Senior Automation Engineer — Orchestration & Material Management

Be a key member of the Advanced Robotics & Data Orchestration Team within Alexion’s Product Development & Clinical Supply organization. You will own the physical execution layer that moves materials through automated product development labs. You will design and operationalize material flows — inventory capture, kitting, staging, pick and place, and chain of custody — while implementing run-control logic that makes robots and instruments work as one. This role is hardware-leaning and operations-facing: you will spend meaningful time at the bench commissioning work cells, validating material movement and ID capture, and partnering with mechatronics engineers and operators to deliver reliable, auditable execution.  Help us accelerate life-changing therapies to patients with rare and ultra-rare diseases. 

This is what you will do: 

• Translate laboratory material-flow requirements (lots, expiry, storage, kitting, staging, environmental constraints) into orchestrated workflows and handling patterns. 

• Implement run-control logic for material handling (state models/events), exception handling, and safe recovery/rollback; contribute modules/drivers aligned to interface contracts. 

• Build material-management capabilities: barcode/RFID capture, inventory updates, weigh/dispense reconciliation, queue/station logic, and end-of-run reconciliation. 

• Integrate robots/instruments with schedulers and data services to synchronize physical moves with recipes, sampling, and analytics. 

• Configure interfaces and schemas with Data Engineering for material lineage, sample IDs, and chain-of-custody metadata; validate end-to-end traceability. 

• Apply configuration-as-code, CI/CD, and automated tests; publish releases and operator-facing migration guides. 

• Embed telemetry/logs/alerts; contribute to service level objectives focused on flow reliability, pick/place accuracy, and inventory correctness. 

• Commission and support priority workflows (cutovers/hypercare), track reuse, commissioning time, error/rerun reduction, uptime, and material-flow KPIs. 

You will be responsible for: 

• Reusable orchestration modules and material-handling patterns that meet reliability and usability targets. 

• Audit-ready trails for setpoints, states, recipe steps, material movements, and chain of custody. 

• Clear documentation, release notes, and onboarding kits that enable repeatable adoption. 

• Continuous improvement of laboratory material-flow reliability using telemetry and corrective actions. 

You will need to have: 

• Education/experience: PhD + 0 years, or MS + 4 years, or BS + 8 years in Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical, Mechatronics, or related engineering (or equivalent experience)—including 4+ years in laboratory or industrial automation focused on material handling, robotics/instrument integration, or work cell operations. 

• Hands-on experience with pick/place design, barcode/RFID capture, weigh/dispense, inventory systems, and exception/recovery patterns in automated labs. 

• Familiarity with schemas/data contracts for lineage and inventory; basic SQL or Python for validation and reconciliation. 

• Strong collaboration with mechatronics/controls, operators, and data engineers; clear, operator-first documentation. 

• The duties of this role may require periodic work in a laboratory or manufacturing environment. As is typical of such roles, employees must be able, with or without an accommodation to: lift/carry 15/30 pounds unassisted/assisted; work comfortably in a controlled environment with and around hazardous materials; gown/degown PPE; use a computer; engage in communications via phone, video, and electronic messaging; engage in problem solving and non-linear thought, analysis, and dialogue; collaborate with others; maintain general availability during standard business hours.  

We would prefer for you to have: 

• Exposure to ELN/LIMS/SDMS integrations, chain of custody/data integrity, and regulated laboratory practices. 

• Hands on work with robotics, vision-based verification, barcode/RFID, weigh/dispense, or AS/RS systems for materials. 

• Familiarity with observability tooling (metrics/logs/alerts), reliability engineering concepts (SLIs/SLOs), and structured postmortems. 

In person working statement: 

When we put unexpected teams in the same room, we unleash bold thinking with the power to inspire life‑changing medicines. In‑person working gives us the platform we need to connect, work at pace, and challenge perceptions. That is why we work, on average, a minimum of four days per week from the office. We balance this expectation while respecting individual flexibility. Join us in our unique and ambitious world.