Sr. Principal or Engineering Advisor - Agentic Lab Automation Integration
Eli Lilly and Company
August 24, 2026
Remote friendly (Boston, MA)
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 to reason over experimental data, trigger automated actions, and surface insights to scientists.
- Prototype rapidly, productionize effective solutions, and collaborate with chemists, biologists, and automation engineers.
Research & Innovation
- Build multi-agent systems with orchestration, state management, error recovery, and tool integration.
- Prototype and iterate on agent planning, memory systems, and human-in-the-loop patterns.
- Interface agent architectures with lab automation platforms (Hamilton, Tecan, Opentrons) for closed-loop execution.
Solution Deployment
- Partner to transition prototypes into reliable lab operations.
- Deploy and maintain containerized services using Docker and Kubernetes (GitOps, CI/CD).
- Integrate cloud orchestration frameworks (e.g., Argo on Kubernetes) with laboratory control systems.
External Engagement
- Publish, give talks, review papers, and scout trends for Frontier AI.
- Evaluate vendors, open-source projects, and 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.
- Experience integrating software control/AI with lab automation (liquid handlers, analytical instruments, robotic workflows).
- Strong Docker and Kubernetes production orchestration experience.
- Scalable production Python apps (e.g., Redis, FastAPI, Flask/Streamlit, pytest).
Preferred
- LLM post-training (fine-tuning/RLHF), AI decision systems for automation, translation layer between planning and instrument control, and ML/NLP research/publications.
Compensation & Benefits (as stated)
- Anticipated wage: $87,000 - $222,200. Company bonus eligibility and comprehensive benefits (401(k), medical/dental/vision, vacation, life insurance, time off, well-being).
- Engineer integrations between agentic AI and physical lab systems connecting robotic platforms, analytical instruments, and data pipelines.
- Design agent workflows to reason over experimental data, trigger automated actions, and surface insights to scientists.
- Prototype rapidly, productionize effective solutions, and collaborate with chemists, biologists, and automation engineers.
Research & Innovation
- Build multi-agent systems with orchestration, state management, error recovery, and tool integration.
- Prototype and iterate on agent planning, memory systems, and human-in-the-loop patterns.
- Interface agent architectures with lab automation platforms (Hamilton, Tecan, Opentrons) for closed-loop execution.
Solution Deployment
- Partner to transition prototypes into reliable lab operations.
- Deploy and maintain containerized services using Docker and Kubernetes (GitOps, CI/CD).
- Integrate cloud orchestration frameworks (e.g., Argo on Kubernetes) with laboratory control systems.
External Engagement
- Publish, give talks, review papers, and scout trends for Frontier AI.
- Evaluate vendors, open-source projects, and 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.
- Experience integrating software control/AI with lab automation (liquid handlers, analytical instruments, robotic workflows).
- Strong Docker and Kubernetes production orchestration experience.
- Scalable production Python apps (e.g., Redis, FastAPI, Flask/Streamlit, pytest).
Preferred
- LLM post-training (fine-tuning/RLHF), AI decision systems for automation, translation layer between planning and instrument control, and ML/NLP research/publications.
Compensation & Benefits (as stated)
- Anticipated wage: $87,000 - $222,200. Company bonus eligibility and comprehensive benefits (401(k), medical/dental/vision, vacation, life insurance, time off, well-being).