Senior Engineer II / Staff Engineer, Electromechanical Technician

Your Impact at LILA

Lila Sciences is seeking a Contract Electromechanical Technician to join our Hardware & Controls Engineering team. As an Electromechanical Technician at Lila, you will be the hands-on expert who turns innovative designs into reality. You’ll build, assemble, and troubleshoot custom automated instruments, workcells, and experimental equipment that advance frontier research in life and physical sciences. Your work will drive rapid prototyping, enable complex R&D, and directly empower engineers, scientists, and automation specialists to translate their ideas into working solutions. You’ll play a critical role as the technical link between design and execution across cross-disciplinary teams.

What You'll Be Building

• Assemble, install, and calibrate custom electromechanical equipment and automated systems from 3D CAD models, blueprints, mechanical drawings, and electrical schematics provided by engineering.
• Support engineers and scientists in rapid prototyping test stands, fixtures, and experimental setups, including mechanical assembly, light machine work (e.g., drill presses, chop saws), and hands-on fabrication.
• Perform electrical wiring, cable routing, and component mounting for automation panels, instruments, and workcells—including sensors, actuators, control boards, and pneumatic components.
• Participate in integration, bring-up, and debugging of automation subsystems (mechanical, pneumatic, electrical, optical), working closely with controls and software engineers on system configuration and troubleshooting.
• Execute maintenance, repairs, upgrades, and alignments on complex equipment.
• Provide real-time feedback to engineering teams during builds regarding design issues or opportunities for improvement.
• Maintain up-to-date documentation on builds, repairs, troubleshooting, and component history.
• Ensure safe working conditions and adherence to lab and industry standards during all fabrication, assembly, and testing.

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• Associate’s degree in electro-mechanical technology, mechatronics, industrial maintenance, or related field — or military technical training/vocational certification.
• Advanced skill with mechanical assembly and electrical diagnostic work, including use of mechanical hand tools, measuring equipment (calipers, gauges), multimeters, and basic machine tools.
• Ability to read, interpret, and work precisely from 3D CAD models, mechanical drawings, and 2D electrical schematics.
• Familiarity with PLCs (e.g., Allen-Bradley, Siemens, Beckhoff), motor controllers, actuators, sensors, and industrial automation components.
• Experience in assembly and troubleshooting of electrical/cable, pneumatic, fluid, or thermal systems.
• Practical knowledge of industry safety procedures and compliance requirements (e.g., electrical code, LOTO, OSHA).
• Strong analytical/troubleshooting ability; highly adaptable in fast-paced, rapidly evolving environments.
• Clear, practical communicator who collaborates effectively with multiple engineering domains.
• Excellent time management, able to take initiative and juggle multiple projects or tasks with minimal supervision.

Bonus Points For

• Hands-on experience supporting highly interdisciplinary R&D teams: building or modifying prototypes across mechanical, controls, and software domains.
• Proficiency with 3D CAD modeling or editing (SolidWorks strongly preferred; other platforms welcome).
• Familiarity with AutoCAD, or tools for drafting/wiring electrical schematics.
• Experience assembling control panels, wiring PLCs, or working at the panel/component level in automation.
• Experience with digital maintenance or documentation tools (CMMS, ERP, Kanban, Wikis).
• 4+ years in an automation, manufacturing, robotics, or laboratory environment.
• Certifications: CMRT, OSHA 10/30, PLC programming, or other industry-relevant credentials.
• Experience in a cleanroom, laboratory automation, or regulated R&D context.
• Prior customer or vendor-facing experience for component sourcing, fabrication, or troubleshooting.