Systems Engineer III

Novanta Inc.; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 118,000 - 176,000; Full time

Job summary

Novanta Inc. is seeking a Senior Systems Engineer to define, design, integrate, and validate complex motion products and systems. You will translate customer needs into technical requirements and provide guidance to cross-functional teams to meet performance goals.

With 7+ years in systems engineering and motion control, you’ll drive system architecture decisions, mitigate risks, and support verification and validation activities. Expect travel up to 30% to engage customers and sites globally.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or related technical discipline.
• 7+ years of experience in systems engineering, motion control, mechatronics, automation, or related product development.
• Strong understanding of motion control technologies (stepper, servo, piezo), encoders, motor drivers, controllers, and software applications.

Responsibilities

• Support design, development, integration, and implementation of complex motion products and systems.
• Collaborate with customers and cross-functional stakeholders to translate requirements into technical solutions.
• Identify and mitigate technical risks while supporting system architecture decisions and product integration.
• Define and execute verification and validation activities and guide engineering teams to ensure compliance and successful project execution.

Skills

Systems engineering

Motion control

Mechatronics

Automation

Customer collaboration

Technical leadership

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

Job description

Build a career powered by innovations that matter! At Novanta, our innovations power technology products that are transforming healthcare and advanced manufacturing—improving productivity, enhancing people’s lives and redefining what’s possible. We create for our global customers engineered components and sub-systems that deliver extreme precision and performance for a range of mission-critical applications—from minimally invasive surgery to robotics to 3D metal printing. Novanta is one global team with over 26 offices located in The Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Looking for a great place to work? You have found it with a culture that embraces teamwork, collaboration and empowerment. Come explore Novanta. As a Senior Systems Engineer, you will support the definition, design, integration, and validation of complex motion products and systems that meet customer, industry, and product performance requirements. You will collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to translate customer needs into technical requirements, support system architecture decisions, optimize product performance, and provide technical guidance to cross-functional engineering teams. Your technical expertise and ability to connect customer needs with system-level solutions will help Novanta deliver high-performance products across the life science, medical device, semiconductor, and advanced industrial markets.

About the team

Novanta Precision Medicine partners with leading life sciences, diagnostics, and medical technology companies to develop innovative motion, automation, and mechatronic solutions used in laboratory instruments, diagnostic analyzers, and advanced healthcare systems. The team helps customers solve complex engineering challenges by enabling precise movement, positioning, scanning, and sample handling, ultimately improving the accuracy, reliability, and performance of critical medical and diagnostic equipment.

Primary Responsibilities

Support the design, development, integration, and implementation of complex motion products and systems, ensuring alignment with customer requirements, design specifications, and performance goals. Collaborate with customers and cross-functional stakeholders to understand application needs, translate requirements into technical solutions, and optimize overall system performance. Identify, assess, and mitigate technical and operational risks while supporting system architecture decisions, product integration, and problem resolution. Define and execute verification and validation activities and provide technical guidance to engineering teams to ensure product compliance, successful project execution, and customer satisfaction.

Required Experience, Education, Skills, Training and Competencies

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or a related technical discipline with 7+ years of experience in systems engineering, motion control, mechatronics, automation, or a related product development environment. Strong understanding of motion control technologies, including stepper, servo, and piezo systems, feedback devices such as linear and rotary encoders, motor drivers, controllers, communication protocols, and associated software applications. Demonstrated ability to solve complex technical problems, make sound engineering decisions, and effectively manage ambiguity while collaborating across cross-functional teams and stakeholders. Excellent communication, relationship-building, and mentoring skills, with a track record of influencing others, driving results, prioritizing effectively, and building trust through collaboration and technical leadership

Physical Requirements

Ability to work in an office, engineering lab, production, or customer environment as needed. Ability to sit, stand, walk, bend, and use hands to operate a computer, test equipment, tools, or product components. Ability to lift and/or move up to 50 pounds occasionally, with appropriate assistance when needed. Ability to stand for extended periods during lab, production, testing, or customer-related activities. Ability to follow safety procedures and use required personal protective equipment when working in lab, production, or customer environments

Travel Requirements

Expect to travel up to 30% of the time to support customer engagements, supplier or vendor visits, internal business reviews, product development activities, and cross-site collaboration.

Compensation and Benefits

The base pay for this position is $117,920 to $176,300 per year depending on the geographic market. Novanta supports all aspects of your life’s needs. This position provides a full range of medical, financial, and other benefits to make your quality of life better.

Novanta is proud to be an equal employment opportunity and affirmative action workplace. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, military and veteran status, disability, genetics, or any other category protected by federal law or Novanta policy. Please call [phone] if you need a disability accommodation for any part of the employment process.

Solving complex challenges, delivering innovations that matter! Novanta is a leading global supplier of core technology solutions that give medical, life science, and advanced industrial original equipment manufacturers a competitive advantage. We combine deep proprietary expertise and competencies in precision medicine, precision manufacturing, robotics and automation, and advanced surgery with a proven ability to solve complex technical challenges. This enables Novanta to engineer proprietary technology solutions that deliver extreme precision and performance, tailored to our customers' demanding applications. The driving force behind our growth is the team of innovative professionals who share a commitment to innovation, the Novanta Growth System, and our customers’ success. Novanta’s common shares are quoted on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "NOVT".