Senior Field Deployment Engineer
About The Position
Prolific Machines is developing an optogenetic platform that uses light to precisely control cellular behavior and support efficiency, quality, and reproducibility in pharmaceutical and therapeutic protein production. The company is backed by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Mayfield, and SOSV. This foundational, hands-on senior or staff engineering role owns deployment of Prolific systems in real-world environments, from planning and site preparation through installation, integration, commissioning, validation, customer handoff, and ongoing support. The engineer works across mechanical, electrical, optical, software, controls, data, biology, and bioprocess engineering, troubleshooting complex system-level issues and turning field learnings into improvements to system design, reliability, and deployment processes. The role will help define how Prolific hardware is deployed at scale, including site requirements, shipping, documentation, records systems, commissioning processes, tooling, serviceability, acceptance criteria, and operational workflows. It also involves urgent troubleshooting, sometimes with limited documentation and remote-only subject-matter-expert support. The position is primarily on-site in Emeryville, California, with regular travel to customer and deployment sites; travel is estimated at 30–40%.
Requirements
- BS or MS with 5+ years of relevant engineering experience, or equivalent experience owning deployment of complex engineering systems, for the Senior Engineer level; additional experience is expected at the Staff Engineer level.
- Experience deploying, commissioning, integrating, and supporting prototype systems in laboratory, manufacturing, or customer environments.
- Experience transitioning R&D systems into manufacturing or production environments.
- Customer-focused mindset and a proven track record of achieving successful internal and external project outcomes with satisfied customers.
- Strong systems engineering mindset and ability to troubleshoot interactions across mechanical, electrical, optical, software, controls, and process systems.
- Experience independently leading technical projects or engineering workstreams, including commissioning, validation, acceptance testing, or qualification.
- Strong experimental and analytical skills, including designing tests, analyzing data, isolating failure modes, and developing practical engineering solutions.
- Experience with sensors, instrumentation, data acquisition, and automated test equipment; ability to read mechanical drawings, electrical schematics, and system documentation.
- Strong technical communication and documentation skills, including experience working directly with customer engineering, facilities, manufacturing, or operations teams.
- Willingness to travel regularly to domestic and international customer and deployment sites and work hands-on with hardware; travel is estimated at 30–40%.
Nice To Haves
- Experience deploying laboratory automation, bioprocessing equipment, manufacturing systems, robotics, optical systems, or complex scientific instrumentation.
- Experience with bioreactors, cell culture, pharmaceutical manufacturing, biotech equipment, or laboratory automation.
- Experience with optical systems, LEDs, spectrometers, photodiodes, or optical measurement equipment.
- Experience with industrial controls, PLCs, motion systems, robotics, or automation.
- Experience with commissioning and qualification in regulated or highly controlled environments.
- Familiarity with GxP, GMP, or GLP environments.
- Experience with structured root-cause analysis methods such as FMEA, fault-tree analysis, or 5 Whys.
- Experience with CAD, mechanical prototyping, or 3D printing.
Responsibilities
- Lead hands-on installation, integration, startup, and commissioning of alpha, beta, and deployed systems.
- Troubleshoot and resolve complex system-level issues across optical, mechanical, electrical, software, and controls domains, using experiments, diagnostics, and historical data.
- Own major deployments from site readiness and planning through commissioning, handoff, and ongoing support.
- Develop deployment plans, site requirements, commissioning procedures, system tests, and acceptance criteria.
- Work directly with customers and partners during deployment, including technical training, scheduled maintenance, and troubleshooting.
- Collaborate on Prolific's hardware field deployment strategy, using field experience to inform system architecture, installation, serviceability, and operational workflows.
- Own and improve deployment documentation, including facilities checklists, training materials, SOPs, and field procedures.
- Partner cross-functionally to identify root causes, resolve field issues, and translate deployment learnings into product and process improvements.
- Develop tools and processes that improve deployment reliability, repeatability, efficiency, and scalability.
- Perform engineering upgrades to deployed equipment and own the end-to-end process.
- Mentor junior engineers and field technicians in systems integration, commissioning, troubleshooting, and field engineering practices.
- Develop, execute, document, and improve tests on deployable and prototype systems and subsystems.
Benefits
- Generous equity package in an early-stage company.
- Retirement plan with company contribution.
- Flexible PTO with healthy time-off minimums.
- Company-covered medical, dental, and vision insurance.
- Life and disability insurance.
- Career coaching.
- Mental health support.
- Free team lunches every day.
- Great snacks.
- Companywide social events.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
