Staff R&D Tooling and Automation Engineer
About The Position
The Staff Tooling and Automation Engineer is responsible for designing, developing, qualifying, and bringing up R&D tooling and automation solutions that support consumables development and assembly. This includes translating consumables design and process requirements into robust tooling, fixtures, equipment, and automated assembly methods that enable rapid development, verification, and scalable manufacturing readiness. This position is part of the R&D Consumables Team and will be located in Sunnyvale, CA or Lodi, CA. The R&D Consumables team spearheads the engineering of Cepheid's consumable components, tooling, and assembly processes. From developing R&D tooling and fixtures, partnering with vendors to bring up new equipment, and implementing automation for consumables assembly, this department plays a critical role in delivering products and processes that meet or exceed customer needs.
Requirements
- Professional education related to Tooling Engineering (Mechanical Engineering, Plastics Engineering, Polymer Science) with 8+ years of related work experience or equivalent experience.
- Proven expertise in tooling design, fixture development, automation equipment development, vendor management, equipment bring-up, and qualification for plastic consumables, assemblies, or medical device products.
- Product and process life cycle experience, including requirements definition, concept development, design reviews, test planning, execution, data analysis, associated documentation, and implementation into scalable manufacturing under design control processes.
- Strong analytical and troubleshooting experience, including understanding of mechanical, automation, controls, and consumables system interfaces, with the ability to quickly analyze, tackle, and resolve equipment, tooling, and process integration challenges in ambiguous and complex situations.
- Demonstrated leadership and collaboration in a cross-functional environment, including continuous improvement, problem-solving, vendor coordination, and hands-on execution to deliver tooling and automation solutions on schedule.
Nice To Haves
- Experience developing R&D automation or semi-automated assembly processes for medical device, diagnostics, life sciences, or high-volume consumables products.
- Working knowledge of plastic injection molded components, mold tooling interfaces, metrology, machine vision, motion control, PLCs, robotics, dispensing, bonding, or precision assembly systems.
- Experience with equipment qualification, process validation, design of experiments, statistical analysis, and documentation in a regulated medical device environment.
Responsibilities
- Collaborate with Assay R&D, Chemistry R&D, R&D Lab Operations, Systems Integration, Technical Operations, Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, and external vendors to support Innovation and New Product Development projects, taking responsibility for tooling and automation development from concept through build, qualification, verification, and transfer readiness in a medical device environment.
- Enable consumables development through tooling design, fixture design, equipment specification, CAD, engineering drawings, prototyping, design of experiments, process characterization, equipment qualification, and verification with an emphasis on improving manufacturability, assembly efficiency, process robustness, and cost effectiveness.
- Lead R&D automation efforts for consumables assembly and lab automation including vendor communications, equipment bring-up, fixture integration, standard operating procedures, control plans, test method development, acceptance criteria, and quality control procedures.
Benefits
- paid time off
- medical/dental/vision insurance
- 401(k)
- bonus/incentive pay
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
