Senior Automation Engineer - Molecular Tool Development (Hybrid)

alleninstitute; Seattle (WA); Hybrid; USD 137,000 - 171,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Visa sponsorship

Relocation assistance

Job summary

The Allen Institute seeks a Senior Automation Engineer to lead the Molecular Tool Development automation group, translating complex biological workflows into scalable automation solutions. The role partners with scientists, engineers, and operations to enable reproducible, high-throughput pipelines.

Responsibilities include defining automation strategy, managing resources, and driving cross-functional projects across proteomics, NGS, and cell assays, with a focus on scalable, reliable platforms.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in life sciences, engineering or biotech related field (or combination of degree and experience) and 5 years of relevant experience
• 5 years of experience in laboratory automation, liquid handling, and high-throughput molecular assay development, with demonstrated progression into technical roles
• Deep expertise in method development for liquid handling robots (e.g. Tecan, Hamilton, Integra, etc.) and associated scripting software
• Demonstrated proficiency translating complex manual workflows into scalable, validated automated liquid handling solutions
• Experience with LIMS integration and barcode-based sample tracking in high-throughput environments

Responsibilities

• Identify automation opportunities and define technical requirements, translate concepts into scalable engineering plans and develop automation roadmaps
• Lead the automation group in staffing, coaching, performance management, and resource planning
• Develop and maintain strategic vendor partnerships for equipment evaluation and support
• Drive full lifecycle of automation development from requirements to deployment and ongoing support
• Design and integrate automation platforms across complex workflows enabling high-throughput research
• Demonstrate impact through publications and presentations
• Establish technical standards, scripting guidelines, and validation protocols
• Lead cross-functional collaboration to align automation with scientific priorities
• Develop training materials and mentor team members

Skills

Leadership

Liquid handling robots

Scripting (Python/R)

LIMS integration

High-throughput automation

Education

Bachelor’s degree in life sciences/engineering/biotech

5 years in lab automation

Experience with automation platforms (Tecan, Hamilton, Integra)

Tools

Tecan

Hamilton

Integra

Job description

The Allen Institute seeks a Senior Automation Engineer to lead the Molecular Tool Development automation group, translating complex biological workflows into scalable automation solutions. The role partners with scientists, engineers, and operations to enable reproducible, high-throughput pipelines.

Responsibilities include defining automation strategy, managing resources, and driving cross-functional projects across proteomics, NGS, and cell assays, with a focus on scalable, reliable platforms.