Sr. Principal or Engineering Advisor - Agentic Lab Automation Integration
Eli Lilly and Company
August 23, 2026
Remote friendly (San Francisco, CA)
United States
$132,000 - $222,200 USD yearly
IT
Position Summary
- Engineer integrations between agentic AI and physical lab systems, connecting robotic platforms, analytical instruments, and data pipelines.
- Design agent workflows that reason over experimental data, trigger automated actions, and surface insights to scientists.
- Prototype rapidly, productionize what works, and collaborate with chemists, biologists, and automation engineers.
Research & Innovation
- Build multi-agent systems with orchestration, state management, error recovery, and tool integration.
- Prototype/iterate on planning strategies, memory systems, and human-in-the-loop patterns.
- Interface agent architectures with lab automation platforms (Hamilton, Tecan, Opentrons) for closed-loop execution.
Solution Deployment
- Transition prototypes into reliable lab operations with automation engineers and scientists.
- Deploy/maintain containerized services using Docker and Kubernetes (GitOps, CI/CD).
- Integrate cloud orchestration (e.g., Argo on Kubernetes) with lab control systems.
External Engagement
- Publish, give talks, review papers, and scout emerging trends in AI@Lilly/external communities.
- Evaluate vendors/open-source/academic collaborations.
Basic Qualifications
- PhD (or MS + 2 yrs / BS + 5 yrs) in Chemical/Mechanical Engineering, Robotics, Computer Engineering, or related field; demonstrated wet-lab automation experience.
- Experience with laboratory automation and LIMS engineering.
- Integration experience for software control/AI with lab automation platforms.
- Docker and Kubernetes orchestration in production.
- Scalable Python apps (e.g., Redis, FastAPI/flask/streamlit, pytest).
Preferred
- LLM post-training/fine-tuning/RLHF; AI/algo decision systems for lab automation.
Compensation & Benefits
- Anticipated wage: $87,000–$222,200; eligible for company bonus.
- Comprehensive benefits including 401(k), pension, vacation, medical/dental/vision/prescription coverage, flexible benefits, life insurance, time off/leave, and well-being benefits.
- Engineer integrations between agentic AI and physical lab systems, connecting robotic platforms, analytical instruments, and data pipelines.
- Design agent workflows that reason over experimental data, trigger automated actions, and surface insights to scientists.
- Prototype rapidly, productionize what works, and collaborate with chemists, biologists, and automation engineers.
Research & Innovation
- Build multi-agent systems with orchestration, state management, error recovery, and tool integration.
- Prototype/iterate on planning strategies, memory systems, and human-in-the-loop patterns.
- Interface agent architectures with lab automation platforms (Hamilton, Tecan, Opentrons) for closed-loop execution.
Solution Deployment
- Transition prototypes into reliable lab operations with automation engineers and scientists.
- Deploy/maintain containerized services using Docker and Kubernetes (GitOps, CI/CD).
- Integrate cloud orchestration (e.g., Argo on Kubernetes) with lab control systems.
External Engagement
- Publish, give talks, review papers, and scout emerging trends in AI@Lilly/external communities.
- Evaluate vendors/open-source/academic collaborations.
Basic Qualifications
- PhD (or MS + 2 yrs / BS + 5 yrs) in Chemical/Mechanical Engineering, Robotics, Computer Engineering, or related field; demonstrated wet-lab automation experience.
- Experience with laboratory automation and LIMS engineering.
- Integration experience for software control/AI with lab automation platforms.
- Docker and Kubernetes orchestration in production.
- Scalable Python apps (e.g., Redis, FastAPI/flask/streamlit, pytest).
Preferred
- LLM post-training/fine-tuning/RLHF; AI/algo decision systems for lab automation.
Compensation & Benefits
- Anticipated wage: $87,000–$222,200; eligible for company bonus.
- Comprehensive benefits including 401(k), pension, vacation, medical/dental/vision/prescription coverage, flexible benefits, life insurance, time off/leave, and well-being benefits.