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Salary: USD 263,000 - 318,150 / annual
Eikon Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company founded on Nobel Prize-winning innovations, is seeking a Vice President of Automation Operations to lead the organization that builds, operates, and advances its integrated discovery platform. This role sits at the critical interface between Research and Engineering, with responsibility for three teams: Automation Engineering (develops and deploys robotic systems for high-throughput workflows), Service (maintains and monitors automated systems), and Compound Management (stewards the compound collection and delivers materials to workflows).
Your central mandate is translation: deeply understanding what scientists are trying to accomplish and converting those needs into clear, actionable requirements for hardware, software, automation, and systems engineers. Equally important is vision—recognizing the larger need behind requests and proposing scalable platform solutions that anticipate where the science is heading. A near-term priority is operationalization: moving validated, scientist-developed assay workflows onto the automated platform as production services with guaranteed turnaround, equivalent or better data quality, and full traceability.
The platform you will oversee includes integrated systems of liquid handlers (Bravo, Tecan, Hamilton), robotic arms (PF400), automated microscopes (custom in-house imagers, IXMs), plate readers, incubators, dispensers, Echo acoustic liquid transfer systems, scheduling software, automated compound storage and retrieval systems, and laboratory data systems. These systems operate primarily at Eikon's Millbrae headquarters with a smaller footprint at the New York City site; you will be accountable for automation operations across both locations.
Key responsibilities include: leading and developing the Platform Integration organization; defining and executing a multi-year platform roadmap aligned with scientific strategy; partnering with Research leadership to translate experimental needs into engineering requirements; proposing forward-looking, scalable solutions; overseeing design, integration, qualification, deployment, and lifecycle management of automated systems; ensuring platform reliability through monitoring, maintenance, and incident response; owning the transition of validated assays into automated production; defining and meeting service-level agreements for operationalized workflows; overseeing Compound Management; establishing and monitoring operational metrics (uptime, throughput, turnaround time, failure frequency, mean time to recovery); setting engineering and operational standards; partnering with software and IT teams on system integration; managing vendor relationships; developing budgets and capacity models; evaluating emerging technologies; communicating platform strategy to leadership; and fostering a culture of safety, scientific rigor, and continuous improvement.
**Requirements:**
- Demonstrated experience leading laboratory automation platforms at biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies
- Deep understanding of both science (biology, chemistry) and engineering; ability to engage credibly with both bench scientists and systems engineers
- Proven track record as an experienced leader of leaders; ability to build strong teams, develop managers and senior leaders, set clear priorities across groups with distinct missions
- Strong communication skills with credibility across bench scientists, engineers, vendors, and executive leadership
- Platform-building mindset: experience standing up scalable laboratory platforms that outlast their first use case
- Familiarity with laboratory automation equipment (liquid handlers, robotic systems, plate readers, incubators)
- Experience with laboratory information management systems (LIMS) and data integration
- Experience managing vendor relationships and service agreements
- Experience with advanced or automated microscopy, quantitative imaging, or optical instrumentation (preferred)
- Experience supporting laboratories operating extended hours or continuously (preferred)
- Track record of driving operational efficiency and demonstrating measurable ROI from automation investments (preferred)
