Your Impact at LILA
Lila is seeking a Mechanical Engineer II/Senior Engineer on our Sustaining Engineering team to improve the reliability, uptime, and lifecycle performance of deployed bench-scale robotics and mechanical systems. This role focuses on sustaining and improving fielded robotic workcells rather than greenfield design, with ownership across troubleshooting, root cause analysis, preventive maintenance, design fixes, and targeted reliability improvements.
You will support mechanical systems used across life science and physical science automation, partnering closely with hardware, controls, software, lab operations, and scientific teams. The role requires strong mechanical engineering fundamentals, practical problem-solving under operational pressure, and the ability to translate recurring field issues into durable design and process improvements.
This role owns rapid issue resolution and targeted design improvements that keep deployed systems reliable as Lila scales.
What You'll Be Building
- Maintain, troubleshoot, and improve deployed bench-scale robotics and mechanical systems used in scientific automation workflows.
- Diagnose failures across pneumatic, electromechanical, optical, and mechanical subsystems, then implement durable corrective actions.
- Use SolidWorks CAD and analysis to design replacement parts, retrofits, fixtures, and reliability improvements.
- Create and validate prototypes, spares, and design fixes using 3D printing, laser cutting, and other rapid fabrication methods.
- Perform structured root cause analysis using methods such as 5 Whys and fishbone diagrams.
- Manage engineering changes through ECO/ECM, PDM/PLM, and requirements management systems.
- Plan preventive maintenance, manage component obsolescence, and recommend upgrades as systems mature.
- Track reliability metrics such as uptime, MTBF, MTTR, and recurring fault rates to guide improvement priorities.
- Maintain design documentation, runbooks, technical specifications, and lessons learned from field issues.
- Coordinate with external vendors on spares, custom components, and system integration needs.
- Partner cross-functionally to keep mechanical designs aligned with software, controls, safety, quality, and scientific workflow requirements.
What You'll Need to Succeed
- Experience in mechanical engineering, robotics, laboratory automation, or a related technical field.
- Bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, or equivalent practical experience in mechanical engineering, robotics, or a related discipline.
- Strong SolidWorks CAD skills, including practical experience with GD&T and DFMA.
- Experience troubleshooting mechanical systems under operational pressure, including issues that span mechanical, electrical, and controls interfaces.
- Working knowledge of RCA, FMEA, CAPA, or related reliability and quality improvement methods.
- Experience with requirement management, product lifecycle management, or product data management systems.
- Ability to support deployed systems, document technical decisions, and mentor others on maintainable mechanical design.
Bonus Points For
- Experience sustaining automated systems in life science, physical science, biotech, manufacturing, or other complex technical environments.
- Experience with PDM Vault management, rapid prototyping, mechanical testing, and field reliability workflows.
- Knowledge of motion control, mechatronic systems, robotic integration, or discrete material movement.
- Experience supporting production ramp, process optimization, or fielded product reliability in automotive, battery, semiconductor, packaging, or similar environments.
- Strong attention to detail in documentation, standards adherence, equipment management, and controlled change processes.
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.
Skills Required
- Experience in mechanical engineering, robotics, laboratory automation, or a related technical field.
- Bachelor's degree, master's degree, or equivalent practical experience in mechanical engineering, robotics, or a related discipline.
- Strong SolidWorks CAD skills, including practical experience with GD&T and DFMA.
- Experience troubleshooting mechanical systems under operational pressure, including issues spanning mechanical, electrical, and controls interfaces.
- Working knowledge of RCA, FMEA, CAPA, or related reliability and quality improvement methods.
- Experience with requirement management, product lifecycle management, or product data management systems.
- Ability to support deployed systems, document technical decisions, and mentor others on maintainable mechanical design.
- Experience sustaining automated systems in life science, physical science, biotech, manufacturing, or other complex technical environments.
- Experience with PDM Vault management, rapid prototyping, mechanical testing, and field reliability workflows.
- Knowledge of motion control, mechatronic systems, robotic integration, or discrete material movement.
- Experience supporting production ramp, process optimization, or fielded product reliability in automotive, battery, semiconductor, packaging, or similar environments.
- Strong attention to detail in documentation, standards adherence, equipment management, and controlled change processes.
What We Do
Lila is a technology company pioneering the application of artificial intelligence to transform every aspect of the scientific method.
