Your Impact at LILA

Lila Sciences is seeking Platform Scientists, Soft Materials Focus to ideate, prototype, and transfer new experimental concepts for AI Science Factories targeting complex and soft material systems. In this role, you will work at the forefront of scientific ideation—partnering with a broad range of chemistry, materials, and AI teams to define new approaches to formulation, structure–property relationships, and performance evaluation. You will translate these concepts into scalable experimental workflows, custom apparatus, and software-enabled systems for autonomous research.

What You'll Be Building

• Collaborate with diverse scientific teams to ideate new experimental strategies for soft and complex materials, including formulations, colloids, polymers, gels, and biological or hybrid systems
• Lead conceptual development of characterization and performance workflows leveraging techniques such as SAXS, SANS, rheology, and formulation performance assays
• Design, prototype, and validate custom apparatus, experimental methods, and software tools to realize these concepts
• Develop and refine workflows that connect structure, dynamics, and performance across multiple length and time scales
• Transfer successful prototypes into production-ready systems within Lila’s AI Science Factory platform, enabling autonomous experimentation

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• MS or PhD in Materials Science, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Physics, or a related field, with a focus on soft or complex materials
• Demonstrated experience collaborating across scientific disciplines to generate and refine experimental concepts
• Hands-on experience with one or more of the following: SAXS, SANS, rheology, formulation performance or functional assays
• Experience designing and implementing custom experimental workflows and/or scientific software
• Strong programming skills (e.g., Python, C++, or similar) applied to data analysis, automation, or experiment control
• Excellent communication skills and comfort operating in a fast-paced, exploratory R&D environment

Bonus Points For

• Experience with lab automation, high-throughput experimentation, or instrument control software
• Background in formulation science (e.g., consumer products, coatings, energy materials, bio-soft matter)
• Experience linking scattering, rheological, and performance data to predictive or ML-driven models
• Familiarity with prototyping tools such as 3D printing, machining, microfluidics, or custom sample environments
• Industry or national lab experience working on soft materials or complex fluids

Your Impact at LILA

Lila is seeking a motivated SCADA Engineer to contribute to the design, development, and implementation of control systems for automated scientific equipment. This role involves applying core engineering principles to support PLC controls, robotics integration, troubleshooting systems, and collaborating within cross-functional teams to enhance laboratory automation.

What You'll Be Building

• Assist in designing, programming, and deploying control systems using PLC and SCADA technologies to optimize laboratory workflows.
• Support the integration and testing of advanced robotics and conveyance systems within existing automation frameworks.
• Assist in integrating 3rd party equipment and vendor software into SCADA and make custom HMIs to aid in user controls.
• Contribute to the design and implementation of safety systems to safely operate a mix of lab equipment and robotics.
• Collaborate with software teams to support the integration of control systems with broader IT/OT factory infrastructure.
• Create, update, and maintain engineering documentation, including P&ID diagrams, wiring schematics, control narratives, and instrument IO lists.
• Support multi-team automation projects by independently executing technical tasks, meeting milestones, and adhering to engineering best practices.
• Perform calibration, testing, troubleshooting, and validation of control systems to ensure they meet performance, accuracy, and safety standards.
• Work closely with subject matter experts (SMEs) and project teams to understand technical requirements and solve moderately complex hardware/software challenges.
• Identify recurring technical issues and implement improvements to enhance system reliability and operational efficiency.

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• 2–4 years of experience in designing, implementing, or maintaining control systems, preferably in automated manufacturing or laboratory environments.
• Solid understanding of PLCs, HMI, SCADA, and related automation software and hardware.
• Familiarity with industrial networking basics in OT deployments (e.g., IP addressing, basic routing).
• Experience reading and creating detailed engineering documents and schematics using tools like AutoCAD, SolidWorks Electrical, or similar.
• Hands-on experience or academic background in robotics integration and programming.
• Effective communication and collaborative skills for working within project teams and with internal stakeholders.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to independently execute solutions for well-defined technical issues.

Bonus Points For

• Ignition SCADA Core training and HMI design experience.
• Structured text programming experience in TwinCAT, Python, C++, etc.
• Familiarity with communication protocols like OPC-UA, MQTT, and REST APIs.
• Exposure to safety system design concepts and classifications like SIL or PL.
• Basic understanding of managed network switches, port addressing/IP subnetting, and DHCP services.
• Ability to troubleshoot basic traffic flows between OT networks and cloud instances.

Your Impact at LILA

Lila is seeking a dedicated and skilled Research Associate, Protein Sciences to join our high through-put Cell-Free Expression platform. As a Research Associate, you will play a vital role in our interdisciplinary research efforts focused on building and automating artificial intelligence-driven processes across a variety of valuable applications.

What You'll Be Building

• Development and refinement of cell-free expression systems for efficient protein synthesis.
• Optimize conditions for high-yield and high-quality protein production
• Prepare media and solutions for cell culture and processing
• Perform molecular cloning, mutagenesis, and other genetic manipulation for strain development.
• Demonstrate proficiency in operating and utilizing liquid handlers and robotic systems for automated laboratory processes.
• Collaborate with biologists, machine learning scientists, software developers, and other engineers to develop and optimize AI-driven processes.
• Track and maintain excellent data records in formats amenable to computational workflows.
• Analyze and interpret experimental data, prepare technical reports, and present findings to internal teams and stakeholders.

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• A bachelor's or master's degree in biochemistry, molecular biology, biotechnology, biological engineering, chemical engineering, or a related field.
• 1-3 years of laboratory experience
• Experience with cell culture techniques, including growth, maintenance, and transformation, across a variety of cell lines
• Familiarity with plate-based assays
• Excellent attention to detail, organization, and communication

Bonus Points For

• Skilled in cloning, expression and optimization of protein
• Data analysis using relevant software (Python, R, or similar)
• Scripting for automation platforms

Your Impact at LILA

What You'll Be Building

• Lead and build a high-performing team of senior scientists, scientists, and research associates focused on nucleic acid delivery technology development.
• Drive the discovery and engineering of targeted lipid nanoparticle systems for delivery of nucleic acid therapeutics.
• Design and evaluate targeting ligands, conjugation strategies, and nanoparticle architectures that enable tissue- and cell-specific delivery.
• Develop and implement innovative biological assays and screening platforms to evaluate delivery efficiency, biodistribution, cellular uptake, and functional nucleic acid expression or editing.
• Leverage the Lila AI platform and AI Science Factory to accelerate design–build–test–learn cycles through AI-driven experimental design and robotics-enabled experimentation.
• Collaborate closely with formulation scientists to integrate biological targeting strategies with lipid chemistry and nanoparticle formulation optimization.
• Explore and evaluate next-generation delivery modalities that extend beyond traditional LNPs.
• Establish strategic scientific direction for nucleic acid delivery research and ensure alignment with company-wide therapeutic goals.
• Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, and scientific rigor, mentoring team members and developing future leaders in the field.

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• PhD in molecular biology, bioengineering, chemical biology, biomedical engineering, pharmacology, or a related discipline with 8–10+ years of relevant industry or academic experience, or a BS/MS with 12–15+ years of experience in nucleic acid delivery or genetic medicine.
• Demonstrated expertise in lipid nanoparticle technologies, nucleic acid delivery systems, or related genetic medicine platforms.
• Strong track record of scientific leadership and mentorship, including managing multidisciplinary research teams.
• Experience designing and executing in vitro and in vivo assays to measure delivery efficiency, biodistribution, and functional activity of nucleic acid therapeutics.
• Deep understanding of the biological mechanisms underlying delivery, including cellular uptake, endosomal escape, tissue targeting, and intracellular trafficking.
• Experience collaborating across disciplines including formulation chemistry, molecular biology, protein engineering, and pharmacology.
• Track record of impactful scientific contributions demonstrated through publications, patents, or therapeutic development programs.
• Excellent communication and strategic thinking skills with the ability to translate complex scientific ideas into actionable research programs.

Bonus Points For

• Direct experience developing targeted LNP systems or ligand-directed nanoparticle delivery technologies.
• Expertise in RNA therapeutics, gene editing systems (e.g., CRISPR/Cas), siRNA, mRNA, or DNA therapeutics.
• Experience integrating AI-driven discovery tools, high-throughput experimentation, or automated laboratory platforms into biological research.
• Experience working in highly collaborative environments spanning biology, chemistry, computational science, and engineering.
• Demonstrated ability to translate early discovery concepts into therapeutically relevant delivery platforms.
• Entrepreneurial mindset with a passion for pushing the boundaries of AI-enabled scientific discovery.

Your Impact at LILA

The Director, Discovery Chemistry will lead the design, synthesis, and optimization of small molecules across Lila’s discovery platform, with a primary focus on organic synthesis, molecular design, and scalable chemistry execution. This leader will build and scale a world-class molecular chemistry program that translates AI-generated molecular hypotheses into high-quality, synthetically tractable, and functionally validated chemical matter.

Working closely with Lila’s AI, automation, computational, biology, and platform teams, this role will establish the chemistry infrastructure required to rapidly progress novel molecules from concept to validated candidates across a broad range of discovery efforts. The Director will drive synthetic strategy, route design, analog generation, molecular property optimization, and chemistry-enabled innovation, while enabling seamless integration with robotic synthesis and platform-based experimentation.

This leader will play a central role in shaping Lila’s molecular discovery engine by combining deep expertise in synthetic organic chemistry, molecular design, and data-enabled experimentation to accelerate the discovery of high-value molecules for therapeutic and broader platform applications.

