Life at Nautilus Interview with Denise Miller – Associate Director of Software Engineering

Denise Miller, Associate Director of Software Engineering, comes to Nautilus with extensive experience in medical robotics and work at the intersection of software engineering, robotics, and biology. Among other things, she’s developed devices that help surgeons identify organs, avoid sensitive tissues, and insert implants at precise locations. Having developed tools that guide treatments, she’s excited to work at Nautilus where our technology may enable the development of not just treatments but cures for all kinds of ailments. 

Why do you enjoy working at the intersection of software engineering and biology?

I love building and fixing things and have always wanted to be an engineer. This love extends throughout all facets of my life. For example, my husband and I built a light-up skirt for our wedding and won a silver medal in a robotics competition. Even when I had a bookkeeping job in college, I found myself thinking about ways to improve the bookkeeping software. Building things, fixing things, and being a good software engineer are core parts of my being. 

Nonetheless, as part of my engineering degree, I took biology classes, and I was absolutely fascinated. I want to use my skills to save the world, and applying those skills to problems in biology seemed like a perfect fit as I started my career. This has proven to be the case. I am continually inspired by the achievements that come from leveraging software development and engineering to learn more about biology. 

Why did you choose to work at Nautilus? 

I loved my previous roles in surgical robotics. The people were fantastic, and we got to do many cool things. However, I recently had a very personal experience with cancer that left me determined to use my skills to stop this devastating disease. I’ve always helped people through my volunteer activities and my efforts in robotics have helped treat ailments, but now I want to take the next step and develop a technology that might cure devastating diseases like cancer. When I read about Nautilus and the largely untapped potential of proteomics, the alignment couldn’t have been better.

What stands out about working at Nautilus?

First and foremost, people here are deeply motivated to make the Nautilus Platform successful without letting their egos get in the way. We have the kind of culture where people push for needed changes, get their teams on board, and execute quickly. People here really understand what our platform does and how improvements will impact scientists. 

As a part of this, scientists are themselves directly involved in the development of the platform. In my previous roles, we made products and sold them to our end users. Of course we consulted users during development, but here the end-users (scientists) are deeply integrated into the product development process. I think we have a much better understanding of how to make the platform the best it can be as a result.

Moreover, the levels of cross-functional expertise and leadership here are amazing. All the way up to the executive management, people have a keen understanding of how our technology works. The leadership can jump in to help or provide meaningful guidance on a day-to-day basis. It’s not just, “I want this done by this date.” Instead, everyone has a deep appreciation for the interconnected parts of our platform and the detailed work necessary to bring it to scientists. 

How would you characterize your own leadership style?

I try to live up to the ideal of a cross-functional and knowledgeable leader. As such, I strive to thoroughly understand the challenges faced by my team members and provide them with useful guidance or hands-on help as necessary. I truly love my job and love coming to work every day, so I want my team to feel that way too. I don’t think I could be a good leader if I didn’t jump into the trenches every now and again. I occasionally even help code.  

I enjoy management because I get to support many cool people while seeing all the interconnections between teams and the various components of the Nautilus Platform. I would be a bad manager if I didn’t use my knowledge of the whole system to help my team members solve their specific problems. I think all the leaders at this company feel similarly, and it makes me confident that we’ll be successful.