Senior Automation Engineer
Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany · Billerica, MA · 4 wk ago
Research$108k–$132k/yrFull-time
We need to output HTML fragment with sections: About the role? The posting includes introductory paragraphs about company, then "Your Role As our Senior Automation Engineer..." then "Key Responsibilities", then "Who You Are: Minimum Qualifications", then "Preferred Requirements", then "Pay Range: $107,700-$131,600", then "Benefits offered by the Company include health insurance, paid time off (PTO), retirement contributions, and other perquisites." Also "What we offer: ..." which is more about culture, but maybe not needed as separate section? The instruction: include a section ONLY when posting has real, specific content for it. Use headings: About the role, Responsibilities, Requirements, Qualifications, Skills, Benefits, Pay, Schedule. We need to map content.
We have "Your Role As our Senior Automation Engineer..." could be About the role. Then "Key Responsibilities" -> Responsibilities. Then "Who You Are: Minimum Qualifications" -> Qualifications (maybe also Requirements). Then "Preferred Requirements" could be Skills or Requirements? Could combine. We have Pay Range -> Pay. Benefits offered -> Benefits. No schedule info, so omit Schedule. No explicit Skills section but we could put some skills under Skills heading if we have content: e.g., "Strong low-level control software development (C#, Python, etc). Proficiency with laboratory automation, scheduling, orchestration, or instrument-control software; experience with platforms such as Hamilton liquid handling software, Biosero Orchestrator, or comparable systems is highly relevant." That's skills. Also "Experience troubleshooting complex systems across hardware, software, instrumentation, laboratory methods, and user procedures." etc. So we can create Skills section.
We need to avoid repeating job title as heading. So we will not have heading "Senior Automation Engineer". Use About the role heading.
We must preserve all substantive information; do not invent or summarize away detail. Must not include boilerplate like EEO, application instructions, cookie/navigation/legal, duplicated lines. The posting includes some fluff like "Work Your Magic with us! Ready to explore..." etc. That's marketing but maybe considered boilerplate? It's not cookie/navigation/legal but it's generic marketing. The instruction: Remove cookie/navigation/legal/EEO/equal-opportunity/scam-warning boilerplate, duplicated lines, and application instructions. The marketing fluff might be considered not boilerplate but maybe we keep? It says "Preserve ALL substantive information; do NOT invent or summarize away detail." The marketing fluff is substantive? It's not about the job specifics but company description. Might be considered okay to keep as part of About the role? However we already have About the role section; we could include that fluff there. But we need to avoid duplication. The posting includes: "Work Your Magic with us! Ready to explore, break barriers, and discover more? We know you’ve got big plans – so do we! Our colleagues across the globe love innovating with science and technology to enrich people’s lives with our solutions in Healthcare, Life Science, and Electronics. Together, we dream big and are passionate about caring for our rich mix of people, customers, patients, and planet. That's why we are always looking for curious minds that see themselves imagining the unimaginable with us. United As One for Patients, our purpose in Healthcare is to help create, improve and prolong lives. We develop medicines, intelligent devices and innovative technologies in therapeutic areas such as Oncology, Neurology and Fertility. Our teams work together across 6 continents with passion and relentless curiosity in order to help patients at every stage of life. Joining our Healthcare team is becoming part of a diverse, inclusive and flexible working culture, presenting great opportunities for personal development and career advancement across the globe."
That's a lot of fluff but it's substantive about company. We can include in About the role section as prose.
Then "Your Role As our Senior Automation Engineer, you will be part of the Drug Discovery Automation group responsible for leading the design, development, integration, and operation of automated laboratory systems that accelerate analytical development, bioprocessing, and cell therapy workflows. The ideal candidate will have deep hands-on expertise in laboratory automation: the ability to translate manual laboratory processes into robust, scalable, and data-rich automated workflows; integrate liquid handlers, robotic arms, analytical instruments, and imaging technologies; and continuously improve system throughput, reliability, and user experience. Reporting to the Head of Automation and Lab Systems, you will collaborate closely with scientists, analytical development teams, software and data specialists, and external technology partners to ensure automated workflows are reliable, efficient, well documented, and fit for purpose. You will serve as a technical subject matter expert for automation platforms and laboratory digitization initiatives, translating scientific and operational requirements into executable automation solutions."