What You'll Be Building

• Drive discovery chemistry strategy across discovery programs, with strong emphasis on small molecule design, synthetic innovation, analog generation, and optimization of chemical matter.
• Lead the design and execution of synthetic routes for novel small molecules, emphasizing speed, robustness, scalability, and compatibility with automated synthesis platforms.
• Develop and implement efficient workflows for molecular design, compound prioritization, analog generation, and iterative design–make–test cycles in collaboration with AI and computational teams.
• Partner closely with automation and platform teams to establish robotic and high-throughput chemistry capabilities that expand accessible chemical space and accelerate molecule generation.
• Guide the selection of reagents, reaction modalities, and synthetic methodologies to enable rapid exploration of structurally diverse and functionally relevant chemical matter.
• Drive discovery chemistry strategy across discovery programs, with strong emphasis on small molecule design, synthetic innovation, analog generation, and optimization of chemical matter.
• Lead the design and execution of synthetic routes for novel small molecules, emphasizing speed, robustness, scalability, and compatibility with automated synthesis platforms.
• Develop and implement efficient workflows for molecular design, compound prioritization, analog generation, and iterative design–make–test cycles in collaboration with AI and computational teams.
• Partner closely with automation and platform teams to establish robotic and high-throughput chemistry capabilities that expand accessible chemical space and accelerate molecule generation.
• Guide the selection of reagents, reaction modalities, and synthetic methodologies to enable rapid exploration of structurally diverse and functionally relevant chemical matter.
• Oversee molecular optimization by integrating chemistry principles including structure–activity relationships, physicochemical properties, selectivity, developability, and synthetic tractability.
• Collaborate with biology, screening, and profiling teams to interpret assay and characterization data and translate those insights into informed molecular design decisions.
• Drive discovery efforts from early chemical matter generation through optimization of advanced molecules, including scaffold evolution, property tuning, and progression toward candidate-quality compounds.
• Establish best practices for experimental design, chemistry data capture, compound registration, quality control, and reproducibility across molecular chemistry operations.
• Contribute strategically to program direction by aligning chemistry efforts with therapeutic hypotheses, platform capabilities, and broader company priorities.

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• PhD in Organic Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, Chemical Biology, or a closely related discipline with 12–15 years of experience in small molecule discovery and molecular design.
• Demonstrated experience building and leading high-performing chemistry teams, including hiring, mentoring, and developing scientists across multiple levels.
• Proven track record advancing small molecule programs through molecular design, high-throughput synthesis, optimization, and candidate progression.
• Deep expertise in synthetic organic chemistry, retrosynthesis, route design, and practical execution of complex multistep syntheses.
• Strong experience optimizing molecular properties, including potency, selectivity, physicochemical behavior, and overall developability of small molecule series.
• Demonstrated success designing and delivering compound libraries or analog series to efficiently explore chemical space and address multiparameter optimization challenges.
• Experience working effectively in highly interdisciplinary environments spanning chemistry, biology, automation, and computational sciences.
• Experience collaborating with biology, screening, pharmacology, or related functions to incorporate experimental data into chemistry decision-making.
• Strong understanding of compound quality standards, purification and characterization workflows, and chemistry data integrity.
• Track record of scientific leadership, program delivery, and advancing discovery-stage molecules in an industrial or high-performance research environment.

Bonus Points For

• Experience working in AI-enabled discovery environments or integrating computational design and machine learning insights into chemistry workflows.
• Experience building or scaling automated, robotics-enabled, or high-throughput chemistry platforms for molecular synthesis and optimization.
• Familiarity with modern synthesis-enabling technologies.
• Experience translating chemistry needs into platform requirements, including instrumentation selection, workflow design, and integration with automated systems.
• Broad understanding of molecular design principles across therapeutic discovery and other small-molecule innovation areas.
• Experience operating in fast-paced environments where scientific creativity, speed, and cross-functional execution are critical.
• Ability to evaluate synthetic feasibility alongside innovation potential to prioritize molecules and chemical series effectively.
• Strong communication and leadership skills, with the ability to align multidisciplinary teams around ambitious scientific goals.

Your Impact at LILA

Lila Sciences is seeking an experienced Senior Research Associate specializing in Protein Purification, Analytics and Developability to support the build-out and day-to-day operation of a high-throughput protein characterization platform. In this role, you will contribute directly to the development of Lila's Scientific Superintelligence platform by executing and optimizing biophysical characterization workflows, collaborating effectively with cross-functional teams, and ensuring high-quality, reproducible data generation.

What You'll Be Building

• Execute and optimize high-throughput workflows for protein characterization across a wide range of modalities, including antibodies, bi-specifics, and enzymes.
• Operate and maintain automated chromatography systems, including Size Exclusion Chromatography (SEC), Hydrophobic Interaction Chromatography (HIC), and affinity chromatography using HPLC platforms.
• Perform biophysical characterization using techniques such as Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), melting temperature analysis (DSF), binding assays (BLI/SPR), capillary electrophoresis (CE-SDS, cIEF) and more, to assess protein critical quality attributes
• Support workflows to characterize protein post-translational modifications (PTMs), ensuring comprehensive sample preparation and accurate data capture.
• Collaborate closely with scientists, engineers, and automation experts to identify and implement improvements in efficiency, robustness, and scalability of developability workflows.
• Innovate and adapt protocols to accommodate new protein formats, targets, and analytical strategies.
• Ensure data quality, documentation, and reproducibility in all experiments; actively contribute to knowledge sharing and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Collaborate with computational scientists to support data analysis pipelines, data processing, and the development of predictive models for protein characteristics.

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Biochemistry, Biophysics, Molecular Biology, Bioengineering, or a related discipline with 2-5+ years of hands-on industry or academic experience in protein production and characterization.
• Proven hands-on experience with HPLC techniques such as SEC, HIC, and affinity purification methods.
• Familiarity with biophysical characterization techniques including DLS, DSF, BLI/SPR, CE-SDS, cIEF or similar analytical methods.
• Experience with liquid handling automation and high-throughput formats.
• Familiarity with laboratory data analysis, digital recordkeeping (e.g., Benchling, electronic lab notebooks), and collaborative scientific workflows.
• Outstanding troubleshooting skills, adaptability, and ability to drive innovation in experimental design.
• Strong communication skills and an eagerness to collaborate within a fast-paced, cross-functional team.

Bonus Points For

• Familiarity with laboratory automation and high-throughput screening technologies.
• Data analysis using relevant software (Python, R, or similar).
• Experience with protein post-translational modification analysis workflows.

Your Impact at LILA

The Scientist I/II, Organic Chemistry will develop, execute, and optimize modern chemical transformations that support Discovery Chemistry efforts across Lila’s platform, with a focus on the rapid synthesis of small molecules and structurally diverse chemical matter. This role is intended for an experimental organic chemist who combines strong foundations in synthetic chemistry with hands-on experience in high-throughput experimentation (HTE), reaction workup, and analytical characterization.

Working closely with Discovery Chemistry, analytical chemistry, automation, screening, and AI/computational teams, this scientist will help build and apply efficient chemistry workflows that accelerate molecular design–make–test–analyze cycles. The Scientist II will contribute to reaction development, analog generation, and route execution using modern organic chemistry approaches that are compatible with scalable, data-rich, and increasingly automated discovery environments.

This role is ideal for a chemist excited by solving synthetic problems at the interface of reaction innovation, high-throughput experimentation, process efficiency, and analytical insight, and who is motivated to help shape next-generation discovery workflows beyond traditional bench chemistry.

What You'll Be Building

• Design, execute, and optimize chemical transformations relevant to Discovery Chemistry programs, with emphasis on the rapid synthesis of small molecules and analog series.
• Apply modern synthetic organic chemistry to enable efficient exploration of structurally diverse and medicinally relevant chemical space.
• Plan and perform multi-step synthesis, reaction optimization, workup, purification, and compound characterization in support of molecular discovery campaigns.
• Design and execute HTE workflows for reaction screening, condition optimization, reagent evaluation, and rapid assessment of transformation scope.
• Develop robust approaches for reaction setup, reaction workup, sample preparation, and analytical readout to support fast and information-rich experimentation.
• Use analytical tools such as chromatography, NMR, and related methods to assess reaction performance, characterize products, and guide synthetic decisions.
• Contribute to the development of practical and scalable chemistry workflows that integrate reaction discovery, reaction optimization, and downstream compound generation.
• Partner closely with Discovery Chemistry scientists to translate molecular design concepts into executable synthetic strategies and experimentally tractable reaction plans.
• Collaborate with analytical chemistry and automation teams to build workflows that connect reaction execution with streamlined workup, purification, and data generation.
• Support the adaptation of synthetic workflows to parallel, automated, or robotics-enabled platforms where appropriate.
• Interpret reaction and analytical data rigorously, identify bottlenecks, and propose solutions to improve efficiency, robustness, and reproducibility.

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• PhD in Organic Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, or a closely related discipline with relevant postdoctoral and/or industry experience.
• Strong expertise in synthetic organic chemistry, including design and execution of multi-step synthesis and development of chemical transformations relevant to small molecule discovery.
• Hands-on experience with HTE for reaction screening, optimization, or scope evaluation.
• Experience with reaction workup, sample preparation, purification, and analytical characterization in fast-paced synthetic workflows.
• Strong working knowledge of analytical methods commonly used to support organic synthesis.
• Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot challenging reactions and independently solve synthetic and experimental problems.
• Strong understanding of how reaction design, execution, workup, and analysis fit together in efficient discovery workflows.
• Ability to work effectively in interdisciplinary environments spanning chemistry, analytics, automation, and computational sciences.
• Strong organizational, documentation, and communication skills, with commitment to scientific rigor and reproducibility.

Bonus Points For

• Experience supporting Discovery Chemistry or medicinal chemistry programs in biotech, pharma, or advanced research environments.
• Familiarity with modern reaction classes relevant to small molecule discovery, including coupling chemistry, heterocycle synthesis, late-stage functionalization, and rapid analog generation.
• Experience with parallel synthesis or robotics-enabled chemistry workflows.
• Exposure to data-rich, AI-enabled, or platform-based R&D environments.
• Collaborative mindset and enthusiasm for building modern chemistry capabilities that go beyond traditional bench-scale synthesis.

Your Impact at LILA

Lila Sciences is seeking an experienced Senior Research Associate to join our Antibody Platform team. In this role, you will play a pivotal role in building Lila's Scientific Superintelligence platform by leveraging your deep expertise in high-throughput antibody discovery, production, and characterization.

