Senior Microfluidic & Mechanical Design Engineer (POC Diagnostic Platform)

Essenlix; South Brunswick (NJ); On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

401(k) retirement plan

Health insurance

Paid time off

Job summary

A fast-growing medical device company in New Jersey is seeking a Senior Microfluidic & Mechanical Design Engineer to lead development of microfluidic cartridges and mechanical systems for diagnostic platforms. The role requires a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical or Biomedical Engineering along with 5+ years of experience in microfluidic device development. Responsibilities include optimizing designs, ensuring manufacturability, and collaborating with manufacturing teams to support compliance. Competitive salary and benefits are offered.

Qualifications

• 5+ years experience in microfluidic device or cartridge-based system development.
• Experience in sample handling and fluid management system design.
• Strong understanding of sealing, bonding, and fluid path reliability.
• Experience with injection-molded components and tooling.
• Strong understanding of sealing, bonding, and fluid path reliability.
• Proficiency in CAD (SolidWorks or equivalent).
• Experience in precision mechanical system design.

Responsibilities

• Design and optimize cartridge-based microfluidic systems.
• Lead structural design of compact diagnostic instruments.
• Support design-for-manufacturing and production scale-up.
• Support injection-molded microfluidic component design and tooling.
• Implement bonding processes such as ultrasonic welding and thermal sealing.

Skills

Microfluidic device development

Mechanical design

Fluid management system design

CAD proficiency (SolidWorks)

Injection-molded components

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or Biomedical Engineering

Tools

SolidWorks

Job description

About Essenlix Corporation:

Essenlix Corporation is a fast-growing medical device company focused on developing innovative point-of-care (POC) diagnostic platforms for decentralized clinical testing. Our technologies integrate microfluidics, precision instrumentation, and scalable manufacturing to enable accessible, high-quality diagnostics worldwide.

Our overseas manufacturing facility in China is ISO 13485 certified. We are strengthening our U.S.-based development and quality systems while advancing next-generation diagnostic platforms from early-stage feasibility through commercialization.

Position Summary

We are seeking an experienced Senior Microfluidic & Mechanical Design Engineer to lead microfluidic cartridge development, sample handling system design, and mechanical integration for compact diagnostic instrumentation platforms.

This role emphasizes microfluidic system design and sample handling mechanisms, followed by precision mechanical architecture and manufacturability in a regulated medical device environment.

Key Responsibilities

Microfluidic & Cartridge Development

• Design and optimize cartridge-based microfluidic systems.
• Develop and refine flow paths, reaction chambers, and optical interface regions.
• Address bubble control, sealing integrity, dead volume reduction, and fluid reliability.
• Support injection-molded microfluidic component design and tooling.
• Implement bonding processes such as ultrasonic welding and thermal sealing.

Sample Handling & Fluid Management

• Design and optimize sample loading and metering mechanisms.
• Develop solutions for capillary flow, mixing, contamination control, and fluid stability.
• Validate robustness of sample handling under environmental variation.
• Ensure repeatability and manufacturability of sample interface systems.

Mechanical System Design

• Lead structural design of compact diagnostic instruments.
• Perform tolerance stack-up analysis for precision alignment.
• Design mechanical interfaces between disposable cartridge and instrument.
• Develop thermal management structures supporting precision temperature control.
• Ensure mechanical durability under transport and field use conditions.

Manufacturing & Compliance Support

• Support design-for-manufacturing (DFM) and production scale-up.
• Collaborate with overseas manufacturing teams on design transfer.
• Generate mechanical documentation within ISO 13485 design control framework.
• Participate in risk analysis and verification activities.

Qualifications

Required:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, or related field.
• 5+ years experience in microfluidic device (Lab on a Disc preferred) or cartridge-based system development.
• Experience in sample handling and fluid management system design.
• Experience with injection-molded components and tooling.
• Strong understanding of sealing, bonding, and fluid path reliability.
• Proficiency in CAD (SolidWorks or equivalent).
• Experience in precision mechanical system design.

Preferred

• Experience in IVD or diagnostic instrumentation.
• Experience in centrifuge-based microfluidics (centrifugal microfluidics / Lab-on-a-Disc), including sample metering, separation, washing, mixing, and reagent handling on disposable cartridges/discs; ability to translate assay workflows into robust fluidic sequences.
• Experience with ultrasonic welding or thermal bonding processes.
• Experience transferring products to manufacturing.
• Familiarity with ISO 13485 design control requirements.
• Experience working with cross-border manufacturing teams.

Compensation & Benefits

• Competitive salary based on experience.
• 401(k) retirement plan.
• Health insurance.
• Paid time off.

How to Apply

Please submit your resume.