That's also role description.
We can combine both into About the role section.
Then Responsibilities: list from "Key Responsibilities". Use
- .
Then Qualifications: Minimum Qualifications bullet list? The text includes paragraphs; we can convert to
- each qualification line.
Then Skills: maybe combine from "Strong hands-on experience..." etc. Actually many of those are qualifications. But we can separate: Qualifications (education, years experience) and Skills (technical skills). However instruction: Prefer a few substantive sections over many thin ones. Could combine Qualifications and Skills into one Requirements section? But we have headings list includes Requirements, Qualifications, Skills. We need to decide.
We have Minimum Qualifications (education, years experience). Then "Preferred Requirements" (more experience). Then many skill statements within Minimum Qualifications (like hands-on experience, integrating devices, low-level control software, proficiency with platforms, troubleshooting, developing procedures, cross-functional teamwork). Those could be considered Skills. So we can have Qualifications for education and years experience, and Skills for technical abilities.
Preferred Requirements could be additional skills or qualifications; we could merge into Skills.
Thus sections: About the role, Responsibilities, Qualifications, Skills, Pay, Benefits.
We must not include Schedule.
Now we need to ensure we don't include filler like "commensurate with experience". Not present.
We need to preserve all substantive information: include pay range, benefits list.
We need to not repeat job title as heading.
We need to output only HTML fragment.
Let's craft.
About the role: combine company description and role description.
We'll put
About the role
thenwith paragraphs. We need to keep the content exactly? Not required to be verbatim but preserve all info. We'll paraphrase but keep details. Safer to keep sentences as is. We'll produce:
About the role
Work Your Magic with us! Ready to explore, break barriers, and discover more? We know you’ve got big plans – so do we! Our colleagues across the globe love innovating with science and technology to enrich people’s lives with our solutions in Healthcare, Life Science, and Electronics. Together, we dream big and are passionate about caring for our rich mix of people, customers, patients, and planet. That's why we are always looking for curious minds that see themselves imagining the unimaginable with us. United As One for Patients, our purpose in Healthcare is to help create, improve and prolong lives. We develop medicines, intelligent devices and innovative technologies in therapeutic areas such as Oncology, Neurology and Fertility. Our teams work together across 6 continents with passion and relentless curiosity in order to help patients at every stage of life. Joining our Healthcare team is becoming part of a diverse, inclusive and flexible working culture, presenting great opportunities for personal development and career advancement across the globe.
As our Senior Automation Engineer, you will be part of the Drug Discovery Automation group responsible for leading the design, development, integration, and operation of automated laboratory systems that accelerate analytical development, bioprocessing, and cell therapy workflows. The ideal candidate will have deep hands-on expertise in laboratory automation: the ability to translate manual laboratory processes into robust, scalable, and data-rich automated workflows; integrate liquid handlers, robotic arms, analytical instruments, and imaging technologies; and continuously improve system throughput, reliability, and user experience. Reporting to the Head of Automation and Lab Systems, you will collaborate closely with scientists, analytical development teams, software and data specialists, and external technology partners to ensure automated workflows are reliable, efficient, well documented, and fit for purpose. You will serve as a technical subject matter expert for automation platforms and laboratory digitization initiatives, translating scientific and operational requirements into executable automation solutions.
Then Responsibilities:Responsibilities
- Design, build, integrate, test, and operate automated workcells incorporating liquid handlers, robotic arms, analytical instruments, microscope imaging systems, and other laboratory technologies.
- Translate analytical methods and laboratory workflows into robust, repeatable, and automation-compatible protocols that improve throughput, efficiency, consistency, and data quality.
