Contractor, Maintenance Engineering Technician I/II

Lila Sciences; Cambridge (MA); On-site; USD 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Lila Sciences is looking for a Contractor, Maintenance Engineering Technician I/II to keep its advanced laboratories running. The ideal candidate will be involved in executing preventive maintenance and troubleshooting across various scientific instruments.

Your expertise will ensure high instrument uptime, contributing to scientific advancements through critical maintenance operations. The position demands a hands-on approach in a fast-paced lab, applying your technical knowledge to maintain our state-of-the-art equipment.

Qualifications

• 1+ years of hands-on instrument maintenance experience for Technician I.
• 3+ years of experience with troubleshooting and PM execution for Technician II.
• Familiarity with safety and containment protocols.

Responsibilities

• Execute scheduled preventive maintenance procedures.
• Perform first-response troubleshooting and repairs.
• Document incidents and maintain service records.

Skills

Hands-on maintenance experience

Technical knowledge of biological instruments

Documentation discipline in CMMS

Education

Relevant technical degree or equivalent experience

Tools

CMMS software

Calibration tools

Job description

Contractor, Maintenance Engineering Technician I/II

Cambridge, MA USA

Lila's AI Science Factories (AISFs) run complex, high-throughput science across a diverse instrument fleet spanning life science, materials and physical science, and robotic automation. Keeping that fleet performing at the highest level is mission-critical, and that is what the Maintenance Engineering (ME) team does.

Maintenance Engineering Technicians are the backbone of instrument uptime at Lila. You will execute preventive maintenance (PM) schedules, perform first-response troubleshooting, maintain calibration and qualification records, and coordinate with Lab Operations, Research Operations, and Hardware & Controls Engineering (HCE) to keep workcells running. This is a hands‑on, precision role in a fast-moving, highly automated lab environment.

What You'll Be Building

• Execute scheduled PM procedures across the commissioned instrument fleet per SOPs and manufacturer specifications, and maintain accurate records in the CMMS
• Perform instrument calibration per the calibration registry and support IQ/OQ/PQ execution for new commissions, repairs, and re-qualifications
• Serve as first-response for instrument alarms, failures, and performance anomalies during shift, executing in-scope repairs and escalating engineering-level issues to HCE/Automation
• Document all incidents, repairs, and out-of-tolerance conditions in CMMS, and initiate CAPA where required
• Coordinate day-to-day scheduling and on-site visits with service vendors, track service records, and maintain spare parts inventory for high-priority instruments
• Contribute to MTBF and downtime tracking, surfacing recurring failure patterns and improvement opportunities
• Help develop and refine ME SOPs, work instructions, and the broader ME function as a founding team member

What You'll Need to Succeed

• Hands‑on maintenance experience on biological research or analytical instruments such as liquid handlers (Hamilton, Tecan, Beckman), plate readers (BioTek, Molecular Devices, BMG), PCR/qPCR systems, automated cell culture platforms, flow cytometers, or imaging systems (ImageXpress, IN Cell)
• Working knowledge of pipetting system calibration, fluidics troubleshooting, optical and detection system upkeep, and cell culture equipment PM
• Familiarity with biological safety and containment protocols
• Strong documentation discipline and comfort working in a CMMS
• Technician I (L3): 1+ years of hands‑on instrument maintenance experience in a research, clinical, or production lab setting
• Technician II (L4): 3+ years of hands‑on instrument maintenance experience, with demonstrated independence on troubleshooting and PM execution across multiple instrument families

Bonus Points For

• Prior experience authoring or executing IQ/OQ/PQ in a regulated lab environment (GxP, ISO, or equivalent)
• Vendor management experience including service contract coordination
• Exposure to robotic automation platforms or integrated workcells
• Comfort with shift-based operations supporting 24/7 lab environments

About LILA

Lila Sciences is building Scientific Superintelligence™ 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™ 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.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

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