Automation Engineer

The position reports to the Head of Product Development and Manufacturing, and is responsible for meeting site production, safety, and quality requirements by developing and establishing automated systems for mRNA synthesis, quality control experiments, high throughput gene synthesis platform and other emerging molecular biology service lines at the Redmond site of the GenScript Innovation Center. Responsibilities include independently managing or contributing to all laboratory automation projects including conception, design, development, acquisition, process implementation and execution of automation solutions for manufacturing; defining scope of project in consultation with supervisor and stakeholders; developing and optimizing automation solutions for RNA synthesis by in vitro transcription and purification, and high throughput nucleic acid synthesis platforms; scripting for automated platforms based on project needs; providing support for the DNA and RNA production line by leveraging automation tools to achieve revenue goals; troubleshooting issues with automation systems and proposing effective solutions; overseeing preventative maintenance and calibration of automated system instruments; collaborating with equipment engineering team, internal stakeholders including QA team, production team and external vendors; acquiring new technologies to develop, optimize and improve existing high throughput laboratory automation systems; providing day-to-day maintenance and production support for manufacturing equipment and staff. Qualifications include BS in Engineering Discipline or Biology/Biochemistry/Molecular Biology/Biomedical Instrumentation/related subjects with 2+ years of automation experience in manufacturing; proven track record of workflow design and process optimization with automation; experience in transforming bench work process to automation solutions; knowledge of commercial automated liquid handlers and experience in handling/maintaining automated liquid handlers such as Tecan, Beckman, PerkinElmer; basic understanding of hands-on molecular biology experiments; knowledge of automated production line is a plus; ability to effectively interact with individuals at all levels and good organizational and project management skills; patient, detail-oriented and able to follow SOPs; flexible to work in non-standard work hours in emergency situations.