Automation Engineer Job Opening:
Our client develops efficacious and safe cellular therapies for patients with chronic diseases, initially cancer. Their products are being designed to herald the transition of adoptive cell therapy from hospital-based treatment to outpatient therapy, like most other cancer treatments.
Their people are their greatest asset, a diverse workforce bringing scientific talents in molecular biology, immunology, pharmacology, protein chemistry, computational biology, automation, genome engineering, software and other fields to make the future happen now.
We are actively recruiting for a talented Automation Engineer to join the technology development team for this growing company in San Francisco, CA. This role consists of the design, implementation and support of end-to-end automation to enable the company’s success in developing effective cell therapies. Relocation is available. They offer a very competitive base salary, bonus, and excellent health benefits.
If you have a B.S. in Biology, Biochemistry, Chemical Engineering, Applied Physics, or a closely related discipline with 3+ years developing workflows and systems for cell and molecular biology, please submit your resume in Word for the Automation Engineer job opening to [email protected].
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Participate in design of efficient end-to-end automated solutions within technology development team in support of a rapidly growing research and development organization
- Document requirements and specifications of automated systems
- Design and provision integrated robotics systems and build innovative laboratory automation tools, instruments, and technologies
- Evaluate hardware, software, and end-user workflows, bringing new ideas for process improvements and engineering approaches that maximize short and long term fidelity and efficiency benefits
- Engage with integration vendors and coordinate the build of robotic systems, their installation, and testing
- Design and execute optimization experiments with the aim to scale and fully automate cell engineering and profiling processes on robotic platforms
- Develop and deploy automated assay workflows for high throughput processing, including requirements gathering, scripting, testing, optimization, and testing
- Assist in service support of integrated robotics systems and various lab equipment
- Contribute to the building of a world-class team focusing on a wide array of technologies, including laboratory automation, assay design, drug screening campaign design, and project planning
- Bring a can-do attitude to solve new and challenging problems in a high pace environment
WHAT YOU WILL BRING:
- B.S. in biology, biochemistry, chemical engineering, applied physics, or closely related discipline with 3+ years developing and implementing high-efficiency workflows and automated systems for cell and molecular biology, ideally on end-to-end integrated robotic systems
- Experience in the successful transfer of technologies from manual workflows into high-throughput systems
- Experience scripting methods on OEM robotic systems (liquid handlers, imagers, scheduling software, etc.)
- Strong computer skills and experience in one or more programming languages (e.g. VB/VBA/VBS, Python, C++/C#, .Net)
- Experience with software engineering best practices: code quality, testing, performance optimization, development of research tools infrastructure
- Experience in good engineering techniques and best practices (i.e. design control, FMEA, risk analysis, stress testing)
- Experience working with vendors, including building and maintaining relations
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to work independently and in a multi-team environment
DESIRED SKILLS AND BACKGROUND:
- Experience in drug screening, oncology, immunology, developmental biology, or similar applied fields
- Strong working knowledge of cellular screening technologies, assay development, molecular biology, and NGS
- Experience working with complex integrated robotic systems, robotic arms/plate handlers, and automation workflow scheduling software
- Working knowledge of experimental design (DOE methodology), bench execution, process optimization, and data analysis
- Working knowledge of high throughput screening, high content imaging applications, NGS data analysis
- Experience with nucleic acid processing: whole genome, RNA, targeted enrichment
- Experience with single-cell technologies
- Experience working with a broad set of instruments and data: sequencers, plate readers, imagers, flow cytometers, FACS, qPCR, etc.
- Experience in technology transfer, including process documentation, user training, performing IQ/OQ/PQ
- Experience working with laboratory information management system and electronic lab notebook
- Experience working in a regulated environment (CLIA / CAP / NYS / FDA / GCLP) and quality management systems