- Collaborate with scientists and analytical development teams to automate sample preparation, assay execution, cell monitoring, quality control, and results-generation workflows.
- Develop and optimize automated workflows using scheduling, orchestration, and instrument-control software; troubleshoot equipment, software, and process issues to maintain reliable day-to-day operation.
- Lead automation projects from requirements definition and workflow design through implementation, testing, deployment, user training, and ongoing improvement.
- Promote data integrity, traceability, and consistent documentation across automation, analytical, and laboratory information systems.
- Partner with scientists to evaluate existing workflows, identify root causes of underused or inefficient automation, and implement corrective and preventative improvements.
- Use structured experimentation and design-of-experiment approaches to optimize methods, improve throughput, and support successful technology transfer into routine results generation.
- Contribute to the evaluation and adoption of new automation technologies, software tools, and laboratory platforms that replace manual operations and improve process consistency.
- Author and maintain technical development procedures, standard operating procedures, user guides, validation and test documentation, and troubleshooting materials for automated workflows and platforms.
- Train and support scientists, laboratory users, and new automation team members in the operation of automation systems, software platforms, and associated laboratory processes.
- Establish documentation and knowledge-transfer practices that improve team onboarding and ensure continuity of automation operations.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Automation Engineering, Robotics, Bioengineering, Laboratory Science, or a closely related field; advanced education or equivalent practical experience is a plus.
- At least 7 years of professional experience in laboratory automation, analytical development, robotics, bioprocessing, pharmaceutical development, biotechnology, or a related technical environment.
Skills
- Strong hands-on experience designing, building, testing, commissioning, and operating automated laboratory systems.
- Experience integrating liquid handlers, robotic arms, analytical instruments, imaging systems, or other laboratory devices into coordinated workflows.
- Strong low-level control software development (C#, Python, etc).
- Proficiency with laboratory automation, scheduling, orchestration, or instrument-control software; experience with platforms such as Hamilton liquid handling software, Biosero Orchestrator, or comparable systems is highly relevant.
- Experience troubleshooting complex systems across hardware, software, instrumentation, laboratory methods, and user procedures.
- Experience developing technical procedures, SOPs, training materials, and other documentation required to support laboratory automation operations.
- Proven ability to work effectively in cross-functional teams with scientists, laboratory operations, software or data specialists, and external technology providers.
- Experience building integrated automated workcells from the ground up, including liquid handlers, robotic arms, analytical devices, and associated software platforms.
- Experience supporting automation in cell therapy, bioprocessing, analytical development, pharmaceutical development, or another regulated or quality-sensitive laboratory environment.
- Familiarity with cloud-based laboratory scheduling, modular workflow design, laboratory orchestration, electronic laboratory notebooks, inventory management, and laboratory information systems.
- Familiarity with SolidWorks, Ansys, Microsoft Excel,
- each qualification line.
Then Skills: maybe combine from "Strong hands-on experience..." etc. Actually many of those are qualifications. But we can separate: Qualifications (education, years experience) and Skills (technical skills). However instruction: Prefer a few substantive sections over many thin ones. Could combine Qualifications and Skills into one Requirements section? But we have headings list includes Requirements, Qualifications, Skills. We need to decide.
We have Minimum Qualifications (education, years experience). Then "Preferred Requirements" (more experience). Then many skill statements within Minimum Qualifications (like hands-on experience, integrating devices, low-level control software, proficiency with platforms, troubleshooting, developing procedures, cross-functional teamwork). Those could be considered Skills. So we can have Qualifications for education and years experience, and Skills for technical abilities.
Preferred Requirements could be additional skills or qualifications; we could merge into Skills.
Thus sections: About the role, Responsibilities, Qualifications, Skills, Pay, Benefits.
We must not include Schedule.
Now we need to ensure we don't include filler like "commensurate with experience". Not present.
We need to preserve all substantive information: include pay range, benefits list.
We need to not repeat job title as heading.
We need to output only HTML fragment.
Let's craft.
About the role: combine company description and role description.
We'll put