Director, Automation Program Lead

About the position

Lila Sciences is seeking an accomplished and strategic Director, Automation Program Lead to lead the delivery of critical automation initiatives across our life sciences ecosystem. In this high-impact leadership role, you will drive end-to-end execution of complex technical programs, spanning automated biological workflows, cross-functional team coordination, and resource orchestration. You’ll partner closely with scientific and automation leaders, and product stakeholders to ensure that innovative, high-throughput solutions are implemented efficiently, robustly, and at scale. This role demands a unique blend of strategic foresight, deep technical expertise, and operational excellence in laboratory automation systems and biological process optimization.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end delivery of complex automation programs—from planning through execution—across multiple platforms and scientific domains.
• Act as the strategic interface between scientific stakeholders and automation engineers, aligning technical capabilities with research goals.
• Identify, prioritize, and resolve process bottlenecks in automated biological workflows, championing scalable solutions organization-wide.
• Streamlined cross-functional coordination by optimizing communication channels and reducing unnecessary meetings, increasing team focus on impactful technical execution and delivery.
• Lead technical reviews and milestone communication to maintain alignment and visibility across scientific and engineering teams.
• Drive the development and adoption of core infrastructure, workflow standards, and operational models that improve consistency and scale.
• Build systems that support efficient knowledge transfer, training, and continuous improvement across a rapidly growing automation ecosystem.
• Provide regular updates on program health, resource utilization, and technical risk to senior leadership and cross-functional stakeholders.

Requirements

• MS/PhD in Biology, Bioengineering, or a related field.
• 10+ years of experience leading laboratory automation initiatives, with at least 5 years in a strategic or senior leadership capacity.
• Deep technical expertise with automated liquid handling platforms (e.g., Hamilton STAR, Dynamic Devices Lynx, Agilent Bravo) and system integration.
• Strong command of scheduling and orchestration tools (e.g., Green Button Go, Cellario, Overlord).
• Proven track record managing complex, cross-functional technical projects with multiple stakeholders and dependencies.
• Expert-level understanding of biological assay automation, method development, and validation.
• Experience leading technical teams and mentoring junior staff in a high-performance environment.
• Strong proficiency in project management tools (e.g., JIRA, Confluence) and process optimization frameworks.
• Working knowledge of scripting/programming languages used in automation (e.g., Python) is a plus.
• Exceptional communication skills with the ability to clearly convey technical strategies, decisions, and progress across audiences—from engineers to executives.