expected to provide architectural vision, mentor engineers, and remain actively involved in hands-on software development.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience developing software for scientific instruments, laboratory systems, or industrial equipment
- Experience designing automation frameworks or workflow-driven systems
- Experience integrating software with hardware control systems or data acquisition systems
- Experience improving user experience for complex technical applications
- Experience or vision for modernizing or evolving large legacy software systems
Ideal Candidate
The ideal candidate enjoys solving complex system-level problems that involve both software and physical instrumentation. They bring architectural vision while remaining hands-on in development, and they enjoy working closely with scientists and engineers to build reliable systems that support advanced materials research.
Why Work at PHI
- Work on sophisticated scientific instruments used by leading research institutions and advanced manufacturing companies
- Collaborate with experts in materials science, engineering, and software development
- See your software interact directly with real instrumentation and scientific experiments
- Contribute to technology that helps advance next-generation materials and devices