What You'll Be Building

• Design, optimize and execute high-throughput workflows for antibody expression and purification. Drive platform evolution by identifying opportunities to improve efficiency, robustness, and scalability of antibody production.
• Collaborate closely with scientists, engineers, and automation experts to discover, evaluate and implement novel automation tools, technologies, and reagents to expand the Antibody Platform’s capabilities.
• Innovate and adapt protocols to accommodate new antibody formats, targets, and expression strategies.
• Analyze antibody yield and binding characteristics using biolayer interferometry (BLI) and other relevant techniques; interpret and communicate findings effectively.
• Ensure data quality, documentation, and reproducibility in all experiments; actively contribute to knowledge sharing and continuous improvement initiatives. Collaboration, flexibility, and creative problem-solving are key to thrive in this dynamic role.

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Bioengineering, or related discipline with 2–5+ years of hands-on industry or academic experience.
• Proficiency with antibody expression in CHO-S, including DNA transfection, small-scale cell culture, and antibody characterization; ExpiCHO expertise strongly preferred.
• Experience using sequence analysis software for molecular biology workflows and annotating antibody sequences, specifically Geneious, Benchling, PipeBio, etc.
• Experience with liquid handling automation and high-throughput formats.
• Experience with biolayer interferometry (BLI) or surface plasmon resonance (SPR) quantitative binding assays, CE-SDS, and antibody developability assays.
• Outstanding troubleshooting skills, adaptability, and ability to drive innovation in experimental design.
• Familiarity with laboratory data analysis, digital recordkeeping, and collaborative scientific workflows.
• Strong communication skills and an eagerness to collaborate with a fast-paced, cross-functional team.

Bonus Points For

• Skilled in cloning, expression and optimization of multispecific antibody formats
• Data analysis using relevant software (Python, R, Spotfire, or similar)
• Scripting for automation platforms

Your Impact at LILA

Lila Sciences is seeking an experienced Staff/Principal Mechanical Engineer to join our Hardware & Controls Engineering team. The specific title (Staff or Principal) will be determined based on experience level and expertise. As a key technical leader, you'll leverage your deep expertise to design and engineer components for workcell robotics, mechanical systems, and automation across life science and physical science domains. You'll collaborate with experimental scientists, AI/ML scientists, software/controls engineers, and process/automation engineers to lead complex projects, guide multidisciplinary teams, and deliver state-of-the-art automation solutions.

What You'll Be Building

• Lead the design and implementation of bench-scale robotics and mechanical systems for sophisticated automation in life science and physical science applications.
• Design innovative pneumatic, electro-mechanical, and optical solutions for advanced robotic workcells used in biological research and materials discovery.
• Lead and mentor teams in advanced CAD design and analysis using SolidWorks, optimizing systems for high-throughput workflows.
• Direct the creation and validation of designs through 3D printing, laser cutting, and other rapid prototyping methods.
• Lead cross-functional collaborations to integrate mechanical designs with software and controls across scientific domains.
• Develop strategies to transform manual processes into automated workflows while maintaining rigorous safety and quality standards.
• Coordinate with external vendors for custom component development and system integration.

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Robotics, or a related field.
• 8+ years of mechanical engineering experience with proven expertise in life science and physical science automation (title will be determined based on experience & expertise).
• Extensive proficiency in SolidWorks CAD design, GD&T, and DFMA
• Extensive proficiency working with & implementing requirement management systems, product lifecycle management, & product data management.
• Demonstrated leadership in managing complex projects and mentoring engineering teams.

Bonus Points For

• Deep experience in automation across scientific domains, with expertise in SolidWorks CAD design, PDM Vault management, rapid prototyping, and mechanical testing.
• Expert knowledge of motion control and mechatronic systems for diverse scientific applications.
• Strong background in automated systems and robotic integration for biological research, and materials science in the biotech sector.
• Demonstrated strong attention to detail in documentation, adherence to standards, and equipment management.
• Experience in automotive manufacturing, battery manufacturing, semiconductor manufacturing, and packaging with discrete material movement.

Your Impact at LILA

Lila Sciences is seeking a highly skilled, hands-on Automated Systems Engineer to design, develop, and implement automation solutions across a broad range of laboratory workflows. Reporting to the Automated Systems Engineering Lead, this role is critical to building scalable, high-throughput automated workcells that translate scientific intent into reliable, real-world systems.

This role serves as a steward of scientific and cross-functional requirements—working closely with scientists, hardware, controls, and software teams to define scope, align interfaces, and drive projects from concept through deployment. The successful candidate will actively partner with scientific partners helping shape the technical direction of experimental automation in a fast-moving research environment.

What You'll Be Building

• Actively contribute to hands-on development, testing, and implementation of automated workflows in the lab.
• Develop scalable automated solutions for synthesis and characterization workflows, supporting a variety of material systems such as porous materials, catalysts, coatings, and advanced composites.
• Define and document standardized laboratory workflows, operating procedures, and system architectures to support reproducibility and scale.
• Lead and participate in equipment- and system-level FMEAs to improve robustness and operational safety.
• Assist in the troubleshooting and optimization of automated systems for throughput, reliability, and adaptability across diverse workflows.
• Design failure detection methods and maintain laboratory automation systems to ensure robust operations.

Project Innovation

• Translate scientific objectives into well-scoped technical requirements and automation architectures.
• Act as a connective tissue between science, hardware, controls, and software—ensuring interfaces are clear and solutions are cohesive.
• Explore and integrate emerging technologies, such machine vision, and advanced sensors, to enhance automation capabilities.
• Ensure alignment of automation solutions with safety, quality, and regulatory standards.

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• Strong hands-on experience developing and scaling automated workflows in laboratory or industrial settings.
• Understanding of Python programming, including API integration and error handling.
• Understanding of CAD design and rapid prototyping, including 3D printing.
• Hands-on experience with hardware systems, including electrical wiring, sensors, liquid/gas plumbing, and PID controllers.
• Strong critical thinking skills, attention to detail, and ability to work collaboratively in a dynamic environment.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to convey technical concepts clearly to diverse audiences.
• Familiarity with advanced experimental systems, including vacuum, laser, furnace, and electrochemical experimentation.
• Knowledge of machine vision applications and robotics control algorithms.
• Proven ability to integrate hardware and controls systems with automation workflows.
• Understanding of AI-driven decision-making in research automation.
• Prior experience leading technical teams in a fast-paced R&D environment.

Bonus Points For

Working at Lila Sciences, you would have access to advanced technology in the areas of:

• AI experimental design and simulation
• Automated custom instrumentation
• Generative molecular and material design

Your Impact at LILA

Lila Sciences is applying its autonomous science platform to some of the most complex challenges in biology and medicine — from protein therapeutics and nucleic acid design to antibody discovery and cell therapies. The Life Sciences experiment team is running programs where the pace of autonomous experimentation demands real operational rigor, and we're looking for a Technical Program Manager to provide it. You'll work closely with the Life Sciences domain lead who sets scientific strategy and direction, while you own the execution layer: the project plans, the cross-functional dependencies, and the blockers that need to be surfaced and resolved before they become problems. You won't be directing scientific work — you'll be creating the conditions for it to happen at speed and at scale. This is a role for someone who genuinely loves the craft of program management in complex, technical environments.

What You'll Be Building

• Own day-to-day program execution within the Life Sciences experiment team — maintaining project plans, tracking milestones, and ensuring agentic science programs are delivered on time and with rigor
• Serve as the primary operational interface between the Life Sciences team and platform partners (Automation, ML, Engineering) communicating needs, aligning on priorities, and keeping dependencies visible and resolved
• Translate scientific program goals into structured workstreams that enable autonomous experimentation to run efficiently and at scale
• Run program rituals including sprint planning, stand-ups, and retrospectives with a bias toward purposeful meetings, documentation, and follow-through
• Partner with the Life Sciences domain lead to surface blockers, risks, and interdependencies early and drive them to resolution
• Support the delivery of commercial contracts by working with the Product & Revenue team to ensure program commitments are well-scoped, tracked, and clearly communicated to all stakeholders
• Contribute to capacity planning and resource coordination in partnership with scientific leadership

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• 10+ years of program or project management experience in a life sciences or biotechnology environment
• A Bachelor’s degree in Life Sciences, Bioengineering, or a related field
• A track record of managing multiple concurrent programs in fast-paced, ambiguous environments and energized by building programs from the ground up; early-stage start-up experience is a strong plus
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate across scientific and operational stakeholders and manage complex cross-functional dependencies
• Sufficient scientific fluency to understand Life Sciences program goals and communicate them clearly to partner teams
• Experience supporting commercial program delivery and working with external partners or customers
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills — able to break complex goals into clear, achievable units of work and keep stakeholders consistently well-informed

Bonus Points For

• Familiarity with project management tools such as Smartsheet, Asana, Jira, or similar
• PMP, PgMP, or agile certification (e.g., CSM, SAFe) is a plus

Your Impact at LILA

Lila Sciences is applying its autonomous science platform to some of the hardest materials discovery problems in the world — from next-generation structural materials and extreme-environment coatings to clean energy catalysts and carbon capture. The Materials Science experiment team is running programs where the pace of autonomous experimentation demands real operational rigor, and we're looking for a Technical Program Manager to provide it. You'll work closely with the Materials Science domain leads who set scientific strategy and direction, while you own the execution layer: the project plans, the cross-functional dependencies, and the blockers that need to be surfaced and resolved before they become problems. You won't be directing scientific work — you'll be creating the conditions for it to happen at speed and at scale. This is a role for someone who genuinely loves the craft of program management in complex, technical environments.

