Operations and Quality Engineer, Sustaining Engineering

Maintain quality metrics and trending: first-pass yield, escape rates, CAPA effectiveness, cycle time, and deployment readiness

Prepare audit-ready documentation and compliance evidence for regulatory bodies, customers, and internal stakeholders

Define and maintain quality KPIs aligned with business growth and deployment scale

Lead internal quality audits; prepare corrective action plans for any findings

What You'll Need to Succeed

3+ years in quality, operations, or engineering roles in hardware, manufacturing, or complex systems environments (automotive, medical device, aerospace, robotics, semiconductor, or industrial equipment)

Hands-on expertise building or scaling ISO 9000 compliant quality systems—you understand document control, procedure discipline, and audit readiness

Demonstrated experience leading RCA investigations and CAPA programs—you've driven teams through root-cause discipline, tracked corrective actions to closure, and verified effectiveness

Comfort with Arena PLM, Windchill, SAP PLM, or equivalent lifecycle management systems—you understand part numbering, bill-of-materials rigor, and design change control

Hands-on experience running Engineering Change Management (ECM)—you've owned ECO/ECR workflows from initiation through implementation and closure

Experience developing FMEAs and Control Plans—you can lead cross-functional risk assessments and translate them into concrete process controls and reaction plans

Track record building operational templates, procedures, and workflow standards that teams actually adopt

Strong cross-functional leadership skills—you communicate with engineers, operators, finance, and executives without losing precision

Bonus Points For

Experience supporting robotics, automation, advanced manufacturing, hardware infrastructure, or technical operations environments.

Familiarity with commissioning, FAT/SAT, sustaining engineering, deployment readiness, or operational support workflows.

Exposure to operational governance, engineering standards, or lightweight quality systems in technical organizations.

Experience building templates, operational workflows, onboarding structures, or lifecycle coordination systems.

Systems-minded operator: You see quality not as a bottleneck, but as an enabler of speed and confidence

Bias toward lightweight rigor: You reject bureaucracy but embrace discipline where it matters (safety, traceability, learning)

Continuous improvement mindset: You drive Kaizen-style incremental improvements; you're comfortable with emerging processes and willing to iterate

Escalation discipline: You know when to escalate, when to solve, and how to maintain follow-through without constant hand-holding

Calm under complexity: You operate confidently in multidisciplinary environments and evolving organizational structures

Hands-on contributor: You don't just set policy—you participate in RCA investigations, commissioning activities, and operational troubleshooting

Experience with failure modes analysis (FMEA), design reviews, or safety-critical system assessment

Familiarity with PLM workflows, CAD/PDM systems, or version control in hardware engineering contexts

Understanding of manufacturing readiness, sustaining engineering, or deployment support workflows

Experience with commissioning, FAT/SAT (Factory Acceptance Testing / Site Acceptance Testing), or operational handoff in hardware environments

Knowledge of quality frameworks beyond ISO 9000 (e.g., IATF 16949, FDA QMS, safety standards)

Compensation

We offer competitive base compensation with bonus potential and generous early-stage equity. Your final offer will reflect your background, expertise, and expected impact.

U.S. Benefits. Full-time U.S. employees receive a comprehensive benefits program including medical, dental, and vision coverage; employer-paid life and disability insurance; flexible time off with generous company wide holidays; paid parental leave; an educational assistance program; commuter benefits, including bike share memberships for office based employees; and a company subsidized lunch program.

International Benefits. Full-time employees outside the U.S. receive a comprehensive benefits program tailored to their region. USD salary ranges apply only to U.S.-based positions; international salaries are set to local market.

About LILA

Lila Sciences is building Scientific SuperintelligenceTM to solve humankind's greatest challenges. We believe science is the most inspiring frontier for AI. Rather than hard-coding expert knowledge into tools, LILA builds systems that can learn for themselves.

LILA combines advanced AI models with proprietary AI Science FactoryTM instruments into an operating system for science that executes the entire scientific method autonomously, accelerating discovery at unprecedented speed, scale, and impact across medicine, materials, and energy. Learn more at www.lila.ai.

Guided by our core values of truth, trust, curiosity, grit, and velocity, we move with startup speed while tackling problems of historic importance. If this sounds like an environment you'd love to work in, even if you don't meet every qualification listed above, we encourage you to apply.

We’re All In

Lila Sciences is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.

Information you provide during your application process will be handled in accordance with our Candidate Privacy Policy.

A Note to Agencies

Lila Sciences does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than candidates. The submission of unsolicited resumes by recruitment or staffing agencies to Lila Sciences or its employees is strictly prohibited unless contacted directly by Lila Science’s internal Talent Acquisition team. Any resume submitted by an agency in the absence of a signed agreement will automatically become the property of Lila Sciences, and Lila Sciences will not owe any referral or other fees with respect thereto.