Automation Engineer - 93365 Organization: BE-Biological Systems & Eng
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab’s (LBNL, https://www.lbl.gov/), Biological Systems and Engineering Division (https://biosciences.lbl.gov/divisions/bse/) has an opening for an Automation Engineer to join the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI, https://www.jbei.org/), Synthetic Biology Informatics (https://www.jbei.org/research/technology/synthetic-biology-informatics/) and Agile BioFoundry (ABF, https://agilebiofoundry.org/) teams to contribute to automation engineering efforts and will apply standard engineering, scientific, and/or other technical concepts to provide technical support for biotech-laboratory equipment.
The successful candidate will perform assignments related to operating, programming, and maintaining the instrumentation, evaluating, and supporting the procurement of new instrumentation, as well as troubleshooting automation systems and instruments. The position will also contribute to scientific and technical peer-reviewed publications, and present results at scientific and technical meetings and conferences.
What You Will Do: • Design, script, and optimize biological methods on liquid handling platforms to run biochemical assays, PCR reactions, NGS library preparation, and strain engineering workflows. • Participate in engineering and process improvement projects to gain operational efficiencies such as reductions in project cycle time, cost, and labor time. • Collaborate with research personnel and engineers to develop and implement automation solutions. • Serve as an additional subject matter expert for the lab automation. • Respond to automation-based work requests in JIRA ticketing system and apply good documentation practices when closing work orders. • Maintain and service critical laboratory automation in the Robotics Lab. • Collaborate with vendors for support and troubleshooting of equipment as well as building and maintaining relationships. • Work with other engineers and vendors to execute the assembly, qualification, validation, and deployment of new and incoming automation instruments.
Additional Responsibilities as needed: • Organize and document scheduling of Robotics Lab preventative maintenance (PM) and repairs. • Communicate automation equipment issues and PMs with research personnel. • Execute the assembly, qualification, validation, and deployment of new and incoming automation instruments. • Create presentations, lead training sessions, and author training material pertaining to automation equipment. • Collect and analyze automation performance data and usage and present findings to key stakeholders. • Write standard operating procedures (SOPs), work instructions, and knowledge base articles. • Create software tools to help researchers with method design, data analysis, and sample tracking.
What is Required: • B.S. degree in Biological or Engineering-related discipline and 2-3 years minimum professional technical experience in a research laboratory or an equivalent combination of education and experience. • Experience applying technical, scientific, and engineering principles in evaluating manual laboratory protocols to develop high-throughput solutions of moderately complex scope. • Experience operating laboratory automation instruments. • Experience gathering feedback and requirements from research personnel and analyzing data to optimize processes. • Familiarity with Microsoft Office and Google Suite. • Experience writing SOPs or other technical documentation. • Ability to effectively handle multiple projects in parallel and still meet deadlines. • Excellent written and verbal communication skills. • Team player.
Desired Qualifications: • M.S. degree in Biological or Engineering-related discipline with 3-6 years minimum professional technical experience in a research laboratory or an equivalent combination of education and experience. • Hands-on experience teaching, scripting, and troubleshooting laboratory automation instruments. • Hands-on experience with one or more of the following liquid handlers: Beckman Coulter Biomek, Hamilton NIMBUS/STAR/VANTAGE, Tecan EVO/Fluent, Agilent Bravo. • Experience coding in languages such as Python, C/C++, Java, JavaScript, HTML, VBScript, SQL. • Demonstrated knowledge and skills in biology, molecular biology, or biochemistry, microbiology, or related field. • Familiarity with molecular biology techniques such as PCR, Next-Gen Sequencing, and strain engineering. • Experience in installation, operation, and performance qualification (IQ, OQ, and PQ) processes for laboratory equipment. • Familiarity or experience designing custom parts with CAD software. • Familiarity with statistical analysis or other data analysis tools. • Experience leading user training sessions and/or preparing training materials.
Notes: • This is a full time, 2 year, term appointment with the possibility of extension or conversion to Career appointment based upon satisfactory job performance, continuing availability of funds and ongoing operational needs. • This position will be hired at a level commensurate with the business needs and the skills, knowledge, and abilities of the successful candidate. • This position may be subject to a background check. Any convictions will be evaluated to determine if they directly relate to the responsibilities and requirements of the position. Having a conviction history will not automatically disqualify an applicant from being considered for employment. • Diversity, equity, and inclusion are core values at Berkeley Lab. Our excellence can only be fully realized by faculty, students, and staff who share our commitment to these values. Successful candidates for our faculty positions will demonstrate evidence of a commitment to advancing equity and inclusion. • Work will be primarily performed at: EmeryStation East — Bldg. 978, 5885 Hollis St., 4th floor, Emeryville, CA.
How To Apply Apply directly online at http://50.73.55.13/counter.php?id=204639 and follow the on-line instructions to complete the application process.
Learn about us! Biological Systems and Engineering Division Vision: To lead efforts that combine the power of biology with the tools of engineering to develop sustainable energy and biomanufacturing solutions and improve human health. Mission: Advance a mechanistic and predictive understanding of complex biological systems over multiple scales in terms of their responses to manipulation, stress, disease and environmental challenges and translate this knowledge using engineering principles to develop resilient systems, tools, and processes for the efficient production of fuels, chemicals, materials, tissues, and therapeutics.
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Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory encourages applications from women, minorities, veterans, and other underrepresented groups presently considering scientific research careers.
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