Research Engineer - Automated Lab Development

Meta • Redmond, WA

11h

About The Position

Define the overall technical roadmap and detailed system architecture to build an autonomous, automated, end-to-end battery research lab, seamlessly integrating both commercially available instruments and custom hardware solutions. Identify gaps where commercial automation solutions fall short. Define strategies for external partner engagement and directly lead the co-development of custom automation approaches with third-party vendors. Own build-out of partner automation solutions within Meta labs. Drive or directly develop application-specific customizations and extensions of automation solutions. Guide development of software by internal and/or external partners to operate individual system components, orchestrate the full system, and provide resulting data to researchers. Translate the needs of internal research scientists into actionable hardware and software engineering specifications for the autonomous lab system, ensuring continuous alignment with core research objectives.

Requirements

• Master's or Ph.D. in Robotics, Mechatronics, Computer Science, or a related field with a thesis or research focus on automated physical systems.
• Familiarity with modern laboratory connectivity standards and middleware protocols.
• Experience integrating automated hardware with Electronic Laboratory Notebooks (ELNs), Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS), or centralized cloud data warehouses.
• Experience with battery and materials characterization techniques, including electrochemical cell characterization, cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).
• Experience with industrial lab orchestration/scheduling software or data workflow management tools.
• Direct experience working on automated high-throughput screening (HTS) or "closed-loop" autonomous discovery systems where hardware execution loops were driven by algorithmic/ML inputs.

Responsibilities

• Define the overall technical roadmap and detailed system architecture to build an autonomous, automated, end-to-end battery research lab.
• Seamlessly integrate both commercially available instruments and custom hardware solutions.
• Identify gaps where commercial automation solutions fall short.
• Define strategies for external partner engagement and directly lead the co-development of custom automation approaches with third-party vendors.
• Own build-out of partner automation solutions within Meta labs.
• Drive or directly develop application-specific customizations and extensions of automation solutions.
• Guide development of software by internal and/or external partners to operate individual system components, orchestrate the full system, and provide resulting data to researchers.
• Translate the needs of internal research scientists into actionable hardware and software engineering specifications for the autonomous lab system, ensuring continuous alignment with core research objectives.

What This Job Offers

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