Sr. Systems Engineer

Cytek is seeking a Senior Systems Engineer to support the development, integration, verification, and lifecycle management of advanced flow cytometry instruments and related software/hardware systems.

About the role

This role will work cross-functionally with R&D, software, firmware, hardware, optical, fluidics, assay, manufacturing, quality, regulatory, and service teams to translate product needs into system requirements, drive technical decisions, and ensure product performance, reliability, and usability. The ideal candidate has strong system-level thinking, hands-on experience with complex electromechanical or optical instruments, and the ability to lead technical problem-solving across multiple engineering disciplines.

Responsibilities

• Lead system-level requirement definition, decomposition, and traceability for flow cytometry instruments and related products.
• Translate customer, clinical, manufacturing, service, and regulatory needs into clear and testable system requirements.
• Work with hardware, software, firmware, optics, fluidics, and assay teams to define interfaces, dependencies, and performance expectations.
• Support architecture decisions and trade-off analysis for new product features and platform improvements.
• Lead system integration activities across instrument hardware, embedded firmware, application software, optics, fluidics, and reagents.
• Identify system-level risks early and drive mitigation plans.
• Troubleshoot complex system issues involving signal quality, fluidics behavior, optical alignment, acquisition performance, QC behavior, and instrument reliability.
• Provide technical leadership during design reviews, issue investigations, and cross-functional decision-making.
• Develop and review system verification plans, test protocols, acceptance criteria, and reports.
• Support verification and validation activities for new product development, product updates, and sustaining engineering changes.
• Analyze test data, identify trends, and communicate conclusions clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Ensure system-level testing is aligned with product requirements, user needs, and regulatory expectations.
• Support risk management activities, including hazard analysis, FMEA, and mitigation verification.
• Partner with Quality, Regulatory, Manufacturing, and Service teams to resolve field issues, manufacturing issues, and product performance concerns.
• Contribute to design changes, root cause investigations, CAPA support, and continuous product improvement.
• Help improve engineering processes related to requirements management, verification, system integration, and technical documentation.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Systems Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Optical Engineering, Physics, Bioengineering, or a related technical field.
• 5+ years of experience in systems engineering, product development, or integration of complex instruments.
• Experience working with multidisciplinary systems involving hardware, software, firmware, optics, fluidics, sensors, or biological assays.
• Strong ability to define clear requirements, test plans, acceptance criteria, and technical documentation.
• Experience with system verification, validation, root cause analysis, and data-driven troubleshooting.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to work across engineering, quality, regulatory, manufacturing, service, and product teams.
• Ability to lead technical discussions, drive alignment, and make sound engineering judgments under ambiguity.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with flow cytometry, cell analysis, medical devices, diagnostics, life science instruments, or laboratory automation.
• Knowledge of fluorescence detection, lasers, PMTs/APDs, optical filters, signal processing, fluidics, or sample delivery systems.
• Experience with FDA-regulated or ISO 13485 product development environments.
• Familiarity with design controls, risk management, requirements traceability, verification/validation, and change control.
• Experience analyzing instrument performance metrics such as sensitivity, resolution, linearity, carryover, precision, event rate, QC performance, or signal-to-noise ratio.
• Experience using tools such as Jama, Jira, Confluence, Polarion, DOORS, JMP, MATLAB, Python, or similar data analysis and requirements management tools.

Skills

• Strong system-level thinking
• Requirements and verification discipline
• Cross-functional leadership
• Hands-on troubleshooting mindset
• Data-driven problem solving
• Ability to manage ambiguity
• Clear technical communication
• Strong ownership and accountability

Work Environment

This role may involve office, laboratory, and engineering environments; frequent computer work; participation in cross-functional meetings; and hands-on interaction with complex flow cytometry instruments, related hardware, software, fluidics, optics, and laboratory equipment as needed.