Company Description
Guardant Health is a leading precision oncology company focused on guarding wellness and giving every person more time free from cancer. Founded in 2012, Guardant is transforming patient care and accelerating new cancer therapies by providing critical insights into what drives disease through its advanced blood and tissue tests, real-world data and AI analytics. Guardant tests help improve outcomes across all stages of care, including screening to find cancer early, monitoring for recurrence in early-stage cancer, and treatment selection for patients with advanced cancer. For more information, visit guardanthealth.com and follow the company on LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and Facebook.
Position Summary:
Guardant Health is seeking an Automation Service Engineer II to support, maintain, and optimize automated laboratory equipment and instrumentation used in DNA sequencing workflows. This role will be hands-on, requiring the candidate to assemble automated track systems, troubleshoot, maintain, validate, and provide input to continuously improve complex automated systems in a regulated laboratory environment. The ideal candidate will be a strong technical problem-solver who thrives in fast-paced operations and collaborates closely with Engineering, Quality, and Operations teams.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
- Provide day-to-day service, support, and troubleshooting of automated laboratory instrumentation and processes at Guardant Health’s facilities.
- Diagnose and resolve complex electromechanical issues to minimize equipment downtime and maintain operational continuity.
- Perform root cause analysis on instrument failures associated with Guardant’s DNA sequencing products and implement corrective actions.
- Triage equipment issues and coordinate with vendors and external service providers as needed.
- Assemble and install electromechanical components, subsystems, control panels, safety circuits, and automated machinery based on engineering drawings and technical specifications.
- Author, update, and maintain all standard operating procedures (SOPs), work instructions (WKI), and technical documentation for new product assemblies, equipment operation, and maintenance.
- Perform Installation Qualification (IQ), Operational Qualification (OQ), and Process Qualification (PQ) on new and existing equipment.
- Execute testing and validation activities to verify equipment performance, accuracy, reliability.
- Identify, troubleshoot, and resolve issues identified during installation and validation activities.
- Perform routine, corrective, and preventive maintenance on laboratory automation and instrumentation.
- Develop, execute, and improve preventive maintenance schedules to ensure optimal equipment performance.
- Support equipment upgrades and modifications as required to meet operational needs.
- Maintain accurate and organized equipment records, maintenance logs, and validation documentation.
- Partner with Quality to ensure all documentation meets regulatory and quality system requirements.
- Identify opportunities to improve equipment reliability, usability, and operational efficiency.
- Recommend practical process improvements and assist with execution of improvement initiatives.
- Represent the Automation Service Engineering department in cross-functional meetings, providing technical input from an equipment support perspective.
- Support special projects and operational initiatives, as assigned
- Provide hands-on training and mentorship to junior technicians and operators.
- Follow established safety procedures and quality standards during all maintenance, testing, and installation activities.
- Proactively identify potential safety risks and support corrective actions.
- Work effectively within a team environment and build strong working relationships across departments.
- Participate in an on-call rotation supporting lab operations after-hours.
Required Qualifications:
- Technical degree in Electrical or Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics systems, or equivalent experience.
- 3+ years of experience supporting automated laboratory equipment, instrumentation, or electromechanical systems and/or 5+ years assembling complex electromechanical instrumentation
- Demonstrated experience operating and troubleshooting:
- High-throughout automated workcells
- Precise robotic arms
- Hamilton Liquid Handlers
- Illumina Sequencers
- Dynamic Devices Lynx
- Agilent Bravo
- Microplate washers
- Tecan Sparks
- Kingfisher extraction systems
- DNA quantification and sequencing-related instruments
- Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings, schematics, and technical documentation.
Experience with:
- Virtual machines used to control robotics
- Troubleshooting complex Excel macros
- Molecular biology laboratory techniques
- PLC or HMI programming (a plus, not required)
- Working knowledge of electrical and mechanical components such as sensors, motors, actuators, PLCs, and control systems.
- Comfortable using tools and test equipment commonly found in automation and instrumentation environments.
- Strong hands-on troubleshooting skills with minimal supervision
- Customer-focused mindset with the ability to communicate clearly and professionally.
- Proven ability to manage multiple priorities in a production or laboratory environment
- Strong attention to detail and commitment to accurate documentation.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications.
Hybrid Work Model: This section is applicable to onsite employees who are eligible for hybrid work location as specified by management and related policies. Guardant has defined days for in-person/onsite collaboration and work-from-home days for individual-focused time. All U.S. employees who live within 50 miles of a Guardant facility will be required to be onsite on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. We have found aligning our scheduled in-office days allows our teams to do the best work and creates the focused thinking time our innovative work requires. At Guardant, our work model has created flexibility for better work-life balance while keeping teams connected to advance our science for our patients.
Employee may be required to lift routine office supplies and use office equipment. Majority of the work is performed in a desk/office environment; however, there may be exposure to high noise levels, fumes, and biohazard material in the laboratory environment. Ability to sit for extended periods of time.
Guardant Health is committed to providing reasonable accommodations in our hiring processes for candidates with disabilities, long-term conditions, mental health conditions, or sincerely held religious beliefs. If you need support, please reach out to [email protected]
A background screening including criminal history is required for this role. GH will consider qualified applicants with criminal arrest or conviction histories in a manner consistent with applicable law including but not limited to the LA County Fair Chance Policies and the Fair Chance Act (Gov. Code Section 12952).
Guardant Health is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.
All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.
To learn more about the information collected when you apply for a position at Guardant Health, Inc. and how it is used, please review our Privacy Notice for Job Applicants.
Please visit our career page at: http://www.guardanthealth.com/jobs/