Head of Automation and Lab System

Merck • Billerica, MA

10d • Onsite

About The Position

Work Your Magic with us! Start your next chapter and join EMD Serono. Ready to explore, break barriers, and discover more? We know you’ve got big plans – so do we! Our colleagues across the globe love innovating with science and technology to enrich people’s lives with our solutions in Healthcare, Life Science, and Electronics. Together, we dream big and are passionate about caring for our rich mix of people, customers, patients, and planet. That's why we are always looking for curious minds that see themselves imagining the unimaginable with us. United As One for Patients, our purpose in Healthcare is to help create, improve and prolong lives. We develop medicines, intelligent devices and innovative technologies in therapeutic areas such as Oncology, Neurology and Fertility. Our teams work together across 6 continents with passion and relentless curiosity in order to help patients at every stage of life. Joining our Healthcare team is becoming part of a diverse, inclusive and flexible working culture, presenting great opportunities for personal development and career advancement across the globe. AI & Automation in Drug Discovery (AIDD) at EMD Biotech is building and scaling AI-driven and automated discovery capabilities. We connect machine learning, computational science, and lab automation to enable closed-loop chemistry and biology experimentation and faster, higher-quality scientific decisions. In our Boston-area autonomous make-and-test lab, automated synthesis, analytical characterization, and biological readout come together to accelerate discovery. Your role: We are currently hiring a Head of Automation and Lab Systems to lead the automation engineering and lab systems capability for AIDD in Billerica, MA. This role owns the automation platform roadmap across lab design, equipment selection and procurement, workcell architecture, commissioning, validation, and steady-state operations. You will lead and develop a multidisciplinary team, set technical standards, and partner across chemistry, biology, software, AI/ML, facilities, EHS, IT, procurement, and external vendors to scale a safe, reliable, and high-impact autonomous discovery environment.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Automation, Robotics, Mechatronics, Chemistry, Life Sciences or a related field.
• At least 10 years of experience in laboratory automation, robotic workcells, or integrated lab systems in biotech, pharma, or a related industry.
• At least 3 years of direct people leadership, with a track record of building, mentoring, and retaining strong technical teams.
• Demonstrated experience with automation lab design, equipment procurement, vendor and integrator management, and capital planning.
• Strong understanding of workcell integration, orchestration software, instrument control, validation, and operational support models.
• Strong executive presence and communication skills, with the ability to influence across senior stakeholders and cross-functional teams.
• Strong cultural fit for a collaborative, high-performing, high-trust team; you lead with ownership, humility, and decisive action.

Nice To Haves

• Master's degree in Engineering, Automation, Robotics, Mechatronics, Chemistry, Life Sciences or a related field.
• Experience in autonomous or closed-loop experimentation, small-molecule synthesis, assay automation, or AI-enabled discovery.
• Experience with custom instrument design, lab infrastructure planning, or multi-site deployment and service models.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and grow a high-performing automation and lab systems team, including hiring, goal setting, performance management, and talent development.
• Own automation lab design, equipment strategy, vendor selection, procurement, and lifecycle planning for new capabilities, upgrades, and replacement needs.
• Define system architecture, interoperability standards, and operating models across workcells, transports, analytical devices, utilities, and supporting data systems.
• Oversee commissioning, FAT/SAT, validation, change control, service readiness, and documentation for new and existing platforms.
• Partner with scientific, software, facilities, EHS, IT, and program teams to prioritize investments, resolve issues, and align execution with project goals.
• Drive a culture of safety, reliability, accountability, and low-ego collaboration in a fast-moving science and technology environment.

Benefits

• Opportunity to shape the team, platform, and operating model for a leading autonomous discovery capability.
• Direct influence on how AI, automation, and experimental science are connected at scale.
• An interdisciplinary team that combines deep science, engineering, software, and data expertise with high trust and high standards.
• Benefits offered by the Company include health insurance, paid time off (PTO), retirement contributions, and other perquisites.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level