What You'll Be Building

• Own day-to-day program execution within the Materials Science experiment team — maintaining project plans, tracking milestones, and ensuring agentic science programs are delivered on time and with rigor
• Serve as the primary operational interface between the Materials Science team and platform partners (Automation, ML, Engineering) — communicating needs, aligning on priorities, and keeping dependencies visible and resolved
• Translate scientific program goals into structured workstreams that enable autonomous experimentation to run efficiently and at scale
• Run program rituals including sprint planning, stand-ups, and retrospectives with a bias toward purposeful meetings, documentation, and follow-through
• Partner with the Materials Science domain leads to surface blockers, risks, and interdependencies early and drive them to resolution
• Support the delivery of commercial contracts by working with the Product & Revenue team to ensure program commitments are well-scoped, tracked, and clearly communicated to all stakeholders
• Contribute to capacity planning and resource coordination in partnership with scientific leadership

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• 10+ years of program or project management experience in a materials science, advanced manufacturing, or deep tech environment
• A Bachelor's degree in Materials Science, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or a related field
• A track record of managing multiple concurrent programs in fast-paced, ambiguous environments and energized by building programs from the ground up; early-stage start-up experience is a strong plus
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate across scientific and operational stakeholders and manage complex cross-functional dependencies
• Sufficient scientific fluency to understand Materials Science program goals and communicate them clearly to partner teams
• Experience supporting commercial program delivery and working with external partners or customers
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills — able to break complex goals into clear, achievable units of work and keep stakeholders consistently well-informed

Bonus Points For

• Familiarity with project management tools such as Smartsheet, Asana, Jira, or similar
• PMP, PgMP, or agile certification (e.g., CSM, SAFe) is a plus

Your Impact at LILA

Lila is building AI Science Factories (AISFs) — highly automated, AI-directed labs that generate the proprietary experimental data powering our AI platform. As we scale from one AISF to many, the operational infrastructure that keeps those factories running is a first-class strategic capability.

The Director of Lab Operations & Maintenance Management (LOMM) owns the physical and logistical foundation of Lila's science operations: consumables and reagent supply chains, equipment asset management, CMMS management, waste coordination, space readiness, preventative maintenance (PM), first response equipment/instrument demand maintenance, and multi-shift logistics continuity.

This role will build out and manage Lila's Maintenance Management (MM) function from the ground up — hiring the initial team, developing best practices, and establishing the operational handoff as we mature and scale.

But this role is as much about building these systems as running them — you'll define the LOMM operating model, lead its expansion to new sites, drive AI-enabled innovation in how we manage lab resources, and author the standards that travel with every AISF we open.

You'll operate as a recognized authority on lab operations within Lila, partnering directly with VPs and senior leaders across Autonomous Science Platform (ASP), Finance, EHS, and Facilities. You'll be a principal contributor to the Blueprint program — the global deployment framework that defines how Lila builds and runs AI Science Factories at scale.

What You'll Be Building

Lab Operations Strategy & Operating Model

• Define and own the LOMM operating model across Lila sites — from single-shift pilot to multi-site, continuous operations
• Establish the systems, org structure, staffing model, and governance framework that enable LOMM to scale reliably
• Set and track operational KPIs (inventory accuracy, stockout rate, PM scheduling compliance, asset data integrity, ticket resolution time); use data to drive structured improvement cycles and report trends to ASP leadership

Consumables, Reagents & Supply Chain

• Own end-to-end supply chain continuity for all lab consumables, reagents, and PPE across all shifts and sites
• Design and govern the par-level inventory system, reorder triggers, cold storage management, and expiry tracking infrastructure
• Lead dual-source qualification strategy for high-risk consumables; build the satellite site supply chain playbook for future AISFs in support of the Blueprint project

CMMS & Equipment Asset Management

• Own CMMS strategy, selection, implementation, and long-term governance — accountable for data accuracy across all commissioned instruments and mobile assets
• Define asset tagging standards and location tracking protocols in alignment with Blueprint's asset taxonomy
• Own PM coordination across sites; ensure calibration access and instrument readiness for production operations

Maintenance Management— Build & Oversight

• Build out the Maintenance Management function from scratch in collaboration with Hardware & Controls Engineering (HCE) team: define the team structure, hire initial MM staff, and establish the operating model for instrument PM, calibration, and first-response troubleshooting
• Stand up a dedicated L1 (Level 1) maintenance support team as the first line of response for lab-floor issues across shifts: triage incoming requests, execute standard work (resets, swaps, basic mechanical/electrical checks, consumables replenishment for instruments as defined), and escalate efficiently to HCE- L2/L3 Sustaining Engineering, vendors, or Integration Automation Engineering when deeper troubleshooting or design changes are required
• Establish the escalation and handoff protocols between MM, LabOps, Research Operations (production team), and HCE/Automation; define the boundary between maintenance of commissioned instruments that are best serviced by MM and engineering modifications
• Explore and define the HCE onboarding/training model for MM technicians, including potential rotational program for cross-training and augmentation

AI Integration & Continuous Improvement

• Lead Lila's thinking on AI-enabled lab operations — evaluate, pilot, and scale intelligent solutions across inventory management, predictive reordering, asset tracking, and operational reporting
• Build a continuous improvement culture within LOMM: baseline metrics, run structured improvement cycles, and bring external best practices from the biotech/life sciences industry into Lila's operating model
• Define the innovation roadmap for LOMM in partnership with engineering and operations teams

Vendor & Logistics Management

• Own vendor relationships for all lab supplies and logistics within approved frameworks; partner with Finance on contract strategy for key suppliers
• Oversee lab-side receiving, intake, space readiness for new instrument deployments, waste and hazmat scheduling, gas management, and cold storage operations
• Manage LOMM support ticket system as the single intake for all lab supply, equipment, and space requests

Team Leadership

• Lead, grow, and develop the LOMM team across shifts and sites, scaling with each new site and shift expansion
• Build and lead the MM team as a direct report function — from first hire through a fully operational multi-site MM capability
• Define staffing models, hiring roadmaps, and capability development plans for both functions as they mature
• Build a team culture defined by operational rigor, proactive problem-solving, and continuous improvement

Blueprint Contribution & Multi-Site Scaling

• Author and own the LOMM chapter of Blueprint — documenting processes, system requirements, staffing models, and vendor frameworks so LOMM scales reliably to every new AISF
• Pilot the Site Launch Readiness Scorecard for each new facility; feed findings back into Blueprint standards
• Define the LOMM readiness criteria and pre-commissioning checklist for all future site launches

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• 12–15+ years of lab operations experience in a biotech or life sciences environment, with demonstrated strategic impact at the program or portfolio level
• Proven track record of defining and scaling lab operations systems — not just inheriting and running them; you've built operating models, established governance, and led functions through significant growth
• Deep expertise in CMMS selection, implementation, and governance — you've owned platform decisions and data accuracy programs, not just used the tool
• Experience building and leading teams across multiple functions, shifts, or sites — including hiring from scratch and developing operational capability in parallel with day-to-day execution
• Experience owning and successfully defending ISO 9001:2015 audits related to preventive maintenance (PM) and calibration programs (e.g., evidence packages, CAPAs, and auditor-facing readiness)
• Recognized as an authority in lab operations within your organization; comfortable operating as a peer to VPs and senior leaders and representing your function externally
• Strong strategic and systems-level thinking — you anticipate org-wide operational challenges and define the structures to solve them, not just the immediate fix

Bonus Points For

• Experience building or overseeing a Maintenance Management or instrument PM function — familiarity with IQ/OQ/PQ, calibration registries, MTBF tracking, and service vendor management
• Experience leading or partnering closely with field service / technical service teams (dispatch, SLAs, escalation models, parts logistics, and service performance management) in high-uptime environments
• Experience applying AI or intelligent automation to lab operations workflows (e.g., predictive inventory, automated asset tracking, AI-assisted reporting)
• Background in materials science, life science, and chemistry lab environments — familiarity with the specific consumables, reagents, handling requirements, and vendor landscape in those domains
• Experience supporting multi-shift or 24/7 lab operations
• Familiarity with QMS-adjacent environments (SOP document control, change control, training records)
• Experience contributing to a global site deployment or standardization program (playbook authorship, site launch readiness frameworks)

Your Impact at LILA

Role will lead development and validation of novel mammalian cell based pooled assays. The role will span proof of concept to automated screens to generate highly multiplexed and high dimensional datasets. The role will partner across cell biology, protein design and nucleic acid teams to support biologic development programs with the rapid determination of binding, stability, function, and immunogenicity of a variety of biologics.

What You'll Be Building

• Build next-generation mammalian display based binding, stability, function, and immunogenicity assays.
• Implement state-of-the art multiomic, single cell and in situ sequencing workflows to create novel highly multiplexed assays.
• Partner with protein design, nucleic acid, protein and automation teams to apply these workflows to the development of biologics.
• Closed-Loop Experimentation and Execution: partner closely with engineering and automation to design and exercise platforms for automated, high-throughput experimentation and data-rich workflows. Collaborate with AI team to run iterative experiments in real time, enabling fast optimization and discovery cycles.
• Collaborate, Lead & communicate: Work with cell biologists, synthetic biologists, automation engineers, protein design scientists and data scientists to document systems, share insights, and refine best practices in autonomous science. Mentor junior scientists, align milestones with internal/external collaborators, contribute to IP and publications, and present findings across the org.

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• Ph.D. in Chemical/Biomedical Engineering, Biochemistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Immunology, or related field (or M.S./B.S. with 5–8+ years relevant industry experience).
• Expertise with the development and/or application of mammalian display or similar pooled mammalian (perturb-seq, MPRA, etc.) systems
• Expertise with designing, executing and analyzing single cell, in situ or multiomic sequencing based experiments
• Experience designing novel single cell, in situ or multiomic sequencing based techniques
• Experience designing, executing and analyzing flow cytometry and sorting based experiments
• Experience creating highly complex libraries of defined sequences in mammalian cells
• Experience designing, executing and analyzing NGS based experiments

Bonus Points For

• Experience with antibody or cell therapy development
• Imaging experience
• Experience with optical pooled screening or image-based cell sorting
• Experience with encapsulation/droplet/bead/microwell based antibody or cell screening

Your Impact at LILA

We are seeking a (Senior) Research Associate to join our Life Sciences team. This role will focus on formulating lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), functionalizing them with targeting ligands, and characterizing the resulting targeted LNPs (tLNPs). The ideal candidate will have hands-on expertise in LNP formulation and characterization, bioconjugation, protein characterization, and automation technologies. Your work will unlock new understandings in the delivery space by enabling a high-throughput closed-loop screening cascade for tLNPs. This position will work closely with others across the protein, cell biology, automation, chemistry machine learning, and data science teams to help establish high-throughput next-generation tools for targeted nucleic acid delivery.

