Senior Automation Service Engineer
Guardant Health
Summary
The Senior Service Engineer is a technical leader who will provide laboratory service and support to the Operations and Development labs across Guardant Health's multiple locations. In this role, he/she will be expected to be the subject matter expert at performing equipment installations, qualifications, maintenance, and troubleshooting of complex laboratory automation systems, including liquid handlers and other instrumentation used within a sequencing workflow.
Job description
As a Senior Automation Service Engineer, the candidate will help lead and mentor team members, ensuring that tasks are performed correctly and efficiently. He/She shall collaborate with cross-functional departments to help ensure that the team is meeting customer expectations. The selected candidate shall utilize past experiences to drive a continuous improvement culture by identifying gaps, proposing solutions, and driving them to implementation.
Responsibilities
- Perform installation and operational qualifications (IQOQ), monthly/semi-annual/annual preventative maintenances (PM), troubleshooting and repair
- Own instrument uptime by resolving service requests in a timely manner and assisting teammates on more complex issues
- Perform expert-level troubleshooting of automation systems and laboratory instrumentation
- Serve as a subject matter expert for laboratory automation systems and identify/resolve repeat issues
- Lead root cause investigations and implement corrective and preventive actions
- Maintain accurate service documentation in compliance with quality systems
- Analyze equipment performance trends and implement scalable, long-term solutions
- Develop, standardize, and improve SOPs, checklists, and service documentation
- Drive enhancements to the maintenance and calibration processes for scalability and sustainability
- Ensure accuracy of maintenance and calibration within the asset management system
- Provide tier 1 support to laboratory end-users for issues related to equipment, communication/connectivity, methods, etc.
- Assist in temperature monitoring of cold storages, laboratories, warehouses, etc via a temperature monitoring system
- Drive continuous improvement initiatives as they relate to service processes to help streamline day-to-day workflows
- Mentor and train Automation Service Engineers colleagues and personnel from other cross-functional departments
- Collaborate with cross-functional departments within project core-teams to implement lab deployments, relocations, and operational scale-up
- Ensure team milestones and timelines are met in accordance to management guidance
- Support audits and inspections, ensuring regulatory readiness
- Collaborate with internal partners and external vendors, as needed
- Participate in an on-call rotation to provide after-hours support
Qualifications
- BS degree in engineering or scientific discipline, or equivalent (advanced degree preferred)
- 5–8+ years of relevant service/support experience
- 5+ years of service engineering or instrumentation support experience
- Expertise with Hamilton liquid handlers and laboratory automation systems
- Strong experience with Qiagen QiaSymphony, Agilent TapeStation, Illumina sequencers, and other laboratory equipment used within a sequencing workflow
- Proven experience authoring and executing PM, IQ, OQ, PQ, and service documentation
- Strong knowledge of CLIA, GMP, and regulated environments
- Demonstrated experience driving process standardization and scalability
- Demonstrated experience driving root cause analysis
- Demonstrated experience driving continuous improvements initiatives
- Experience with Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma methodologies
- Liquid handler programming experience preferred
- High-throughput automation/workcell experience preferred
- Strong leadership, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills
- Ability to travel up to 20%
Requirements
- BS degree in engineering or scientific discipline, or equivalent (advanced degree preferred)
- 5–8+ years of relevant service/support experience
- 5+ years of service engineering or instrumentation support experience
- Expertise with Hamilton liquid handlers and laboratory automation systems
- Strong experience with Qiagen QiaSymphony, Agilent TapeStation, Illumina sequencers, and other laboratory equipment used within a sequencing workflow
- Proven experience authoring and executing PM, IQ, OQ, PQ, and service documentation
- Strong knowledge of CLIA, GMP, and regulated environments
- Demonstrated experience driving process standardization and scalability
- Demonstrated experience driving root cause analysis
- Demonstrated experience driving continuous improvements initiatives
- Experience with Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma methodologies
- Liquid handler programming experience preferred
- High-throughput automation/workcell experience preferred
- Strong leadership, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills
- Ability to travel up to 20%
Benefits
- Hybrid work model
- Onsite Mon/Tue/Thu
- Annual bonus eligible
- Equity eligible
- Medical, Dental & Vision
- 401(k) Matching
- Paid Time Off
Company overview
Guardant Health, Inc. is a leading precision oncology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California, focused on transforming cancer care through advanced blood and tissue testing technologies. Founded in 2012 by Helmy Eltoukhy and AmirAli Talasaz, who serve as co-CEOs, the company specializes in liquid biopsy tests that detect cancer from circulating tumor DNA in blood samples. Guardant Health's flagship product, Guardant360, was the first comprehensive liquid biopsy test approved by the FDA for tumor mutation profiling and companion diagnostics in non-small cell lung cancer. The company has expanded its portfolio to include Guardant Reveal for residual disease monitoring, Guardant360 TissueNext tissue testing, and Shield, the first FDA-approved blood test for colorectal cancer screening. Guardant Health operates globally with approximately 1,999 employees and generates revenue from precision oncology testing services for clinical and biopharmaceutical customers, as well as development services and technology licensing. The company's innovative approach enables earlier cancer detection, treatment selection, and monitoring, helping to improve patient outcomes across all stages of cancer care.