Job Application for Mechatronics Engineer 2 at Ginkgo Bioworks Inc.

Our mission is to make biology easier to engineer. Ginkgo is constructing, editing, and redesigning the living world in order to answer the globe’s growing challenges in health, energy, food, materials, and more. Our bioengineers make use of an in-house automated foundry for designing and building new organisms.

Ginkgo Introduction

Ginkgo is a well-capitalized public biotech company headquartered in Boston that is constructing, editing, and redesigning the living world in order to answer the globe’s growing challenges in health, energy, food, materials, and more. Our mission to “make biology easier to engineer” is poised to disrupt multiple industries by leveraging our innovative data, automation, and scale in biological engineering.

Team Introduction

We’re looking for talented engineers who are excited by the challenges of scaling and improving our Automation Technology. Ginkgo is hiring an Automation Engineer 2, specializing in Mechatronics, to join our in-house automation and integration team. This team is responsible for designing, developing, and deploying automation solutions to both internal labs and external automation customers. Ginkgo’s Automation team is building the technology for a scalable, reconfigurable, highly automated industrial factory.

Job Description
This is a Hybrid role out of our Emeryville, CA location

You’ll be working hand in hand with biologists, software developers, and other engineers to co-develop the wetware, hardware, and software infrastructure that enables walkaway automation for various applications.

The Automation Mechatronics Team is responsible for designing and deploying the mechanical, electrical, and control systems that form the basis for our novel integrated robotic systems. As a member of the team, you may be responsible for identifying and sourcing off-the-shelf equipment, delivering quick turnaround custom hardware, programming robot trajectories, managing contract manufacturers, programming PLCs, and more. You will follow your designs through the complete product lifecycle from concept, to requirements gathering, to delivery, to second tier support.

Like all Mechatronics engineers on the team, you will have tasks sourced from a number of different projects on your todo list. You should expect variety in your day-to-day work, along with an agile environment where priorities shift quickly in response to new projects and updated customer needs. The Mechatronics team has a broad set of responsibilities covering a range of technical fields. Depending on your background and your preferred career trajectory, you may contribute to sensor specification and data tracking, controls, manufacturing, mechanical design, and robotics. Who works on what is driven just as much by our current skills as by what we want to learn. We’re open to learning new tools or methodologies to get the job done more efficiently, and we hope that you will bring new ideas and perspectives to the team!

To learn more about automation engineering at Ginkgo, take a look at this blog post: Day in the Life: Kristen.

Responsibilities

Design and build infrastructure for automating high-throughput lab processes
Collaborate with biologists on automation equipment design and operation
Work with vendors to build understanding of needs and capabilities

Minimum Requirements

BS in Mechanical, Mechatronics, Systems, Robotics engineering or equivalent
Relevant experience in 3 or more of the following areas

Laboratory automation systems and experimental workflow development
Project-based experience using an engineering 3D CAD software package. We use SolidWorks, but we would be open to considering engineers with experience using other 3D CAD programs such as Autodesk Inventor, etc.
Experience with making both 2D and 3D parts. Familiarity with several metal and/or plastic fabrication and cutting techniques. This might include milling, turning, laser/waterjet/plasma/oxy-acetylene methods.
Basic knowledge of wiring circuits, terminating cables with various connector types, power budgets, etc.
Familiarity with PLC’s, safety circuits and safety sensors, power electronics, etc.

Systems engineering training or mindset with attention to detail
Ability to independently execute on tasks to complete project work, with strategic support from manager and other stakeholders

Preferred Capabilities and Experience

We do not expect that any one candidate will have all of the following experiences - each is independently a preferred or “nice-to-have” capability.

Familiarity with Lab Automation equipment fundamentals (different types of liquid handlers from Agilent, Hamilton and Beckman/Labcyte, plate sealers, bulk dispensers, etc.)
Demonstrable fabrication experience or ‘workshop’ skills
Experience programming 6-axis robot trajectories

We’re developing a powerful biological engineering platform, so we must remain mindful of the many ways our technology can – and will – impact people around the world. We care about how our platform is used, and having a diverse team to build it gives us the best chance that it’s something we’ll be proud of as it continues to grow. Therefore, it’s critical that we incorporate the diverse voices and visions of all those who play a role in the future of biology.

It is the policy of Ginkgo Bioworks to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and employment applicants.

Special Requirements/Materials to be Provided by Candidates

Please let us know if any special requirements/materials should be included with the job post (i.e deal sheet, programming portfolios, cover letter, etc.) Please speak with the talent acquisition team if you need special requirements outside of the standard forms or want to know what is already in place in Lever with regards to your specific special requirement.
In all applications, application source and EEO (equal employment opportunity) data fields along with links (LinkedIn, Twitter, Github) are included in the post for the candidate to populate.

Total compensation for this role is market driven, with a starting salary of $93,000+, as well as company stock awards. Base pay is ultimately determined based on a candidate's skills, expertise, and experience. We also offer a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental & vision coverage, health spending accounts, voluntary benefits, leave of absence policies, Employee Assistance Program, 401(k) program with employer contribution, 8 paid holidays in addition to a full-week winter shutdown and unlimited Paid Time Off policy.

To learn more about Ginkgo, visit www.ginkgobioworks.com/press/ or check out some curated press below:

We also feel that it’s important to point out the obvious here – there’s a serious lack of diversity in our industry, and that needs to change. Our goal is to help drive that change. Ginkgo is deeply committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion in all of its practices, especially when it comes to growing our team. Our culture promotes inclusion and embraces how rewarding it is to work with people from all walks of life.

It is the policy of Ginkgo Bioworks to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees, employment applicants, and EOE disability/vet.

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Mechatronics Engineer 2

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