Director, Instrument Development Acceleration

Location: Cambridge, MA USA

Department: Software

Your Impact at Lila

Lila Sciences is seeking a relentless executor and strategic operator to spearhead our Instrument Development initiatives and lead our Virtual Lab Team. As the Director of Instrument Development Acceleration, you will be responsible for getting instruments online, fast, reliably, and at scale. The role is for someone who thrives in high-throughput environments and measures success in instruments shipped.

What You'll Be Building

• Drive a high-performing team of engineers and scientists with a bias for action, accountability, and forward momentum.
• Set clear expectations, remove obstacles quickly, and keep the team focused on delivery over deliberation.
• Own the rapid design and development of laboratory instruments across the full lifecycle, from concept to operational in the lab, at high volume.
• Architect and implement integration frameworks connecting virtual laboratory environments with physical instrumentation and robotic systems.
• Maintain rigorous hardware-software integration standards, system performance benchmarks, and quality assurance processes without letting them become bottlenecks.
• Make pragmatic technical decisions across software, hardware, and systems integration that keep momentum, escalating only what truly needs escalation.
• Work tightly with AI researchers, software engineers, and robotics teams to drive fast, efficient system integration and deployment.
• Communicate clearly and concisely on status, blockers, and decisions to stakeholders at all levels.
• Build and refine lean development practices that prioritize speed, system reliability, and repeatable quality assurance.

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, or a related field. Ph.D. is a plus but not required.
• At least 10 years in engineering or technical leadership, with a proven record of delivering complex systems at scale and on time.
• Strong hands-on coding ability in C++, Python, or Java, with deep experience in hardware-software integration.
• Proven ability to lead complex systems integration across software, hardware, and robotic platforms.
• A problem-solver who makes decisions with imperfect information and keeps moving.
• Clear, direct communicator who can align engineers and stakeholders without unnecessary overhead.

Bonus Points For

• Experience with agile or lean development methodologies in high-throughput environments.
• Hands-on knowledge of AI, robotics, and simulation technologies as applied to laboratory instrumentation and automation.
• Experience with system monitoring, performance optimization, and QA in hardware-software environments.
• Track record of scaling teams and processes during periods of rapid growth.

About Lila

Lila Sciences is the world’s first scientific superintelligence platform and autonomous lab for life, chemistry, and materials science.  We are pioneering a new age of boundless discovery by building the capabilities to apply AI to every aspect of the scientific method.  We are introducing scientific superintelligence to solve humankind's greatest challenges, enabling scientists to bring forth solutions in human health, climate, and sustainability at a pace and scale never experienced before. Learn more about this mission at  www.lila.ai

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

We’re All In

Lila Sciences is 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.

Information you provide during your application process will be handled in accordance with our Candidate Privacy Policy.

A Note to Agencies

Lila Sciences does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than candidates. The submission of unsolicited resumes by recruitment or staffing agencies to Lila Sciences or its employees is strictly prohibited unless contacted directly by Lila Science’s internal Talent Acquisition team. Any resume submitted by an agency in the absence of a signed agreement will automatically become the property of Lila Sciences, and Lila Sciences will not owe any referral or other fees with respect thereto.