Engineering Technician 2

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 is a high-growth, well-capitalized public biotech company headquartered in Boston that is redesigning the living world to solve some of the globe's growing challenges in health, energy, food, materials, and more. 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 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 engineering technicians who are excited by the challenges of scaling and improving our Automation Technology. The Automation Team is creating integrated robotic workcells, designing processes around walk-up robotic systems, improving how data is handled, working with scientists on scaling their processes, and much more.
Ginkgo is hiring an Engineering Technician 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 scalable, reconfigurable, highly automated, high throughput R&D labs. Job Description
You'll be working hand in hand with biologists, software developers, and other engineers to co-develop the 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 components, interfacing with assembly vendors, contributing to prototype assembly and more.
Like all members of 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 Automation 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 manufacturing, limited 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

• Contribute to design and build infrastructure for automating high-throughput lab processes
• Work with vendors to build an understanding of needs and capabilities
• System Assembly & Integration: Assist in the design, assembly, and integration of automated lab systems, including mechanical, electrical, and software components.
• Prototype Development: Collaborate with engineers to develop and refine prototypes, ensuring they meet design specifications and functionality requirements.
• Testing & Troubleshooting: Perform rigorous testing of automated systems, diagnose issues, and implement solutions to ensure optimal performance and reliability.
• Documentation: Maintain detailed records of designs, modifications, testing procedures, and outcomes. Prepare technical reports and user manuals for automated systems.
• Maintenance: Provide ongoing maintenance for deployed automation systems, including troubleshooting and repairing as needed.
• Process Improvement: Identify opportunities for improving lab automation processes and contribute to the design and implementation of enhancements.
• Collaboration: Work closely with engineers, scientists, and other stakeholders to understand lab requirements and ensure automation solutions align with project goals.

Minimum Requirements

• Education: Associate degree in Engineering Technology, Automation, or a related field.
• Experience: 2-4 years of experience in a technical role involving automation, preferably in a lab or R&D environment.
• Technical Skills: Proficiency in mechanical assembly, wiring, and basic programming (e.g., PLC, Python).
• Communication: Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to work collaboratively in a team environment.
• Attention to Detail: High level of accuracy and attention to detail in all aspects of work.
• Adaptability: Ability to adapt to changing project requirements and work in a fast-paced, dynamic environment. Ability to independently execute on tactics 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
• Familiarity with CAD software
• Experience working in an 'integrator' role: combining technologies from various vendors and industries to create an integrated robotic workcell or assembly line
• Manufacturing Engineering methodologies (GMP, Lean Six Sigma, etc.)

Total compensation for this role is market driven, with a starting salary of $minimum of range +, 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 or check out some curated press below:

• What is it really like to take your company public via a SPAC? One Boston biotech shares its journey (Fortune)
• Ginkgo Bioworks resizes the definition of going big in biotech, raising $2.5B in a record SPAC deal that weighs in with a whopping $15B-plus valuation (Endpoints News)
• Ginkgo Bioworks CEO on scaling up Covid-19 testing: 'If we try, we can win' (CNBC)
• Ginkgo raises $70 million to ramp up COVID-19 testing for employers, universities (Boston Globe)
• Ginkgo Bioworks Redirects Its Biotech Platform to Coronavirus (Wall Street Journal)
• Ginkgo Bioworks Provides Support on Process Optimization to Moderna for COVID-19 Response (PRNewswire)
• The Life Factory: Synthetic Organisms From This $1.4 Billion Startup Will Revolutionize Manufacturing (Forbes)
• Synthetic Bio Pioneer Ginkgo Raises $290 Million in New Funding (Bloomberg)
• Ginkgo Bioworks raises $350 million fund for biotech spinouts (Reuters)
• Can This Company Convince You to Love GMOs? (The Atlantic)

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.
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, employment applicants, and EOE disability/vet.
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