Senior Automation Scientist/Engineer — Biologics Engineering
$124,714–$187,070 year
On-siteGaithersburg, Maryland, United States
Job Summary
Design, integrate, and optimize robotics, high-throughput systems, and data workflows across biologics engineering by partnering with scientists to map assays and translate requirements into fit-for-purpose automation solutions. Serve as technical authority for scheduling software and scripting environments, guiding design decisions, resolving complex issues, and driving root cause analysis for shared automation platforms. Own reliability and continuous improvement of deployed workflows, ensuring rapid troubleshooting and sustained performance while mentoring junior engineers and influencing project direction.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's or advanced degree in life sciences, engineering, computer science, or a related field
- 4+ years of relevant industry experience
- Experience integrating automation with R&D bench science in a biologics, drug discovery, or related life sciences setting
- Deep hands-on experience with diverse laboratory automation platforms, liquid handlers, and/or high-throughput analytical technologies
- Practical experience with liquid class development and labware definition, evaluation, or optimization
- Expertise in automation scheduling software and advanced programming knowledge of liquid handler platforms (e.g., Hamilton, Labcyte, Agilent), including creating, modifying, and troubleshooting robotics and automation scripts
- Strong understanding of the science underpinning laboratory workflows and assays, and how equipment capabilities and limitations affect automation design and data quality
- Strong communication skills and demonstrated ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced, matrixed environment
- Demonstrated track record of taking initiative and driving durable improvements to systems, workflows, or team practices
Desired Qualifications
- Track record of delivering automation solutions in a biologics discovery setting and influencing scientific direction and technical strategy in automation-related projects
- Experience implementing automation with orchestration platforms (e.g., Green Button Go, Thermo Momentum, Cellario)
- Working knowledge of Python, C#, or similar languages
- Practical experience in database connectivity, data management, and extracting data from ASCII/delimited files to enable automation-related informatics integration and data-driven science
- Contributions to technology innovation through conference presentations, publications, patents, or external vendor/partner collaborations
Hiring someone like this?
Get your role in front of qualified candidates on Sorce.