What You'll Be Building

• Design, execute, and characterize (DLS, ribogreen, TNS, etc.) LNP formulations across multiple scales and mixing modalities
• Develop and refine high-throughput ligand conjugation and purification methods, employing automation and robotics to increase throughput
• Collaborate with cell assay and antibody specialists to screen hits across a variety of tissue targets in in vivo models
• Collaborate with chemists, biologists, engineers, and data scientists to document systems, share insights, and refine best practices in autonomous flow chemistry
• Write, implement, and maintain Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for both existing and new lab processes

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• MSc in Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Pharmaceutical Sciences, or a related field with 3+ years, or BSc with 5+ years, of hands-on experience in targeted LNP production, or related experience. Industry experience strongly preferred
• Strong working knowledge of bioanalytical techniques (e.g., DLS, fluorescence spectroscopy, electrophoresis, in vitro assays)
• Experience with protein and antibody design and characterization
• Familiarity with automation and high-throughput workflows
• Excellent troubleshooting, communication and collaboration skills, with a proven ability to work effectively across interdisciplinary teams

Your Impact at LILA

Join us in shaping the future of science! We are seeking a software engineer with a background in life sciences to join our data science team, where you’ll collaborate with software engineers, lab scientists, and machine learning engineers to build cutting-edge tools for automated scientific analysis and more. This role spans web services and data engineering, with a strong emphasis on Python development for scientific applications. If you thrive in a collaborative, fast-paced environment and bring best practices in git, development workflows, and user-centered design, we want to hear from you!

What You'll Be Building

• Participate in the entire software development life cycle, focusing on designing, implementing, and maintaining software services.
• Develop reusable code and libraries to improve efficiency and scalability.
• Align development with strategic goals, ensuring software supports broader organizational needs.
• Manage git repositories, team Jira board and Notion Hub, promote best practices, assist lab scientists with use of new tools, and foster a collaborative development culture.
• Work directly with scientists to identify gaps and unmet needs, develop tailored software solutions for data management, LIMS functionality, and data automation
• Support infrastructure as code and design efficient deployment strategies.
• Write clear, concise documentation for both engineers and end users.

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• Minimum of 2 years of experience writing software in a commercial setting.
• High-level proficiency in Python.
• Strong understanding of git best practices.
• Acute listening skills and patience to deeply understand user challenges.
• Experience implementing scalable software solutions.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and team-first mentality.
• Strong communication skills to effectively collaborate with team members and stakeholders.
• Energetic self-starter and independent thinker, with strong attention to detail.
• Eager to work with highly skilled and dynamic teams in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial, and technical setting.

Bonus Points For

• Background in biological sciences
• Familiarity with data science and ML libraries (pandas, numpy, scipy).
• Knowledge of modern developer tools (pydantic, pyright, uv).
• Understanding of Kubernetes, ArgoCD, and GitHub Actions.
• Familiarity with AWS fundamentals (e.g., RDS, EC2, S3, EKS).

Your Impact at LILA

We are seeking a Scientist (II) to join our Physical Sciences team. This role will focus on assisting in the design and development of a high throughput chemical synthesis platform, with emphasis on medicinal chemistry and drug delivery applications. The ideal candidate will have experience synthesizing, analyzing, and optimizing novel molecules to build out structure-activity relationships for a library of compounds. This position will work closely with others across the chemistry, formulations, engineering, machine learning, and data science teams to help establish next-generation tools for therapeutic development and drug delivery. Your work will bridge the physical sciences and bioanalytical domains, enabling high-throughput experimentation for closed-loop optimization of organic compounds.

What You'll Be Building

• Design, synthesize, and optimize novel lipids, small molecules, and other combinatorial chemistry compound libraries for drug delivery applications
• Design and deploy high-throughput synthesis strategies, build automated assay platforms, and develop innovative approaches to interrogate large chemical spaces
• Partner closely with chemistry, computational, and automation teams to establish structure-activity relationships for compound libraries to guide iterative design strategies
• Implement data-driven approaches to analyze screening outputs and guide iterative molecule design.
• Work with and manage projects with CDMOs for research-grade synthesis, with considerations towards scale-up of lead compounds
• Establish best practices for screening data quality, reproducibility, and assay robustness.
• Collaborate across disciplines to translate screening hits into validated chemical starting points for therapeutic programs.

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• Ph.D. in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or a related field.
• ≥ 1 years of experience with automation, instrumentation, and integrating real-time analytics into experimental workflows.
• Strong background in organic synthesis, with experience designing and synthesizing novel organic compounds.
• Excellent problem-solving, communication, and collaboration skills.

Bonus Points For

• Familiarity with novel lipid design for drug delivery applications
• Prior knowledge and implementation of biodegradability and tolerability design principles, with working knowledge of biological implications of compound moieties
• Prior experience working in an autonomous or self-driving chemical lab environment driving organic chemistry transformations
• Hands-on experience with AI-driven experimental design or Bayesian optimization
• Background in scaling workflows from proof-of-concept to routine, high-throughput operation

Your Impact at LILA

We are seeking a motivated and detail-oriented Associate Engineer to join our high-throughput Research Operations team. In this role, you will focus on materials characterization of materials using spectroscopy and microscopy techniques

You will gain hands-on experience with state-of-the-art automation technologies while contributing directly to projects that drive our company’s growth.

This is an excellent opportunity for candidates excited to learn engineering principles, work with advanced laboratory automation, and develop a strong foundation in scientific operations in a dynamic environment.

What You'll Be Building

• Perform materials characterization techniques including SEMXRF, XRD, Optical Microscopy, Nanoindentation, and Profilometer
• Prepare reagents, solutions/electrolytes , samples, and consumables to ensure seamless continuation of experiments across shifts
• Follow detailed standard operating procedures (SOPs) to ensure accuracy, reproducibility, and throughput
• Monitor workflow performance, troubleshoot common issues, and escalate when necessary to ensure continuity between shifts
• Record, organize, and maintain experimental data with high attention to detail
• Identify opportunities to improve efficiency and streamline processes across shift operations
• Flag unusual features or results for scientist review
• Collaborate with scientists and engineers to support diverse projects across life sciences and physical sciences

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, Physics, Chemical/Materials Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent laboratory experience)
• Attention to detail and strong organizational skills
• Basic understanding of electron microscopy principles
• Hands-on SEM experience (academic or industry). EDS experience is nice to have.
• Experience with sample preparation techniques: sputter coating

Bonus Points For

• Familiarity with surface characterization techniques methods: XRF, optical microscope, XRF, XRD, nanoindentor, profilometer.
• Experience working in high-throughput production environments with a focus on scalability, efficiency, and accuracy
• Basic engineering skills for troubleshooting characterization tools for microscopes, x rays, and lasers
• Familiarity with automated workflows and techniques to operate and generate custom scripts

Your Impact at LILA

We are seeking a motivated and detail-oriented Senior Research Associate / Associate Scientist to join our high-throughput autonomous chemistry team. This is a hands-on role at the intersection of organic and inorganic synthesis, advanced characterization, and laboratory automation. You will design and execute high-throughput experiments, synthesize small molecules, and perform rigorous downstream analysis while working side-by-side with senior scientists to translate ambitious product goals into scalable experimental workflows that directly drive our company’s growth.

This position offers first-hand exposure to automated chemistry platforms, with real ownership over experiments that inform company strategy and scientific direction. Ideal candidates are execution-driven, thrive in fast-paced laboratory environments, and are eager to build deep technical expertise while contributing meaningfully to next-generation chemical discovery at Lila Sciences.

What You'll Be Building

• Independently execute experiments to synthesize, purify, and characterize organic and inorganic small molecules
• Optimize reactions, perform method development, and interpret analytical data to guide project decisions
• Translate early-stage ideas into reproducible, functional experiments
• Apply retrosynthetic planning to support target molecule synthesis
• Operate Schlenk lines, gloveboxes, and other inert-atmosphere systems for sensitive compounds
• Use PAT tools (UPLC, LCMS, NMR, IR, Fluroescence, DLS) to monitor reactions, ensure quality control, and generate high-quality data for ML workflows
• Leverage automation and AI-driven platforms to accelerate workflows and reduce experimental cycle times
• Collaborate with engineers, ML scientists, and stakeholders to validate model-suggested conditions, analyze trends, troubleshoot issues, and communicate results clearly through reports, discussions, and presentations
• Document results, maintain accurate digital records and adhere to EHS and laboratory best practices

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• M.S. in Chemistry or related discipline (organic, organometallics, catalysis) with 2+ years of hands-on high-fidelity laboratory experience in an academic or industry setting, or B.S. + 5 years
• Hands-on experience in organic/inorganic synthesis, purification, chromatographic techniques, product analysis
• Strong understanding of retrosynthesis, reaction mechanisms, and method optimization workflows
• Proficiency with analytical techniques such as TLC, HPLC, LCMS, NMR, and IR
• Ability to follow SOPs and work safely with diverse chemical reagents and automated platforms
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, multidisciplinary research environment
• Required proficiency in using SciFinder, Reaxys, Chemdraw to search public database and literature
• Basic proficiency in Python or other scripting languages for data handling
• Good document practices, strong attention to detail and a proactive, problem-solving mindset
• Effective oral and written communication skills; contributed to internal reports, technical documentation, or peer-reviewed publications

Bonus Points For

• Experience with high-throughput or AI-driven automated platforms
• Authored publications in peer-reviewed journals in chemical catalysis, organic methodology
• Ability to handle air/moisture/light sensitive compounds

Your Impact at LILA

The Scientist I/II, Process Chemistry will develop and apply modern process chemistry approaches to support Discovery Chemistry efforts across Lila’s platform, with a focus on reaction/reactor engineering, process design, high-throughput experimentation, and digitalized chemistry workflows for small molecules and related molecular matter. This role is intended for a hands-on scientist who combines strong foundations in synthetic and process chemistry with an engineering mindset and experience building practical, scalable, and data-rich experimental workflows.

