Director, Automation Program Lead

Company Summary

Lila Sciences is a privately held, early-stage technology company pioneering the application of artificial intelligence to transform every aspect of the scientific method. Lila is backed by Flagship Pioneering, which brings the courage, long-term vision, and resources needed to realize unreasonable results. Join our mission-driven team and contribute to the future of science.

Our Life Sciences effort is leveraging AI and high-throughput automation for valuable therapeutic discovery and development across biological modalities.At Lila, we are uniquely cross-functional and collaborative. We are actively reimagining the way teams work together and communicate. Therefore, we seek individuals with an inclusive mindset and a diversity of thought. Our teams thrive in unstructured and creative environments. All voices are heard because we know that experience comes in many forms, skills are transferable, and passion goes a long way.

If this sounds like an environment you’d love to work in, even if you only have some of the experience listed below, please apply.

The Role:

Position Summary 
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.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead Strategic Automation Initiatives: 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.
• Drive Technical Focus: 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.
• Establish Standards and Best Practices: Drive the development and adoption of core infrastructure, workflow standards, and operational models that improve consistency and scale.
• Enable Organizational Scale: Build systems that support efficient knowledge transfer, training, and continuous improvement across a rapidly growing automation ecosystem.
• Report and Communicate with Executive Clarity: Provide regular updates on program health, resource utilization, and technical risk to senior leadership and cross-functional stakeholders.

Qualifications

• 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

More About Flagship Pioneering

Flagship Pioneering is a biotechnology company that invents and builds platform companies, each with the potential for multiple products that transform human health or sustainability. Since its launch in 2000, Flagship has originated and fostered more than 100 scientific ventures, resulting in more than $90 billion in aggregate value. Many of the companies Flagship has founded have addressed humanity’s most urgent challenges: vaccinating billions of people against COVID-19, curing intractable diseases, improving human health, preempting illness, and feeding the world by improving the resiliency and sustainability of agriculture.  Flagship has been recognized twice on FORTUNE’s “Change the World” list, an annual ranking of companies that have made a positive social and environmental impact through activities that are part of their core business strategies, and has been twice named to Fast Company’s annual list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies. Learn more about Flagship at www.flagshippioneering.com.

Flagship Pioneering and our ecosystem companies are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.

At Flagship, we recognize there is no perfect candidate. If you have some of the experience listed above but not all, please apply anyway. Experience comes in many forms, skills are transferable, and passion goes a long way. We are dedicated to building diverse and inclusive teams and look forward to learning more about your unique background.

Recruitment & Staffing Agencies: Flagship Pioneering and its affiliated Flagship Lab companies (collectively, “FSP”) do not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than candidates. The submission of unsolicited resumes by recruitment or staffing agencies to FSP or its employees is strictly prohibited unless contacted directly by Flagship Pioneering’s internal Talent Acquisition team. Any resume submitted by an agency in the absence of a signed agreement will automatically become the property of FSP, and FSP will not owe any referral or other fees with respect thereto.