Dir/Sr. Dir - Lab Automation Engineer, Discovery Oncology
Eli Lilly and Company18 hours ago
Responsibilities
- Set technical architecture and implementation standards for the software and control layer of liquid-handling and integrated automation systems.
- Own future workcell design, technical reviews, mentoring, vendor evaluation, installation, validation, and performance optimization.
- Lead investigations of complex hardware/software integration failures and drive corrective and systemic reliability improvements.
- Bridge software engineering, hardware and controls, data teams, and bench scientists to integrate automation and data systems.
- Build scientist-facing UIs, dashboards, CLIs, AI-assisted interfaces, automation scripts, APIs, and configuration templates.
- Build data capture, upload, validation, monitoring, alerting, and self-diagnostic tooling for automated laboratory workflows.
- Evaluate new instrumentation, technologies, and partnerships and advise on vendor relationships.
Requirements
- Bachelor's or advanced degree in Engineering, Robotics, Computer Science, Biology, or a related field.
- 10+ years of hands-on experience in laboratory automation, robotics integration, or a closely related engineering discipline, including technical mentorship of other engineers.
- Strong programming ability in Python, SQL, and/or C#, with experience building production-quality software.
- Experience with liquid-handling platforms, automated imaging or detection systems, scheduling and control software, and Cellario integrations.
- Experience designing and qualifying software/control layers for automated systems from concept through production.
- Experience building user-facing tools, data pipelines, observability tooling, or AI-assisted tools for laboratory or industrial automation.
- Experience with vendor relationships, driver design, LLMs or AI agents, PLCs, safety circuits, and power electronics is preferred.
- Some background in oncology, mammalian cell biology, or a related scientific field is preferred.
- Strong cross-functional communication and collaboration skills are preferred.
Benefits
- Comprehensive benefits may include a company bonus, 401(k), pension, vacation, medical, dental, vision, prescription drug, flexible spending, life insurance, leave, employee assistance, fitness, and employee club benefits.
- Onsite position five days per week in New York, NY.
About Eli Lilly and Company
Eli Lilly and Company researches, develops, manufactures, and markets prescription medicines and biologics for patients, sold through healthcare providers, pharmacies, and payers. Core therapeutic areas include diabetes, oncology, immunology, neuroscience, and obesity. Founded in 1876 and headquartered in Indianapolis, it is a public company (NYSE: LLY) with global operations and is building a new advanced manufacturing site for gene therapy and other modalities in Lebanon, Indiana.