Working closely with Discovery Chemistry, analytical chemistry, automation, platform engineering, and AI/computational teams, this scientist will design, execute, and optimize reaction and process workflows that improve the speed, robustness, and scalability of chemical transformations. The Scientist I/II will help bridge early discovery chemistry and modern process development by establishing experimentally efficient, digitally enabled, and automation-compatible approaches to reaction screening, process optimization, and chemistry execution.

This role is ideal for a scientist excited by the intersection of chemistry, engineering, high-throughput platforms, process intensification, and digital experimentation, and who wants to help shape next-generation process chemistry capabilities beyond traditional bench development.

What You'll Be Building

• Design, execute, and optimize process-relevant chemical transformations that support Discovery Chemistry programs and the generation of small molecules.
• Develop reaction and process workflows with emphasis on engineering rigor, scalability, reproducibility, throughput, and data quality.
• Apply high-throughput experimentation (HTE) to reaction screening, process optimization, condition scouting, and evaluation of process-relevant variables.
• Build and execute workflows that connect reaction setup, process screening, workup, analytical readout, and data capture into efficient experimental cycles.
• Contribute to the design of digitally enabled process chemistry workflows, including structured experimental data generation, electronic documentation, and integration of chemistry data into computational and AI-ready systems.
• Collaborate with automation and platform teams to develop and adapt reaction and process workflows for robotics-enabled experimentation.
• Work closely with analytical chemistry teams to ensure rapid and informative analytical support for reaction monitoring, impurity assessment, and process decision-making.
• Evaluate reaction performance through both chemistry and engineering lenses, including yield, selectivity, impurity formation, mass balance, robustness, throughput, and operational simplicity.
• Establish best practices for AI-enhanced process design in early discovery settings, balancing speed and molecular access with process understanding and future scalability.
• Stay current with advances in modern process chemistry, reaction engineering, HTE, digitalization, automation, and enabling technologies relevant to next-generation discovery chemistry.

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• PhD in Process Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Medicinal Chemistry, or a related discipline with relevant postdoctoral and/or industry experience.
• Strong hands-on experience in process chemistry, reaction development, or scale-relevant synthetic chemistry.
• Demonstrated experience applying engineering principles to chemical process design, optimization, and troubleshooting.
• Experience with HTE for reaction or process screening, optimization, and data-rich experimentation.
• Strong understanding of key process variables in discovery chemistry.
• Experience with reaction workup, sample handling, purification, and analytical interpretation in fast-paced chemistry environments.
• Hands-on familiarity with analytical tools commonly used to support process chemistry.
• Experience generating well-structured experimental data to support reproducibility and digital workflows.
• Ability to troubleshoot complex experimental problems and independently drive practical, technically sound solutions.
• Strong collaborative skills and ability to work effectively across chemistry, analytics, automation, engineering, and computational teams.

Bonus Points For

• Experience supporting Discovery Chemistry or small molecule R&D in biotech, pharma, or advanced platform environments.
• Familiarity with modern process chemistry in early discovery settings, including rapid route improvement, robustness assessment, impurity understanding, and scalable reaction design.
• Experience with miniaturized process screening, parallel reactors, or robotics-enabled chemistry platforms.
• Experience contributing to the digitalization of process chemistry, including structured data capture, ELNs, workflow automation, or AI/ML-enabled experimental environments.
• Ability to connect chemistry execution with broader platform goals such as throughput, automation compatibility, and data generation.
• Strong scientific curiosity and enthusiasm for building next-generation process chemistry capabilities that go beyond traditional development paradigms.

Your Impact at LILA

The Senior Scientist, Analytical Chemistry will develop and deploy advanced analytical and characterization strategies to support Discovery Chemistry efforts across Lila’s platform, with a focus on enabling the rapid design, synthesis, screening, and optimization of small molecules and related molecular matter. This scientist will play a key role in generating high-quality, information-rich experimental data that informs chemistry decisions and accelerates platform learning.

Working closely with Discovery Chemistry, automation, AI/computational, and screening teams, this role will establish and scale multimodal characterization workflows that go beyond traditional analytical chemistry approaches. The Senior Scientist will help build an integrated analytical capability spanning compound characterization, reaction monitoring, molecular profiling, and high-throughput data generation to support fast and iterative design–make–test–analyze cycles.

This role will be critical to shaping Lila’s next-generation discovery engine by combining deep expertise in analytical chemistry with high-throughput experimentation, multimodal data generation, AI-enabled workflows.

What You'll Be Building

• Develop, optimize, and implement analytical and multimodal characterization workflows to support Discovery Chemistry programs and molecular discovery campaigns.
• Support the design, synthesis, screening, and optimization of small molecules by delivering rapid, reliable, and information-rich analytical data.
• Lead analytical method development for compound identification, purity assessment, impurity profiling, reaction monitoring, and molecular characterization using techniques such as liquid chromatography, mass spectroscopy, NMR, and complementary orthogonal methods.
• Build characterization strategies that extend beyond traditional analytical methods, incorporating multimodal measurements that provide deeper insight into molecular identity, reaction outcomes, physicochemical properties, and structure–function relationships.
• Partner closely with Discovery Chemistry and screening teams to support high-throughput screening and high-throughput experimentation workflows, including rapid sample analysis, reaction triage, and compound profiling.
• Collaborate with automation and platform teams to integrate analytical instrumentation and data pipelines into robotics-enabled and scalable discovery workflows.
• Work closely with AI and computational teams to ensure analytical datasets are structured, interoperable, and useful for model development, closed-loop learning, and iterative molecule design.
• Establish robust workflows for reaction monitoring, in-process analytics, final compound quality assessment, and characterization of complex mixtures or intermediates.
• Troubleshoot analytical and characterization challenges related to sample preparation, instrumentation, method robustness, data interpretation, and workflow integration.
• Contribute to the development of platform-level capabilities for data-rich molecular discovery, including scalable characterization pipelines, method standardization, and best practices for analytical rigor.

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• PhD in Analytical Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chemical Biology, or a related scientific discipline with 5–8+ years of relevant industry or high-performance research experience.
• Deep expertise in analytical chemistry and molecular characterization in support of chemistry-driven discovery efforts.
• Strong hands-on experience with key analytical techniques for small molecule analysis.
• Demonstrated experience developing analytical methods for compound characterization, reaction monitoring, impurity analysis, and purity assessment.
• Experience supporting Discovery Chemistry, medicinal chemistry, synthetic chemistry, or other molecule-focused R&D environments.
• Strong understanding of how analytical data informs compound progression, screening decisions, reaction optimization, and molecular design.
• Experience working with or supporting high-throughput workflows, including rapid analytical turnaround in fast-paced research settings.
• Ability to solve complex analytical problems independently and work effectively across interdisciplinary teams spanning chemistry, screening, automation, and computational sciences.
• Strong documentation, communication, and data interpretation skills, with a commitment to rigor, reproducibility, and scientific quality.

Bonus Points For

• Experience with multimodal characterization approaches that combine orthogonal measurements to generate deeper insight into molecular systems and discovery workflows.
• Experience supporting high-throughput screening, reaction screening, or automated discovery platforms.
• Familiarity with analytical workflows integrated with robotics, liquid handlers, autosamplers, or other automation-enabled laboratory systems.
• Experience working in AI-enabled or highly data-driven R&D environments where experimental data is used to drive predictive modeling or closed-loop optimization.
• Knowledge of characterization approaches that extend beyond traditional compound QC, including molecular profiling, reaction analytics, and property-focused measurements.
• Familiarity with data systems such as ELNs, LIMS, and software tools used to manage and analyze large analytical datasets.
• Ability to operate effectively in a fast-moving, innovative environment with evolving platform needs and cross-functional priorities.
• Strong scientific curiosity and interest in building next-generation analytical capabilities for molecular discovery.

Your Impact at LILA

As Lila scales its AI Science Factories globally, the VP of Engineering will create and sustain an engineering model for a unified, scalable platform for autonomous experimentation. This role will be responsible for defining and implementing that platform across hardware, automation, and systems engineering. This executive will own strategy, execution, and talent across Lila’s systems, hardware, and automation engineering. The role sits on the senior leadership team, reports directly to the Chief Autonomous Science Officer, and interfaces directly with Robotics, Software, Operations, and Science teams.

The VP Engineering will bring deep technical experience in automation of lab science, a track record of building and leading multi-disciplinary engineering organizations, mentorship practices that foster career development of engineers at all levels, and the judgment to balance near-term delivery with long-term platform development. This is a hands-on leadership role in a fast-moving environment, requiring brilliance and dynamism to realize autonomous experimentation across materials science, chemistry, and life science. The role requires engineering innovations to achieve an unprecedented depth of AI integration in lab science, which combined with aggressive scaling of Lila’s AI Science Factories (AISFs) will produce the highest degree of scientific intelligence on earth.

