Senior Associate Scientist, Automation Specialist

Job description

Working with Us Challenging. Meaningful. Life-changing. Those aren’t words that are usually associated with a job. But working at Bristol Myers Squibb is anything but usual. Here, uniquely interesting work happens every day, in every department. From optimizing a production line to the latest breakthroughs in cell therapy, this is work that transforms the lives of patients, and the careers of those who do it. You’ll get the chance to grow and thrive through opportunities uncommon in scale and scope, alongside high-achieving teams. Take your career farther than you thought possible. Bristol Myers Squibb recognizes the importance of balance and flexibility in our work environment. We offer a wide variety of competitive benefits, services and programs that provide our employees with the resources to pursue their goals, both at work and in their personal lives. Read more: careers.bms.com/working-with-us. The Protein Homeostasis Thematic Research Center at BMS is a fundamental Oncology research engine delivering oncology and hematology therapeutics to patients. The TRC has a major focus on exploiting BMS’ expertise in protein degradation to discover and develop therapies aimed at tumor intrinsic vulnerabilities and mechanisms of resistance to existing cancer therapeutics. This focus on protein degradation allows us to attack protein classes that were previously deemed undruggable. Position Summary: The Protein Homeostasis Thematic Research Center at BMS Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) is actively seeking a highly motivated and technically skilled Senior Associate Scientist, Automation Specialist to join our early drug discovery team in San Diego. The successful candidate will play a key role in developing, optimizing, validating, and implementing automated laboratory workflows that support next-generation sequencing (NGS), molecular biology, cell-based assays, and patient-derived organoid culture models for early drug discovery. This position requires hands-on expertise with liquid handling robotics and integrated laboratory automation platforms, along with the ability to translate manual benchtop protocols into robust, scalable, reproducible, and user-friendly automated workflows. The ideal candidate will bring a strong problem-solving mindset, excellent attention to detail, and the ability to collaborate effectively with scientists across disciplines to improve workflow efficiency, throughput, reproducibility, and data quality. The candidate will support automation initiatives across Protein Homeostasis and Sequencing Research & Genomics (SRG) by serving as a key automation point person for NGS, cell and organoid culture, assay development, sample preparation, as well as drug- and genetic-screening workflows. In this role, the candidate will partner closely with scientific teams to build standardized and automation-enabled experimental platforms that increase throughput, strengthen operational reliability, and enable more efficient target identification and validation. This position offers an exciting opportunity to contribute directly to innovative early drug discovery programs and help advance therapeutic discovery through high-quality, scalable automation solutions. Position Responsibilities In the role as a Senior Associate Scientist within the Sequencing Research & Genomics team, the ideal candidate will: Integrate Liquid Handling Robotics: Seamlessly incorporate liquid handling robotics (such as Beckman-Coulter Biomek i7 & Dynamic Devices Lynx) with supporting instrumentation to execute Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS), molecular/cellular biology, and organoid culture workflows. Translate Benchtop Protocols into Automated Workflows: Partner with scientists to convert benchtop protocols into automated workflows by helping clarify assay requirements and critical process parameters, programming stepwise methods, and validating performance through dry/wet runs and fit-for-purpose testing. Automate Standardized Assays: Validate and deploy automated workflows for various standardized assays, including DNA/RNA purification, NGS library preparation, qPCR, cell and organoid passaging, media changes, cell-based viability assays, high-content cell imaging, sample normalization, and other assay readouts. Enable Scalable NGS and Screening Workflows: Improve throughput, reproducibility, sample tracking, process robustness, and data integrity across automated sample preparation and assay execution. Support User-Friendly Process Design: Support the development, optimization, and validation of automated processes on integrated platforms, contributing to user-friendly design and following established data-management practices. Troubleshoot and Improve Workflows Efficiency: Troubleshoot routine issues in automated workflows and instrumentation (liquid-handling performance, deck layouts, method scripts), escalating complex device-integration or assay-compatibility failures to senior staff. Cross-Functional Collaboration: Coordinate with cross-functional team members to align automated workflows with project needs and communicate technical requirements and progress effectively. Support Laboratory Operations and Equipment Management: Support day-to-day laboratory organization by maintaining equipment organization, coordinating preventative maintenance, ensuring instrument readiness, tracking critical consumables, and coordinating with vendors or internal support teams to resolve operational or technical issues as needed. Provide End-User Support: Create clear user-facing documentation and quick-reference guides, and provide peer-level guidance on routine instrument operation and method execution. Meticulous Record Keeping: Maintain accurate and well-organized documentation of experimental records, automation methods, validation activities, troubleshooting outcomes, SOPs, and workflow handoff materials to support reproducibility, traceability, and seamless knowledge transfer. Contribute to Qualification and Standardization Efforts: Support Installation Qualification, Operational Qualification, and Performance Qualification activities, as well as the development and maintenance of SOPs for laboratory automation systems. Stay Current with Advances in Laboratory Automation: Keep up-to-date with advancements in automation technology and emerging high-throughput methodologies applicable to liquid handling systems. Contribute to Workflow Development: Contribute to the development and optimization of automated workflows under the guidance of senior scientists, executing assigned workflow components with work reviewed for technical soundness, while managing priorities across concurrent tasks. EXPERIENCE Basic Qualifications Bachelor’s Degree 4+ years of academic and / or industry experience Or Master’s Degree 2+ years of academic and / or industry experience Preferred Qualifications Master’s degree with 2+ years of academic and/or industry experience, or Bachelor’s degree with 4+ years of academic and/or industry experience in bioengineering, or biology with hands-on experience with laboratory automation platforms, liquid handling robotics, or high-throughput experimental workflows in a pharmaceutical, biotechnology, academic, or not-for-profit research environment. Minimum of 3 years of hands-on experience programming, operating, optimizing, and troubleshooting automated liquid handling platforms for high-throughput screening, NGS workflows, molecular biology assays, and/or cell- or organoid-based workflows. Direct experience with automated liquid handling systems such as Beckman Coulter Biomek, Dynamic Devices Lynx, Analytik Jena CyBio FeliX, or comparable platforms. Experience integrating liquid handlers with supporting instrumentation, including plate readers, incubators, sealers, centrifuges, thermocyclers, magnetic separation devices, imaging systems, barcode scanners, and/or laboratory automation scheduling software. Demonstrated ability to trans