Engineer I, Research Operations, (1st shift)
Lila Sciences
$75,600 - $100,800 / year
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Description
Your Impact at LILA
What You'll Be Building
- Execute high-throughput automated and manual workflows, including electroporation, lipid nanoparticle (LNP) dosing, and chemical transfection.
- Maintain and passage mammalian cell lines and primary cells using aseptic technique, including cell counting and viability assessment.
- Prepare workflow materials and operate automated liquid handlers, electroporation instruments, and related laboratory equipment.
- Perform downstream characterization using flow cytometry, plate reader-based assays, or imaging-based methods.
- Monitor cell health, workflow performance, and quality-control results; troubleshoot issues and escalate as needed.
- Maintain traceable records, provide clear handoffs, and partner with scientists and engineers to improve standard operating procedures (SOPs) and workflows.
What You'll Need to Succeed
- Bachelor’s degree in Biology, Biotechnology, Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Bioengineering, or a related scientific or engineering field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant laboratory experience.
- Minimum 3 years of relevant Co-Op and industry laboratory experience.
- Hands-on mammalian cell culture experience, including aseptic technique, routine maintenance, passaging, cell counting, and viability assessment.
- Experience with mammalian cell transfection methods, including chemical transfection, electroporation, or related delivery technologies.
- Strong attention to detail and ability to follow SOPs and technical instructions while maintaining accurate, complete, and traceable documentation.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including recognizing deviations, performing initial troubleshooting, and escalating appropriately.
- Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities and execute reliably in a fast-paced, high-throughput laboratory environment.
- Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to provide clear status updates and work effectively across teams.
- Ability to work on-site during first shift, with scheduled hours of either 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM or 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM based on operational needs.
Bonus Points For
- Experience operating electroporation platforms, such as the Lonza Nucleofector or similar systems.
- Experience with LNP dosing or LNP-mediated delivery to mammalian cells.
- Experience handling primary human cells, such as peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), T cells, or stem cells.
- Hands-on experience with flow cytometry, including sample preparation, instrument operation, or data analysis.
- Experience with plate reader-based or imaging-based cellular assays.
- Experience operating automated liquid handlers and associated software.
- Experience working in a high-throughput screening or production-oriented laboratory environment.
Compensation
We offer competitive base compensation with bonus potential and generous early-stage equity. Your final offer will reflect your background, expertise, and expected impact.
U.S. Benefits. Full-time U.S. employees receive a comprehensive benefits program including medical, dental, and vision coverage; employer-paid life and disability insurance; flexible time off with generous company wide holidays; paid parental leave; an educational assistance program; commuter benefits, including bike share memberships for office based employees; and a company subsidized lunch program.
International Benefits. Full-time employees outside the U.S. receive a comprehensive benefits program tailored to their region. USD salary ranges apply only to U.S.-based positions; international salaries are set to local market.
About LILA
Lila Sciences is building Scientific Superintelligence™ to solve humankind's greatest challenges. We believe science is the most inspiring frontier for AI. Rather than hard-coding expert knowledge into tools, LILA builds systems that can learn for themselves.
LILA combines advanced AI models with proprietary AI Science Factory™ instruments into an operating system for science that executes the entire scientific method autonomously, accelerating discovery at unprecedented speed, scale, and impact across medicine, materials, and energy. Learn more at www.lila.ai.
Guided by our core values of truth, trust, curiosity, grit, and velocity, we move with startup speed while tackling problems of historic importance. If this sounds like an environment you'd love to work in, even if you don't meet every qualification listed above, we encourage you to apply.
We’re All In
Lila Sciences is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.
Information you provide during your application process will be handled in accordance with our Candidate Privacy Policy.
A Note to Agencies
Lila Sciences does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than candidates. The submission of unsolicited resumes by recruitment or staffing agencies to Lila Sciences or its employees is strictly prohibited unless contacted directly by Lila Science’s internal Talent Acquisition team. Any resume submitted by an agency in the absence of a signed agreement will automatically become the property of Lila Sciences, and Lila Sciences will not owe any referral or other fees with respect thereto.
Benefits
- health insurance
- vision insurance
- stock options
- parental leave
- disability insurance
About this role
Lila Sciences' Research Operations team is looking for someone to run the hands-on cell work that feeds their AI-driven scientific platform. In this Engineer I role, you'd spend your days maintaining mammalian cell cultures, executing transfection and electroporation workflows, operating automated liquid handlers, and performing quality checks using flow cytometry and plate reader assays. You'd work on-site in Cambridge during first shift (either 7–3 or 9–5), combining routine cell culture technique with high-throughput laboratory automation to produce consistent materials for downstream applications.
The role expects at least three years of relevant lab experience plus a bachelor's degree in a life sciences or engineering field. You'll need solid hands-on mammalian cell culture skills—aseptic technique, passaging, cell counting, viability work—and direct experience with transfection methods like electroporation or chemical delivery. Beyond technical competence, the job calls for meticulous documentation, strong troubleshooting instincts, and the ability to work reliably in a fast-paced environment while collaborating with scientists and engineers to refine workflows and SOPs.
If you have experience with Lonza Nucleofector systems, LNP dosing, primary human cells, or automated liquid handlers, those are valuable additions. Lila offers competitive base salary ($75,600–$100,800), early-stage equity, comprehensive benefits including medical and dental coverage, paid parental leave, and a subsidized lunch program.
How this employer is doing
solid
- H1B: Sponsors Visas
- Recently Raised Funding
- Sponsors Visas
In the news
Lila Sciences in talks for $2B funding at $8.5B valuation - Bloomberg, Investing.com
This role's local market on JobMinglr
Pay for this role
$75,600 to $100,800 per year
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