Senior Software Engineer Lab Automation

Join our team as a Senior Software Engineer in Lab Automation, where you will bridge software engineering and laboratory research to advance drug discovery. Ideal for experienced engineers with expertise in software and hardware integration, particularly in laboratory automation.

At Roche, you can show up as yourself, embraced for the unique qualities you bring. Our culture encourages personal expression, open dialogue, and genuine connections, where you are valued, accepted and respected for who you are, allowing you to thrive both personally and professionally. This is how we aim to prevent, stop and cure diseases and ensure everyone has access to healthcare today and for generations to come.

• Design, program and troubleshoot high-throughput lab workflows.
• Build orchestration systems, hardware abstraction layers, and instrument drivers that manage retries and allow unattended operation.
• Implement logging, metrics, and alerts across hardware and software to identify failures.
• Fix root causes using software or vision models instead of relying on manual workarounds or vendor support.
• Build systems to maintain a digital representation of the lab, including sample identity, instrument state, and resource availability.
• Connect instruments via APIs and integrate with LIMS and ELNs.
• Manage hardware requirements, site constraints, reagent selection, and work cell integration from initial design to deployment.
• Work directly with software engineers, automation scientists, and hardware engineers to turn scientific processes into technical architectures.

• 5+ years of experience in software engineering and hardware integration.
• Experienced in programming commercial liquid-handling or laboratory automation platforms and integrating robotic manipulators.
• Proficient in C# or Python for building software and integration frameworks.
• Familiar with molecular biology, biochemistry, or wet lab workflows to help translate scientific needs into engineering solutions.
• Prototyping design experience, including CNC milling, laser cutting, and CAD.
• A clear communicator who collaborates with scientists and multidisciplinary teams to build complete solutions.
• Skilled at using APIs and SDKs to interact with complex laboratory software ecosystems.
• Experienced in designing workflow orchestration or scheduling systems that manage shared resources, dependencies, and priorities.
• Preferred: Skilled with computer vision models (such as OpenCV, YOLO, or SAM) for automated error handling and object or anomaly detection.
• Preferred: Experienced in training, evaluating, or adopting AI/ML models, including reinforcement or imitation learning for robotics.
• Preferred: Capable of building and evaluating AI-enabled systems, defining evals, establishing guardrails for determinism versus nondeterminism, and measuring reliability.
• Preferred: Knowledgeable about sensors, microcontrollers, and task-and-motion planning.
• Preferred: Familiar with cloud infrastructure and digital twin simulation.

Roche is dedicated to advancing science and ensuring everyone has access to healthcare today and for generations to come. With more than 100,000 employees worldwide, Roche's efforts result in over 26 million people treated with its medicines and more than 30 billion tests conducted using its Diagnostics products. Roche empowers employees to explore new possibilities, foster creativity, and deliver life-changing healthcare solutions that make a global impact. Roche is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

The Computational Sciences Center of Excellence (CoE) is a unified group focused on harnessing the power of data and Artificial Intelligence to assist scientists in delivering innovative medicines. Within the CoE, the Data and Digital Catalyst (DDC) organisation drives the modernisation of computational and data ecosystems and the integration of digital technologies across Research and Early Development.