Principal Laboratory Automation Scientist
Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine
September 12, 2026
Full-time
Remote friendly (Spring House, PA)
Worldwide
Operations
Role: Principal Laboratory Automation Scientist in R&D Electrical/Mechatronic Engineering, focused on defining and advancing integrated laboratory automation architectures for biopharmaceutical discovery platforms. Responsibilities include establishing cross-workcell standards, designing scientific workflow architectures, leading automation transformation initiatives, and enabling AI-ready data strategies to support biologics, small molecule, protein engineering, and high-throughput workflows. The role involves collaborating with automation engineers, scientists, data science teams, and vendors, supporting technology evaluations, and ensuring compliance in regulated environments. Qualifications: Bachelor's degree in Life Science, Engineering, or related fields with 10+ years (Bachelor's), 8+ years (Master's), or 5+ years (PhD) relevant automation experience; hands-on expertise with automated liquid handlers, integrated workcells, and scientific workflows; strong understanding of sample and data provenance, metadata, and automation architecture. Preferred skills include experience with digital twins, FAIR data, APIs, event-driven architectures, and biopharma discovery modalities like biologics, NGS, and cell-based assays. The position is located in Spring House, PA, with potential travel for vendor assessments, site visits, and system deployment.