Automation Scientist

At Azenta, new ideas, new technologies and new ways of thinking are driving our future. Our customer-focused culture encourages employees to embrace innovation and challenge the status quo with novel thinking and collaborative work relationships.  

Azenta Life Sciences is a global leader in the life sciences space with headquarters in Burlington, MA, and offices and operations worldwide. We are a market leader in automated bio sample management solutions and genomic services across areas such as drug development, clinical and advanced cell therapies for the industry's top pharmaceutical, biotech, academic and healthcare institutions globally.   We provide unparalleled capabilities with our lab analysis, sample management and storage services, informatics software, and consumables, with the largest installed base managing over 1 billion samples globally. 

What You’ll Do 

We are seeking a highly motivated Automation Scientist to join our NGS Process Development team in South Plainfield, NJ. In this position, you will work in close collaboration with the Process Development team, as well as Operations and Bioinformatics teams, to develop, validate and deploy new automated liquid handling methods. Responsibilities include training and mentoring junior scientists and contributing to the ongoing enhancement of laboratory automation infrastructure. A high level of proficiency in troubleshooting and maintaining automated liquid handling systems is required.

We seek candidates who are proactive, passionate about genomic innovation, and possess outstanding communication skills—both written and verbal. Your drive and curiosity will help shape the future of our Omics technology suite and enable impactful contributions to human health.

Key Responsibilities 

• Develop and implement novel automation solutions to address challenges throughout molecular biology workflows including scalability, cost savings, and sample chain of custody improvements.

• Generate SOPs for new methods and workflows

• Run NGS and other molecular biology methods on a range of liquid handler platforms

• Train other scientists in the use of lab automation

• Supervise associate level scientist to conduct method testing and adjustments

• Work closely with internal informatics teams to design, build, and maintain LIMS and sample tracking solutions

• Identify and implement hardware and/or software to improve the automation infrastructure

• Routine maintenance and troubleshooting of liquid handler instruments

What You'll Bring 

• MS or PhD in Biological Sciences preferred

• Bachelor's Degree Required

• 3+ years of hands on experience developing and optimizing methods for a wide range of liquid handling devices, including Biomek, Mosquito, Mantis, Dragonfly liquid handlers, required

• Experience designing, implementing, and/or operation of integrated work cells, preferred

• Strong computer skills, including proficiency in a MS Office, general purpose programming languages (e.g. VB/VBA/VBS, Python, Perl, R, C++/C#), required

• Strong knowledge and hands-on experience of next-generation sequencing, including wet and dry lab, preferred

• Ability to troubleshoot liquid handling devices related issues

• Strong track record of assay development, required

• Attention to detail and a mindset focused on continuous improvement, required. When applying include a cover letter to describe an example of actions you took to enhance a process or workflow and the results that were obtained.

• Strong communication skills with peers and senior management, both verbal and written

• Ability to multitask and meet deadlines in a fast-paced, customer-oriented environment