Contractor, Electromechanical Technician

Lilasciences; Cambridge; On-site; GBP 2,480,000 - 3,857,000; Full time

Job summary

Lila Sciences seeks a Contract Electromechanical Technician to join the Hardware & Controls Engineering team in Cambridge. You will build, assemble, test, and troubleshoot custom automated instruments, workcells, and experimental equipment for frontier research in life and physical sciences.

You will translate designs into working systems, support rapid prototypes, upgrades, and integration across mechanical, electrical, pneumatic, and controls subsystems. The role bridges design and execution.

Qualifications

• Associate’s degree or equivalent hands-on training.
• Experience reading 3D CAD models, drawings and schematics.
• Strong mechanical assembly and electrical diagnostic skills.
• Familiarity with PLCs and automation components.

Responsibilities

• Assemble and calibrate electromechanical equipment and automation systems.
• Build test stands and experimental setups in partnership with engineering teams.
• Perform wiring, cable routing, and subsystem assembly for instruments.
• Support integration, bring‑up, and debugging across subsystems.
• Maintain documentation for builds, repairs, and troubleshooting.

Skills

Mechanical assembly

Electrical diagnostics

Reading CAD models

Wiring and cable routing

PLC and automation components

Safety practices (LOTO, lab safety)

Education

Associate’s degree in electromechanical technology or related field

Tools

SolidWorks

AutoCAD

Job description

Your Impact at LILA

Lila Sciences is seeking a Contract Electromechanical Technician to join our Hardware & Controls Engineering team. In this hands‑on role, you will build, assemble, test, and troubleshoot custom automated instruments, workcells, and experimental equipment that support frontier research in life and physical sciences.

You will work closely with engineers, scientists, and automation specialists to translate designs into working systems. This includes supporting rapid prototypes, buildouts, upgrades, and integration work across mechanical, electrical, pneumatic, and controls subsystems.

This role is a practical bridge between design and execution. Your work will help the team move quickly from engineering concepts to reliable lab‑ready hardware.

What You’ll Be Building

• Assemble and calibrate custom electromechanical equipment and automated systems from CAD models, drawings, and schematics.
• Build test stands, fixtures, workcells, and experimental setups in partnership with engineering and science teams.
• Perform wiring, cable routing, component mounting, and subsystem assembly for instruments and automation panels.
• Support integration, bring‑up, and debugging across mechanical, electrical, pneumatic, optical, and controls subsystems.
• Execute maintenance, repairs, upgrades, alignments, and troubleshooting on complex lab equipment.
• Give engineers practical feedback during builds on fit, serviceability, assembly sequence, and design issues.
• Maintain clear documentation for builds, repairs, troubleshooting steps, and component history.
• Follow lab safety practices and industry standards during fabrication, assembly, and testing.

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• Associate’s degree in electromechanical technology, mechatronics, industrial maintenance, or a related field, or equivalent military, vocational, or hands‑on technical training.
• Strong mechanical assembly and electrical diagnostic skills, including hand tools, calipers, gauges, multimeters, and basic shop equipment.
• Ability to read and work from 3D CAD models, mechanical drawings, and electrical schematics.
• Experience assembling and troubleshooting electrical, cable, pneumatic, fluid, or thermal systems.
• Familiarity with PLCs, motor controllers, actuators, sensors, and industrial automation components.
• Practical knowledge of safe work practices, including LOTO, electrical safety, and lab or shop safety standards.
• Strong troubleshooting judgment, clear communication, and comfort working across engineering disciplines.Ability to manage multiple build, repair, and integration tasks with limited supervision.

Bonus Points For

• Experience supporting interdisciplinary R&D teams across mechanical, controls, automation, and software domains.
• Experience with 3D CAD tools, especially SolidWorks.
• Familiarity with AutoCAD or electrical schematic drafting tools.
• Experience assembling control panels, wiring PLCs, or working at the component level in automation systems.
• Experience with digital maintenance or documentation tools such as CMMS, ERP, Kanban, or wikis.
• Experience in automation, manufacturing, robotics, laboratory automation, or regulated R&D environments.

About LILA

Lila Sciences is building Scientific Superintelligence TM to solve humankind's greatest challenges. We believe science is the most inspiring frontier for AI. Rather than hard‑coding expert knowledge into tools, LILA builds systems that can learn for themselves.

LILA combines advanced AI models with proprietary AI Science Factory TM instruments into an operating system for science that executes the entire scientific method autonomously, accelerating discovery at unprecedented speed, scale, and impact across medicine, materials, and energy. Learn more at www.lila.ai.

Guided by our core values of truth, trust, curiosity, grit, and velocity, we move with startup speed while tackling problems of historic importance.

We’re All In

Lila Sciences iscommitted to equal employment opportunityregardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.

Information you provide during your application process will be handled in accordance with our Candidate Privacy Policy.