What You'll Be Building

• Set the engineering roadmap for ASP Engineering, including objectives, risks, and platform priorities via collaboration with the Robotics, Software, Science, and Product teams.
• Define and drive a unified platform architecture across hardware, automation, and systems engineering, reducing one-off designs and enabling repeatable system deployment across sites
• Establish system-level ownership of architecture, interfaces, and requirements to ensure consistent integration across all engineering domains
• Implement efficient processes for lifecycle, design controls, safety and compliance, change management, and deployment of autonomous laboratories to support rapid scaling without compromising system consistency
• Develop a repeatable deployment model for standing up global AI Science Factory sites with predictable performance and reliability
• Create a culture of mentorship that supports execution of the roadmap while fostering career development of engineers
• Partner with Robotics and Software to build, industrialize, and scale all-of-science autonomous labs with a focus on reliability, throughput, and quality
• Integrate AI into the engineering lifecycle to bolster engineering speed and quality, decision making, and continuous improvement
• Collaborate with Talent Acquisition to establish hiring practices that accelerate identification and onboarding of brilliant, culturally-aligned engineers
• Partner with AI Research, Software, Product, and Science to align platform capabilities with scientific and commercial priorities
• Develop and communicate clear prioritization frameworks across engineering initiatives; translate organizational feedback into actionable systems and process improvements
• Represent Engineering with executive stakeholders and external partners; communicate tradeoffs, progress, and impact clearly
• Partnering with external integrators, OEMs, and contractors to expand engineering capacity

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• 15+ years building lab automation systems
• 10+ years leading managers and multi-disciplinary teams at scale
• Proven track record scaling automated labs or manufacturing-like lab operations, including instrument and robot integration, scheduling and orchestration, reliability engineering, and capacity planning
• Demonstrated experience integrating AI/ML into engineering, operations, and/or research environments
• Experience building and standardizing complex engineering systems from early-stage, project-based environments into scalable, repeatable platforms
• Demonstrated ability to balance rapid experimentation with the introduction of structure required for scale
• Technical expertise across lab automation, controls/SCADA, and science instrumentation, including integration and co-development of robotics and software/data/compute platforms
• Strong people and org leadership: recruiting and developing exceptional managers and ICs; building inclusive, high-ownership cultures that scale
• Excellence in retaining cultural and technical excellence across multiple sites of lab automation innovation and build-outs

Bonus Points For

• Multi-domain engineering excellence (mechanical, controls, electrical, systems) and cross-discipline engineering fluency (robotics, software, computer)
• Experience defining interface standards across hardware, robotics, and software systems
• Experience standing up lifecycle management (e.g., PLM-lite, change control, commissioning frameworks) in fast-moving environments
• Multi-domain science fluency (materials science, chemistry, life science)
• 10+ years experience integrating LIMS, orchestration, schedulers, and reliability and observability pipelines in lab automation
• Experience managing stage-gate transitions from R&D to scaled operations across multiple sites

Your Impact at LILA

As a Scientist on our Physical Sciences team, you will contribute to the development of cutting-edge flow chemistry workflows. You’ll help design, build, and optimize flow chemistry platforms that integrate real-time analytics, advanced control strategies, and AI-driven decision-making. In this role, you’ll work closely with systems engineers and AI scientists to help expand autonomous chemistry capabilities and accelerate discovery at scale. 

What You'll Be Building

• Design & Commission: Architect and develop versatile flow chemistry platforms for autonomous synthesis, ensuring seamless integration with the Lila platform.
• Integrate & Scale: Build, control, and optimize flow reactors and inline analytics. Interface flow chemistry platforms with robotic and sensing systems. 
• Workflow Optimization: Tune flow chemistry platform design and software pipelines for high-throughput closed-loop experimentation with rich metadata capture. 
• Closed-Loop Execution: Collaborate with AI teams to run iterative experiments in real time, enabling fast optimization and discovery cycles.
• Collaboration & Documentation: Work with chemists, material scientists, engineers, and data scientists to document systems, share insights, and refine best practices in autonomous flow chemistry.

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• Ph.D. or M.S. in Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, or a related field. 
• ≥ 1 years (for PhD, 4+ years for M.S ) of hands-on experience in flow chemistry, microfluidics, or microreaction engineering. 
• ≥ 1 years of experience with automation, instrumentation, and integrating real-time analytics into experimental workflows. 
• Strong background in homogeneous chemical catalysis and organic synthesis. 
• Proficiency in Python for scripting, data analysis, and instrument control. 
• Excellent problem-solving, communication, and collaboration skills. 

Bonus Points For 

• Prior experience working in an autonomous or self-driving lab chemical lab environment driving organic chemistry transformations. 
• Familiarity with cloud-based instrumentation control and orchestration.
• Hands-on experience with AI-driven experimental design or Bayesian optimization.
• Background in scaling workflows from proof-of-concept to routine, high-throughput operation.
• Contributions to open-source lab automation or scientific software projects.

Your Impact at LILA

Lila Sciences is seeking an Industrial Engineer to own and architect the physical layout of our AI Science Factories. In this role, you will be responsible for integrating lab instrumentation and robotics into a cohesive, efficient factory design. You will collaborate closely with hardware engineering, science teams, robotics, facilities, and operations to create layouts that are safe, scalable, and engineered for high-throughput autonomous research. This role is central to translating complex cross-functional requirements into a factory environment that enables Lila’s next-generation scientific capabilities. 

What You'll Be Building

• Own the end-to-end factory layout, including spatial planning, adjacency mapping, and utility requirements
• Integrate lab instrumentation layouts from diverse scientific and engineering domains into a unified, high-performance factory design.
• Collaborate with hardware, robotics, science, automation, safety, and facilities teams to incorporate requirements for utilities, safety, accessibility, maintenance, and environmental controls.
• Build and maintain accurate 2D and 3D CAD models of the full factory layout; drive version control and change management for layout updates.
• Work with robotic teams to run simulations and scenario analyses to assess throughput, operational efficiency, and bottlenecks.
• Partner with construction, facilities, and external vendors to ensure physical buildouts reflect the intended design and can scale with future demand.
• Develop standards, documentation, and layout guidelines for new lab instrumentation and factory expansions.

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• BS/MS degree in Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Systems Engineering, or related field.
• Experience designing factory, lab, or production layouts in high-complexity environments.
• Proficiency with CAD tools (e.g., AutoCAD, REVIT, SolidWorks).
• Strong understanding of workflow optimization, material flow, ergonomics, and spatial systems.
• Ability to collaborate across multidisciplinary engineering and scientific teams.
• Clear communication and documentation skills.

Bonus Points For

• Experience with robotic or automated systems and their physical integration into facilities.
• Familiarity with lab/industrial utility requirements (HVAC, gases, power, chemicals, drainage).
• Experience in R&D facilities, pilot plants, or advanced automation environments.

Your Impact at LILA

Lila Sciences is using its autonomous science platform to accelerate chemical discovery — from smarter synthesis pathways and next-generation catalysts to molecular design for clean energy and industrial applications. The Chemistry experiment team is running programs at a pace and scale that demands serious operational rigor, and we're looking for a Technical Program Manager to provide it. You'll work closely with the Chemistry domain lead who sets scientific strategy and direction, while you own the execution layer: the project plans, the cross-functional dependencies, and the blockers that need to be surfaced and resolved before they become problems. You won't be directing scientific work — you'll be creating the conditions for it to happen at speed and at scale. This is a role for someone who genuinely loves the craft of program management in complex, technical environments.

What You'll Be Building

• Own day-to-day program execution within the Chemistry experiment team — maintaining project plans, tracking milestones, and ensuring agentic science programs are delivered on time and with rigor
• Serve as the primary operational interface between the Chemistry team and platform partners (Automation, ML, Engineering) — communicating needs, aligning on priorities, and keeping dependencies visible and resolved
• Translate scientific program goals into structured workstreams that enable autonomous experimentation to run efficiently and at scale
• Run program rituals including sprint planning, stand-ups, and retrospectives with a bias toward purposeful meetings, documentation, and follow-through
• Partner with the Chemistry domain leads to surface blockers, risks, and interdependencies early and drive them to resolution
• Support the delivery of commercial contracts by working with the Product & Revenue team to ensure program commitments are well-scoped, tracked, and clearly communicated to all stakeholders
• Contribute to capacity planning and resource coordination in partnership with scientific leadership

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• 10+ years of program or project management experience in a chemistry, pharmaceutical, or deep tech environment
• A Bachelor's degree in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or a related field
• A track record of managing multiple concurrent programs in fast-paced, ambiguous environments and energized by building programs from the ground up; early-stage start-up experience is a strong plus
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate across scientific and operational stakeholders and manage complex cross-functional dependencies
• Sufficient scientific fluency to understand Chemistry program goals and communicate them clearly to partner teams
• Experience supporting commercial program delivery and working with external partners or customers
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills — able to break complex goals into clear, achievable units of work and keep stakeholders consistently well-informed

Bonus Points For

• Familiarity with project management tools such as Smartsheet, Asana, Jira, or similar
• PMP, PgMP, or agile certification (e.g., CSM, SAFe) is a plus

Your Impact at LILA

Lila Sciences is seeking a Mechatronics Engineer II to join our Advanced Engineering Team to design, develop, and optimize electromechanical systems. This role bridges hardware, software, electrical, and controls to deliver intuitive, high-performance automated solutions.

What You'll Be Building

• Write control software to coordinate sensors, actuators, and motion systems into cohesive automated solutions
• Develop HMI/GUI interfaces for operator interaction and system monitoring
• Prototype and build test jigs and fixtures to de-risk designs and optimize system performance
• Program and tune servo drives, actuators, and sensor feedback loops
• Create control algorithms and logic for automated equipment
• Collaborate with cross-functional engineering teams

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• Bachelor's degree in Mechatronics, Electrical, or Mechanical Engineering
• 3-5 years of relevant experience
• Experience with HMI development platforms
• Proficiency with version control systems, especially Git & Github.
• Proficiency with C/C++ and Python, or similar languages
• Experience with microcontrollers (STM-32, Arduino, Raspberry Pi)
• Experience with rapid prototyping techniques
• Experience specifying and integrating sensors, motors, drives
• Understanding of analog signal types (4-20mA, 0-10V) and discrete I/O
• Thrives in a hands-on prototype heavy environment
• Strong troubleshooting and debugging skills

Bonus Points For

• Understanding of machine states, control theory and PID tuning
• Experience or familiarity with PLC based systems
• Familiarity with industrial communication protocols (EtherNet/IP, RS-232, OPC/UA, MQTT)
• Experience or familiarity with CAD software (Solidworks, Creo, Siemens NX)
• Experience working directly with end-users to develop requirements

Your Impact at LILA

The Senior Director, Small Molecule Therapeutics will lead the biological evaluation and screening of small molecule therapeutics across Lila’s discovery platform. This leader will build and scale a world-class screening organization that translates AI-designed and robotically synthesized molecules into validated biological insights and therapeutic opportunities.

