Engineer II, System Design

Work Schedule

Standard (Mon-Fri)

Environmental Conditions

Laboratory Setting, Office, Some degree of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) required (safety glasses, gowning, gloves, lab coat, ear plugs etc.)

Job Description

As part of the Thermo Fisher Scientific team, you’ll discover meaningful work that makes a positive impact on a global scale. Join our colleagues in bringing our Mission to life every day, enabling our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner, and safer. We provide our global teams with the resources needed to achieve individual career goals while helping to take science a step further by developing solutions to some of the world’s toughest challenges, such as protecting the environment, ensuring food safety, and finding cures for cancer.

Location

South San Francisco, CA. Relocation assistance is NOT provided.

*Must be legally authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship.

*Must be able to pass a comprehensive background check, which includes a drug screen.

Discover Impactful Work:

Join our Systems Design Engineering team to develop next-generation sequencing instruments, applications, and reagents for the Clinical Sequencing Division. As part of multi-functional project teams, you'll advance automated workflows—including DNA extraction, library preparation, templating, and sequencing—from feasibility through on-market customer support.

A Day in the Life:

• System Evaluation & Integration: Evaluate proposed NGS systems and workflows, integrate and characterize new technologies, and establish feasibility through rigorous experimentation.

• Workflow Automation & Optimization: Translate complex molecular biology and chemical protocols from benchtop to automated platforms. Optimize hardware-workflow interactions for performance, reliability, and robustness.

• Experimentation & Troubleshooting: Design hypothesis-driven experiments to characterize system performance and identify failure modes. Apply first-principles thinking to diagnose and resolve complex issues spanning molecular biology, chemistry, hardware, consumables, and software.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with assay development scientists and hardware engineers, providing data-driven feedback to guide co-development of reagents, consumables, and instrument hardware.

• Platform Support & Feature Development: Provide expert-level technical support for on-market instruments and Field Support teams. Develop automated hardware diagnostics and new features that integrate hardware, consumables, and software into seamless automated solutions.

Keys to Success:

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or science required.

Experience

• 2+ years of experience evaluating, integrating, testing, and troubleshooting complex fluidic/microfluidic systems required (equivalent combinations of education and relevant work experience may be considered).
• Deep understanding of molecular biology, biochemistry, and liquid handling principles applied to hardware integration and system performance challenges.
• Proficiency in scripting/programming (Python, MATLAB, or similar) and instrument control software.
• Strong communication skills; ability to convey complex technical concepts to multidisciplinary teams.
• Proven ability to take ownership, overcome obstacles, and deliver results.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities

• Hands-on experience translating biological/chemical workflows (library prep, templating, sequencing) onto NGS instruments in life sciences or diagnostics R&D.
• Experience with Design of Experiments (DOE) and statistical tools (JMP, R).
• Commercial product development experience (design, prototyping, testing, documentation).
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple projects and competing priorities.

Benefits:

We offer competitive remuneration, annual incentive plan bonus, healthcare, and a range of employee benefits. Thermo Fisher Scientific offers employment with an innovative, forward-thinking organization, and outstanding career and development prospects. We offer an exciting company culture that stands for integrity, intensity, involvement, and innovation!

Compensation and Benefits

The salary range estimated for this position based in California is $82,800.00–$124,200.00.

This position may also be eligible to receive a variable annual bonus based on company, team, and/or individual performance results in accordance with company policy. We offer a comprehensive Total Rewards package that our U.S. colleagues and their families can count on, which includes:

• A choice of national medical and dental plans, and a national vision plan, including health incentive programs

• Employee assistance and family support programs, including commuter benefits and tuition reimbursement

• At least 120 hours paid time off (PTO), 10 paid holidays annually, paid parental leave (3 weeks for bonding and 8 weeks for caregiver leave), accident and life insurance, and short- and long-term disability in accordance with company policy

• Retirement and savings programs, such as our competitive 401(k) U.S. retirement savings plan

• Employees’ Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) offers eligible colleagues the opportunity to purchase company stock at a discount

For more information on our benefits, please visit: https://jobs.thermofisher.com/global/en/total-rewards