Also called: Scientific Software Engineer
Builds the software tools and cloud systems that scientists use to process biological data.
Writes and tests code that processes 10 terabytes of sequencing data in the cloud, fixes a bug that's slowing it down, and reviews a teammate's code.
Estimate; BLS software developers median ~$133k.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in computer science or bioinformatics.
Ways in: 4-year college, Self-taught. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Computer Science, Bioinformatics, Software Engineering.
Growing much faster than average (about 15% over 10 years). BLS software developers 2024-34 (approx).
Medium risk for 10 years. Like software development: AI writes much code, but building reliable pipelines that scientists trust still needs engineers.
Classes: AP Computer Science, AP Biology, AP Calculus.
Official data: O*NET occupation 15-1252.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.