Working closely with Lila’s chemistry, automation, and AI/computational teams, this role will establish the biological screening infrastructure required to rapidly evaluate novel chemical matter. The Senior Director will design and deploy high-throughput and high-content screening strategies, build automated assay platforms, and develop innovative approaches to interrogate large chemical spaces.

This leader will play a critical role in shaping Lila’s small molecule discovery engine by integrating biology, automation, and data science into scalable discovery workflows that accelerate the identification of high-quality therapeutic candidates.

What You'll Be Building

• Build and lead Lila’s small molecule biology and screening organization, including hiring, mentoring, and developing a high-performing scientific team.
• Design and implement high-throughput and automated screening platforms to evaluate small molecules generated through Lila’s AI-driven chemistry and robotic synthesis systems.
• Develop and optimize biochemical, biophysical, and cell-based assays to identify and validate novel small molecule hits.
• Establish scalable automation-enabled workflows for assay execution, screening campaigns, and data generation.
• Lead the development and implementation of DNA-encoded library (DEL) screening strategies and downstream validation pipelines.
• Partner closely with chemistry, computational, and automation teams to integrate screening results with molecular design and synthesis efforts.
• Define and execute screening strategies for new therapeutic targets, including target validation, assay design, and hit identification.
• Oversee large-scale screening campaigns, including hit triage, orthogonal validation, and early mechanism-of-action studies.
• Implement data-driven approaches to analyze screening outputs and guide iterative molecule design.
• Establish best practices for screening data quality, reproducibility, and assay robustness.
• Collaborate across disciplines to translate screening hits into validated chemical starting points for therapeutic programs.

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• PhD in Molecular Biology, Chemical Biology, Pharmacology, Biochemistry, or a related scientific discipline with 12–15 years of experience in drug discovery, or MS/BS in a relevant scientific field with 15+ years of industry experience in small molecule drug discovery and screening.
• Demonstrated experience building and leading small molecule screening teams or platforms, including hiring, mentoring, and developing multidisciplinary scientists.
• Proven track record designing and executing high-throughput screening (HTS) campaigns for small molecule discovery.
• Deep expertise in biological assay development, including biochemical, biophysical, and cell-based assays used in early-stage drug discovery.
• Experience establishing automated or robotics-enabled laboratory platforms, including integration of liquid handling, assay automation, and scalable experimental workflows.
• Experience with DNA-encoded library (DEL) screening or other large-scale chemical library interrogation approaches.
• Strong understanding of hit identification, triage, and validation workflows in small molecule discovery programs.
• Experience working closely with medicinal chemistry teams to translate screening hits into validated chemical matter.
• Demonstrated ability to operate effectively in highly interdisciplinary environments spanning chemistry, biology, automation, and computational teams.
• Track record of scientific leadership and program delivery, including advancing discovery programs and mentoring scientific teams.

Bonus Points For

• Familiarity working in AI-enabled drug discovery environments or integrating machine learning insights into experimental workflows.
• Experience scaling automated discovery platforms that integrate robotics, high-throughput screening, and computational workflows.
• Deep familiarity with large-scale screening technologies, including DNA-encoded libraries (DEL), fragment screening, or other modern small molecule discovery approaches.
• Experience implementing high-content screening, phenotypic assays, or complex cellular screening systems.
• Strong understanding of screening data analysis and interpretation, including management of large experimental datasets.
• Experience building screening infrastructure from the ground up, including instrumentation selection, workflow design, and laboratory automation.
• Demonstrated ability to lead in fast-moving, innovative biotech environments.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to align multidisciplinary teams around ambitious scientific goals.

Your Impact at LILA

You will contribute to day-to-day analytical lab operation, develop analytical methods, acquire high-quality data, and collaborate with scientists and engineers to push the boundaries of autonomous chemistry. Your work will feed directly into closed-loop optimization campaigns that shorten the path from idea to discovery. This is a full hands-on role.

What You'll Be Building

• Develop high throughput optimization cycles for chemical analysis
• Utilize PAT to monitor reaction progress and end products (solids, liquids, gases), develop and optimize methods for analytical screening
• Work with scientists to analyze and benchmark product profiles, propose subsequent closed-loop cycles and validate, perform QCs, present reports on findings
• Digital log of experimental conditions, metadata, and results to ensure data integrity for AI-driven analysis.
• Follow EHS best practices for handling reagents, maintaining flow equipment, and calibrating analytical instruments

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• Currently pursuing (PhD) or recently completed an **M.S. + 2 years (**in Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry or related discipline)
• Hands-on experience in high-throughput methodology development and organic chemical product analysis on LC, MS, IR, NMR
• Comfort working in wet-lab environments and following detailed SOPs.
• Effective written and verbal communication; ability to work in a fast-paced, multidisciplinary team

Your Impact at LILA

We are seeking a curious, driven, and collaborative Scientist to join our discovery platform team focused on decoding mRNA translation dynamics. You will develop workflows that utilize next-generation pooled screening strategies like polysome profiling and Ribo-seq to to generate rich biological datasets that feed directly into Lila's machine learning models. This is a unique opportunity to help invent a new approach to biological discovery by integrating synthetic biology, high-throughput experimentation, and intelligent automation.

What You'll Be Building

• Design and execute high-throughput pooled screening campaigns to interrogate mRNA translation dynamics across diverse sequence and structural contexts
• Develop and optimize cell-free and in-cell assay systems for quantitative measurement of translation efficiency, kinetics, and regulation across different cell environments
• Collaborate closely with computational and ML teams to define data requirements, validate model predictions, and close the loop between experiment and prediction
• Establish and refine next-generation library design strategies, leveraging combinatorial and rational approaches to explore sequence space efficiently
• Analyze and interpret complex biological datasets, distilling key findings into actionable insights for platform advancement
• Contribute to the development of automated and semi-automated experimental pipelines to increase throughput and consistency

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• MSc with 4+ years of industry or academic experience, or PhD in a relevant field (molecular biology, bioengineering, synthetic biology, chemical biology, etc.)
• Deep expertise in mRNA biology and translation regulation
• Experience with next-generation sequencing based assays of mRNA translation such as polysome profiling and Ribo-seq
• Strong quantitative and analytical skills with experience handling large-scale biological datasets
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills with a track record of working effectively in interdisciplinary teams

Bonus Points For

• Experience integrating experimental data with machine learning or computational modeling pipelines
• Proficiency in Python, R, or other scripting languages for data analysis and visualization
• Background in generating and screening complex, high-diversity sequence libraries
• Familiarity with laboratory automation, liquid handling systems, or high-throughput workflow development
• Experience with in-situ sequencing of RNA with imaging like STARmap and Ribomap

Your Impact at LILA

We are looking for a Program Lead to own the strategy and execution of our Life Science artificial intelligence science factory (AISF) Program. This is a single-point-of-accountability role: you will design and execute a plan that is maximally responsive to the priorities of the Product, Revenue, and Science teams while leveraging and extending the Lila tech stack. Success requires deep collaboration with stakeholders, representation of the strategy to the executive team, and driving progress via delegative leadership, where cross-functional Project Teams execute the strategy via our team-of-teams operating model.

Life Science AISFs span capabilities in cell biology, protein science, nucleic acid science, small molecule therapeutics, and targeted delivery — the experimental backbone that enables our AI to learn from biology at scale. This role sits at the intersection of deep domain expertise and strategic platform development, making it one of the most technically consequential leadership positions at Lila.

What You'll Be Building

Program Ownership

• Define the "How and When" in response to strategic "What and Why" inputs from Product, Science, and AI teams
• Propose, negotiate, and own Program Charters for Life Science AISFs, including scope, budget, timeline, and success criteria
• Collaborate with Finance to dynamically manage program budget and strategy throughout execution, escalating or reallocating as needed

Technical Leadership

• Architect the strategy for expanding Life Science AISF capabilities across cell, protein, nucleic acid, small molecule screening, and delivery experimental platforms, in close coordination with the Product, AISF Engineering, Software, Robotics, and Life Science Experiment teams
• Evaluate proof-of-concept results from frontier Science Programs (e.g., Autoimmunity, Solid Tumor, Protein Persistence), align with Product on their value creation potential, and design their integration into the Life Science AISF platform
• Ensure new platform capabilities are well-scoped, derisked, and positioned to accelerate downstream Intelligence Programs
• Maintain and extend Lila's best-in-world autonomous science platform for life sciences
• Design the Life Science AISF to be a maximally expressive lab with unprecedented responsiveness to AI guidance

Team and Execution Management

• Form and advise Life Science Project Teams; ensure teams have the resources, clarity, and support to execute autnomously
• Coordinate with Science Program Leads whose work depends on Life Science AISF capabilities
• Resolve resourcing conflicts within your program via collaboration with Product; escalate to senior leadership when a solution aligned to the approved charters cannot be identified

Stakeholder Communication

• Represent Life Science AISF programs in Technical Leadership Team (TLT) reviews
• Communicate program status, risks, and strategic decisions to TLT and cross-functional partners

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• PhD or equivalent experience in a life sciences discipline (cell biology, biochemistry, molecular biology, or related field), with substantial postdoctoral or industry research experience
• Track record of leading complex, multi-disciplinary experiment and lab automation programs
• Familiarity across multiple Life Science AISF domains (cell-based assays, protein characterization, nucleic acid workflows, or delivery systems)
• Experience with autonomous experiment platforms
• Experience defining and managing technical roadmaps with resource and timeline constraints
• Strong written and verbal communication, coupled with the ability to translate technical depth into strategic clarity for diverse audiences

Bonus Points For

• Familiarity with AI/ML-driven experimental design or closed-loop science workflows
• Prior experience in a fast-paced, technology-driven research environment (biotech, pharma, or deep-tech startup)
• Experience working in a matrixed organization with shared resources across multiple concurrent programs