Lead Automation Engineer - lab automation, life science

Job Description

Job Description

InnoTECH Staffing is seeking a Lead Robotic Automation Engineer to join our client's Lab Automation engineering team in Beverly, MA.

This role combines technical project ownership with people leadership to deliver complex laboratory automation solutions at the highest standard. Reporting to the Associate Director of Automation Engineering, you will own the full delivery lifecycle of customer-facing capital projects, lead a team of 2 to 6 automation engineers, and drive the continuous improvement initiatives that shape how the company operates.

This is the right role for a technically experienced engineer who is ready to lead. You will manage complex, multi-resource projects from internal kickoff through customer acceptance, develop engineers through direct coaching and structured feedback, and identify and fix the systemic gaps that slow teams down. The ideal candidate brings deep lab automation experience, strong customer-facing skills, and the ownership mindset to hold accountability across project delivery, team performance, and process quality.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Customer-Facing Project Delivery

• Own the full delivery lifecycle of customer capital projects from internal kickoff through SAT signoff at the customer site
• Serve as the primary technical point of contact for the customer throughout project execution, managing expectations, communicating status, and resolving issues
• Coordinate and oversee complex, multi-resource projects, ensuring engineers have the direction, resources, and support they need to execute
• Guide engineers through Factory Acceptance Tests (FATs) and Site Acceptance Tests (SATs), providing hands-on technical oversight and ensuring systems meet customer specifications and applicable regulatory requirements
• Identify risks early and drive the team to resolution, not just escalation
• Collaborate with Project Management, System Design Engineering, and Manufacturing Operations to ensure clean handovers and fast problem resolution
• Deploy to customer sites to oversee and support large or complex project installations, up to 20% travel

Continuous Improvement

• Identify systemic gaps in commissioning and deployment processes and own initiatives to close them
• Drive measurable improvements in quality, consistency, and efficiency across the engineering organization
• Document and standardize best practices, ensuring they are adopted and sustained, not just written down
• Bring cross-functional partners into improvement initiatives and drive alignment through implementation
• Measure the impact of process changes and iterate based on outcomes

Technical Leadership

• Set and maintain technical quality standards for your team's work across active projects
• Review system configurations and commissioning outputs for correctness and consistency
• Mentor engineers on best practices, systematic debugging, and customer-facing professionalism
• Serve as the escalation point for complex technical issues; escalate further with context and a recommended path forward, not just the problem
• Build and maintain tools or scripts that reduce manual work and improve team efficiency

People Management

• Lead a team of 2–6 automation engineers, providing clear direction, regular feedback, and active development
• Run weekly 1:1s focused on performance, growth, and unblocking your direct reports
• Build individual development plans for each direct report and provide specific, timely feedback on both technical and professional growth
• Write performance reviews grounded in outcomes and demonstrated behaviors
• Participate actively in hiring decisions and the onboarding of new team members

QUALIFICATIONS

You bring a track record of owning complex technical projects end-to-end, developing engineers, and improving the processes that make a team more effective. Your success in this role will be built on the following:

Required

• 4+ years of experience in lab automation, deployment engineering, robotics, or a closely related technical field
• Experience working with laboratory automation platforms such as HR Biosolutions, Thermo Fisher, Hamilton, Beckman Coulter, Tecan, or similar
• Demonstrated experience owning projects end-to-end: managing timelines, driving milestones, and handling customer or stakeholder communication
• Hands-on experience configuring and troubleshooting collaborative and articulated robotic arms (e.g., SCARA, Kuka, Denso, Universal Robots, or similar)
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to manage customer expectations and translate technical issues for non-technical audiences
• Experience providing structured feedback and supporting the development of junior engineers
• Working knowledge of networking fundamentals (TCP/IP, serial communications)
• Mechanical and electrical troubleshooting skills across robotic and laboratory automation hardware, including cable management, pneumatics, and basic electronics
• Ability to travel up to 20% annually to customer sites domestically with opportunity for international travel
• Current driver's license and valid passport

Preferred

• Prior experience managing direct reports in a technical or engineering environment
• Exposure to GxP environments or validation protocols (IQ/OQ/PQ, FAT/SAT) in pharmaceutical or regulated laboratory settings
• Background in process improvement, operational standardization, or driving organizational change
• Experience with laboratory automation scheduling software (e.g., Cellario, Momentum, SAMI, or equivalent middleware platforms)
• Experience with scripting, driver development, or device integration for laboratory automation systems
• Familiarity with firmware-level device configuration and troubleshooting

WHAT SETS YOU APART

The ideal candidate has earned their credibility through difficult deployments, complex customer escalations, and the kind of technical judgment that only comes from time in the field. You have led engineers through complexity without losing accountability, and you treat the development of your team as seriously as you treat the quality of your technical work. You identify what is broken in a process before someone tells you it is broken, and you build the fix rather than document the problem. You are direct with customers, direct with your team, and direct about risk. Above all, you take ownership of outcomes, not just activities.

Salary is in the $100,000.00 - $107,500.00 range.