Automation Engineer I/II, Sustaining Engineering & Lab Operations

lilasciences; Cambridge; On-site; GBP 67,000 - 89,000; Full time

Job summary

Lila Sciences is seeking Automation Engineers for the AISF platform to operate and maintain production workcells across shifts. You will triage instrument faults, recover stalled runs, and decide what gets resolved during the shift versus what is handed off for stabilization.

You will drive continuous improvement by identifying reliability and throughput gaps, proposing changes, and coordinating downtime with Research Operations. This is an on‑site role based in Cambridge.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Biology, Chemistry, Materials Science, Computer Science, or related field, or equivalent hands‑on experience.
• 1+ years of hands‑on experience with lab automation, lab instrumentation, or production operations in life sciences or physical sciences.
• Ability to troubleshoot electro‑mechanical equipment and software systems independently.
• Strong written communication for documenting problems and handoffs across shifts.
• Ability to work effectively across mechanical, controls, software and scientific teams.

Responsibilities

• Operate AISF workcells during your shift, triage faults, recover runs, and decide on shift vs. stabilized resolution.
• Plan and coordinate downtime with Research Operations within approved windows.
• Provide structured handoffs at shift overlap and document events, decisions and open issues clearly.
• Identify reliability and throughput gaps, propose changes, and see them through implementation and verification.
• Coordinate with SELO engineers to resolve hardware, controls, and software issues spanning multiple domains.

Skills

Lab automation

Troubleshooting

Written communication

Cross‑disciplinary collaboration

Shift coordination

Python

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent hands‑on experience

Tools

Cellario

Overlord

Green Button Go

Job description

Your Impact at LILA

Lila Sciences is hiring Automation Engineers for the AI Science Factory (AISF), the automated platform behind our work in drug discovery, bioengineering, and advanced materials. You will join Sustaining Engineering & Lab Operations (SELO), the group responsible for keeping the platform running and improving it. You own both halves of that: operating and recovering the workcells through your shift, and developing the changes that make them more reliable and higher throughput.

SELO is a multidisciplinary group of automation, mechanical, and controls engineers, staffed across shifts. Most problems worth your time cross those lines - a scheduling error that turns out to be a sensor, a throughput ceiling that turns out to be a gripper tolerance. You will bring the operational evidence and work the problem with them to a real fix.

The platform runs production across shifts, so improvement work is not something you fit into idle time. You plan it, negotiate the downtime with Research Operations, schedule it into an approved window, and verify the change held before returning the system to service. Doing that well takes as much coordination as engineering.

Handoff is part of the job rather than an afterthought. You give and receive a structured handoff at shift overlap, and document events, decisions, and open issues clearly enough that the other shift can act on them without coming back to you.

This is a full-time, on-site role in Cambridge, MA.

Shifts

This role is shift-based, and we are hiring for both shifts:

• First shift - 7:00 AM-3:00 PM, weekdays
• Second shift - 2:00-10:00 PM, weekdays

The shifts overlap for one hour so the outgoing and incoming engineers can hand off directly. Shift assignments are permanent rather than rotating - you will not be moved between shifts. Both shifts carry the same responsibilities, the same level expectations, and the same development ownership. Let us know your preference when you apply.

What You'll Be Building

Own operation of the AISF workcells during your shift - triage instrument faults, software errors, and run failures as they surface, recover stalled runs, and decide what gets resolved in shift versus stabilized and carried across the handoff.

Drive continuous improvement of the systems and workflows you operate: identify where reliability, throughput, or recoverability falls short, propose the change, and see it through implementation and verification.

Plan improvement and maintenance work around live production - coordinate required downtime with Research Operations, schedule into approved windows, and confirm the change held before returning the system to service.

Work with SELO mechanical and controls engineers to resolve problems spanning hardware, controls, integration, and software, bringing the operational evidence needed to find root cause.

Execute preventive maintenance and calibrations on schedule, and coordinate vendor service, parts, and spares for issues in your scope.

Coordinate with on-shift Research Operations scientists to prioritize recovery when multiple issues compete, and keep active experiments moving with their scientific constraints in view.

Extend the runbooks, recovery playbooks, and diagnostic tooling the team works from, so the next engineer to hit a recurring problem resolves it faster.

Document shift events, decisions, and open issues, and run structured handoff in both directions at shift overlap.

Surface recurring failure patterns and process gaps to SELO so root causes and process weaknesses get addressed rather than absorbed.

What You'll Need to Succeed

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Biology, Chemistry, Materials Science, Computer Science, or a related field, or equivalent hands‑on experience.
• 1+ years of hands‑on experience with lab automation, lab instrumentation, or production operations in a life sciences or physical sciences environment.
• Ability to troubleshoot electro‑mechanical equipment and software systems independently and decide when to upgrade.
• Strong written communication – you will be documenting problems for engineers on other shifts and handing off to a team that depends on the clarity of what you wrote.
• Ability to work effectively across disciplines with mechanical, controls, and software engineers, and with scientific teams.
• Comfort working in a live production environment where scientists depend on the systems you are working on.
• Availability to work either the first or second shift schedule listed above, on site in Cambridge, MA.

Bonus Points For

• Experience with liquid handlers, plate‑based workflows, automated storage, or high‑throughput screening instrumentation.
• Familiarity with lab scheduling or workflow orchestration software (Cellario, Overlord, Green Button Go, or similar).
• Scripting or light programming ability (Python, C#, or similar) for log analysis, diagnostics, or tooling.
• Familiarity with scientific processes and the constraints that come with the