Staff Engineer, Systems Design - Automation Integration

Work Schedule

Standard (Mon-Fri)

Environmental Conditions

Office

Job Description

About the Role

Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Genetic Sciences Division is expanding its capabilities in automated, connected and AI-enabled laboratory workflows.

We are seeking a Staff Engineer in Laboratory Automation & Systems Integration to develop solutions connecting GSD instruments and consumables with robots, liquid handlers, workflow software and laboratory data systems. This individual will architect integrations, build and test working systems, and demonstrate complete genomic workflows to customers and partners.

The successful candidate will combine hands-on automation experience with strong systems thinking and an understanding of genomic workflows in biopharma. This person will translate customer needs into scalable, reusable product capabilities—not isolated custom integrations.

What You’ll Do

Architect and Integrate Automated Workflows

• Develop workflows integrating instruments, consumables, assays, robots, liquid handlers, software and data.
• Translate customer use cases into system requirements, interfaces and automation concepts.
• Define physical, mechanical, electrical, communications and software interfaces.
• Develop instrument-control APIs, device drivers, protocols and workflow abstractions.
• Build prototypes and integrated systems to evaluate concepts and partner technologies.
• Design for scheduling, synchronization, sample traceability, error recovery, safety and unattended operation.
• Create reusable integration patterns that scale across products, customers and automation platforms.

Test and Demonstrate Customer Solutions

• Build and execute end-to-end automated workflows representing biopharma and genomic applications.
• Develop integration-test strategies covering normal operation, edge cases, recovery and extended unattended use.
• Evaluate throughput, reliability, sample integrity, contamination control and data traceability.
• Lead technical demonstrations for customers, partners and internal stakeholders.
• Support customer evaluations, early-access programs and selected integration deployments.
• Translate testing and customer feedback into product requirements and integration improvements.
• Develop and maintain system requirements, interface specifications, architecture definitions and verification plans, ensuring traceability from customer needs through system verification.

Understand Customer Science and Workflows

• Partner with customers to understand laboratory processes, constraints and automation priorities.
• Develop workflows involving sample preparation, nucleic-acid processing, qPCR, dPCR and related genomic-analysis steps.
• Understand automation needs across biopharma research, screening, process development and quality workflows.
• Partner with assay, consumables, instrument and software teams to improve automation readiness.
• Balance throughput, flexibility, walk-away time, usability, reliability and cost.
• Ensure solutions protect sample identity, integrity and chain of custody.

Build Automation Vendor and Partner Relationships

• Develop technical partnerships with robotics, liquid-handling, automation-software and integration companies.
• Maintain knowledge of leading vendors, platforms, technologies and interface standards.
• Understand partner architectures, product needs, development constraints and support models.
• Evaluate partners based on technical compatibility, scalability, reliability and business value.
• Lead joint interface definition, integration planning, testing and problem resolution.
• Convert partner learning into reusable standards and product requirements.

Advance Intelligent and AI-Enabled Automation

• Develop Lab-of-the-Future and automated sample-to-answer capabilities.
• Contribute to Lab-in-the-Loop systems using experimental data and real-time feedback to optimize workflows.
• Apply AI to scheduling, anomaly detection, recovery, predictive maintenance and workflow optimization.
• Use AI-assisted engineering to accelerate interface development, testing, failure analysis and documentation.
• Ensure AI-enabled solutions include appropriate validation, traceability, cybersecurity and human oversight.

Build Automation Integration Capability

• Establish reusable interface standards, integration patterns, simulators and test tools.
• Promote common approaches across GSD products while allowing appropriate platform differences.
• Mentor engineers in automation architecture, integration and cross-disciplinary problem-solving.
• Build collaboration across Singapore, the Bay Area and India.
• Help establish Singapore as a center for automation integration, customer workflow development and product ownership.
• Foster a culture of curiosity, hands-on experimentation, urgency and disciplined execution.

What You Bring

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s or advanced degree in systems, electrical, mechanical, mechatronics, robotics, software or biomedical engineering, or a related discipline.
• Substantial experience integrating complex instruments with robotics, liquid handlers or laboratory automation.
• Demonstrated success building, testing and demonstrating automated customer workflows.
• Experience working with automation vendors, technology partners and external customers.
• Experience delivering integrations from concept through verification and customer use.
• Experience providing technical leadership across multidisciplinary teams.

Technical and Industry Depth

• Strong knowledge of robotics, laboratory automation, liquid handling and instrument integration.
• Experience with mechanical and electrical interfaces, device-control APIs, communication protocols and workflow orchestration.
• Experience with scheduling, error recovery, safety, sample handling and traceability.
• Proficiency with Python, C++, C#, Java or comparable languages.
• Experience with automated testing, simulation, system diagnostics and root-cause analysis.
• Understanding of genomic workflows used in biopharma, including sample preparation and nucleic-acid analysis.
• Familiarity with regulated laboratory environments, validation principles, data integrity and GxP expectations is preferred.
• Familiarity with leading laboratory automation vendors and partner ecosystems.
• Practical understanding of AI/ML applications in automation and engineering.

Leadership and Behaviors

• Hands-on technical leader who turns workflow needs into working systems.
• Understands customer science as well as automation technology.
• Thinks in reusable platforms rather than one-off integrations.
• Builds strong relationships with partners and internal teams.
• Challenges assumptions and surfaces integration risks early.
• Influences without direct authority and mentors other engineers.
• Balances innovation and speed with reliability and customer trust.

Why This Role Matters

Biopharma customers increasingly expect genomic instruments to operate within automated, connected laboratory ecosystems. This role will create reusable integration capabilities, demonstrate complete customer workflows and advance sample-to-answer, Lab-of-the-Future and AI-enabled solutions.