Senior Laboratory Automation Engineer

Natera•San Carlos, CA

About The Position

The Senior Automation Engineer will join Natera’s Platform group, a cross-functional team of scientists and engineers developing a scalable, robust platform for future clinical assays. This role designs and develops fully automated systems and workcells, helps translate manual molecular biology assays to liquid-handling systems, and integrates in-house and off-the-shelf software. The position focuses on applying robotics to biology and building automation for clinical testing whose outputs support patient care. The engineer will develop systems integrating software, automation, and biology into a clinical genomics assay platform; collaborate with scientists and software teams; work with external vendors on hardware and software integration; and establish the architecture for automated laboratory systems. The role also includes documenting systems and procedures and training engineers in system development, maintenance, and troubleshooting.

Requirements

BA/BS or MS in engineering or a similar field.
At least 5 years of full-time experience in automation and systems development for the life science industry.
Demonstrated track record of delivering complex automation projects into production.
Ability to integrate instruments such as liquid handlers, plate readers, and plate-handling robotics.
Software development experience, or at minimum familiarity with software development practices.
Experience programming and operating liquid handlers, such as Hamilton, Beckman, or Tecan systems.
Excellent communication, organizational, record-keeping, planning, attention-to-detail, and time-management skills.
Comfort working with internal teams and managing relationships with external contractors.
Strong project management, organizational, written communication, and verbal communication skills.

Nice To Haves

History of development and/or verification and validation for a molecular screening or diagnostic product.
Experience working with LIMS systems.

Responsibilities

Design, develop, and build systems integrating software, automation, and biology into a robust, scalable clinical genomics assay platform.
Work with scientists during assay prototyping to optimize chemistry and laboratory hardware.
Collaborate with internal software development teams to integrate LIMS with automation software.
Work with external vendors to design custom hardware solutions and integrate external software.
Establish the foundation and architecture for fully automated laboratory systems at Natera.
Write documentation and SOPs, and train engineers in the development, maintenance, and troubleshooting of hardware and software systems.