Executive Director, Automation Operations

Eikon Therapeutics•Millbrae, CA

20h

About The Position

Eikon Therapeutics is hiring a senior leader to build, operate, and advance its integrated laboratory discovery platform. The role leads the Automation Engineering, Service, and Compound Management teams and works at the interface between Research and Engineering. It translates scientists’ experimental needs into actionable requirements for hardware, software, automation, and systems engineers, while also proposing scalable platform capabilities that anticipate future scientific needs. A key mandate is to move validated, scientist-developed assay workflows into automated production services through phased transition plans. The role is accountable for service-level performance, including turnaround, data quality, sample and data traceability, and demonstrating the efficiency gains expected from automation. The platform includes liquid handlers, robotic arms, automated microscopes, plate readers, incubators, dispensers, acoustic liquid transfer systems, scheduling software, compound storage and retrieval, and laboratory data systems. Operations are based primarily at Eikon’s Millbrae, California headquarters, with a smaller footprint in New York City; the role oversees both sites. The position shapes the strategy and capabilities of Eikon’s discovery platform and directly influences the speed and quality of drug discovery. The posting describes the role as “Executive Director, Automation Operations,” while the position introduction refers to it as “Vice President of Automation Operations.”

Requirements

Postgraduate degree and 15 years of experience, or a bachelor’s degree and 18 years of experience, in laboratory automation, scientific instrumentation, or platform engineering in the life sciences.
At least 5 years leading multidisciplinary technical teams and managing managers, including director-level leaders.
Demonstrated track record of establishing laboratory platforms at biotechnology, pharmaceutical, or life-science companies from initial concept through scaled production operation.
Deep working knowledge of experimental science and engineering practice, with ability to translate scientific needs into engineering requirements and communicate engineering constraints to scientists.
Experience owning laboratory operations at scale, including system reliability, service and maintenance programs, and operational metrics.
Experience transitioning manual, scientist-run workflows into automated production services, including phased rollout, SLA definition, and stakeholder management across research and engineering.
Experience with integrated laboratory automation systems, including liquid handlers, robotic arms, plate readers, automated imaging systems, and scheduling or orchestration software.
Familiarity with compound-management operations, including compound registration, automated storage and retrieval, plate production, sample tracking, inventory systems, and quality control across modalities such as small molecules, biologics, peptides, and nucleic acids.
Strong strategic planning and prioritization skills, including balancing production support with long-horizon platform investments.
Experience managing budgets, capital equipment planning, and vendor relationships.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills and credibility with bench scientists, engineers, and executive leadership.
Ability to support operations across multiple sites, including periodic travel to Eikon’s New York City laboratory.

Nice To Haves

Experience in high-throughput drug discovery, including screening operations and hit-to-lead workflows.
Familiarity with laboratory informatics, including LIMS, ELN, compound registration databases, scheduling software, inventory systems, and instrument-data pipelines.
Experience scaling platform organizations during periods of rapid company growth.
Experience with advanced or automated microscopy, quantitative imaging, or optical instrumentation.
Experience supporting laboratories operating extended hours or continuously.

Responsibilities

Lead, develop, and grow the Platform Integration organization, including Lab Automation, Service, and Compound Management teams, their managers, and technical leads.
Define and execute a multi-year platform roadmap aligned with Eikon’s scientific strategy, balancing current operations with future capability development.
Partner with Research leadership and bench scientists to understand experimental needs and translate them into engineering requirements.
Propose scalable platform solutions that anticipate scientific needs beyond immediate requests.
Oversee the design, integration, qualification, deployment, and lifecycle management of automated laboratory systems and orchestration software.
Ensure platform reliability through monitoring, preventive and predictive maintenance, incident response, escalation, root-cause investigation, and corrective action.
Lead phased transitions of validated assays from Research into automated production operation, demonstrating equivalence before scaling capacity and scope while minimizing disruption to ongoing science.
Define and meet service-level agreements for operationalized workflows, including data turnaround, assay performance equivalence, and data traceability; track and account for expected automation efficiency gains.
Oversee Compound Management through its Senior Director, ensuring accurate, timely, quality-controlled compound registration, storage, tracking, and delivery across sites.
Establish and monitor platform metrics such as uptime, throughput, turnaround time, failure frequency, and mean time to recovery, and use them to guide investment and improvement.
Set engineering and operational standards for system architecture, equipment integration, software interfaces, error handling, documentation, and acceptance.
Partner with software and IT teams to integrate platform systems with scheduling, LIMS, inventory, and analytical data pipelines.
Manage relationships with equipment manufacturers, integrators, and service providers, including service agreements, escalation paths, and vendor performance.
Develop budgets, capacity models, resource plans, and risk assessments for platform operations and capital investments.
Evaluate emerging automation, imaging, and compound-management technologies and recommend investments that expand scientific capability or operational efficiency.
Communicate platform strategy, operational performance, technical risks, and resource needs to scientific and executive leadership.
Foster safety, scientific rigor, accountability, documentation, and continuous improvement across the teams.
Support operations across multiple sites, including periodic travel to Eikon’s New York City laboratory.

Benefits

Bonus and equity compensation.
401(k) plan with company matching.
Medical insurance premiums covered by Eikon at 95%.
Dental and vision insurance premiums covered by Eikon at 100%.
Mental health and wellness benefits.
Weeklong summer and winter holiday shutdowns.
Generous paid time off and holiday policies.
Life and AD&D insurance premiums covered by Eikon at 100%, with optional supplemental employee-paid life and AD&D policies.
Enhanced parental leave benefit.
Daily subsidized lunch program when on-site.