---
title: 'Lab Automation - Robotics Engineer at Xaira Therapeutics'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/lab-automation-robotics-engineer-xaira-therapeutics-south-san-francisco-dneqyyrnt1j5'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-14'
---

# Lab Automation - Robotics Engineer at Xaira Therapeutics

- **Company:** Xaira Therapeutics
- **Location:** South San Francisco California, United States
- **Posted:** 2026-08-18
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-14
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/xairatherapeutics/jobs/5212689007

## Job description

## About Xaira Therapeutics

Xaira is an innovative biotech startup focused on leveraging AI to transform drug discovery and development. The company is leading the development of generative AI models to design protein and antibody therapeutics, enabling the creation of medicines against historically hard-to-drug molecular targets. It is also developing foundation models for biology and disease to enable better target elucidation and patient stratification. Collectively, these technologies aim to continually enable the identification of novel therapies and to improve success in drug development. Xaira is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, and London.

## About the Role

We are building a next-generation lab automation and robotics platform to transform how biological experiments are executed, monitored, and scaled. This platform will bring together robotic arms, mobile platforms, lab instruments, sensors, computer vision, workflow orchestration, and AI-enabled autonomy to increase the speed, reliability, reproducibility, and scale of experimental biology.

As a Robotics Engineer, Lab Automation, you will help turn real scientific workflows into robust automated systems. You will work closely with biologists, chemists, automation engineers, software engineers, and robotics experts to understand manual laboratory processes and translate them into reliable robotic execution.

This is a hands-on engineering role for someone who enjoys building, integrating, testing, and debugging physical systems. You will contribute to robotic manipulation, instrument integration, perception, task execution, simulation, and multi-station lab automation workflows. You will also have opportunities to grow into more advanced robotics, autonomy, and AI-enabled laboratory automation over time.

## What You’ll Do

- Build, integrate, and maintain robotics software for robotic arms, mobile robots, sensors, grippers, and laboratory automation devices.
- Develop motion planning, manipulation, perception, and safety logic for robotic systems operating in real laboratory environments.
- Integrate laboratory instruments and devices through APIs, IoT interfaces, schedulers, and custom control software.
- Help build task execution frameworks using state machines, behavior trees, planners, and recovery logic for autonomous or semi-autonomous lab workflows.
- Benchmark and integrate computer vision methods for object detection, segmentation, tracking, pose estimation, localization, and scene understanding.
- Create and use simulation or digital twin environments for motion validation, workflow testing, synthetic data generation, and system debugging.
- Collaborate with scientists to translate biological and chemical workflows into automated protocols.
- Support multi-station system integration, automated material handling, sample tracking, validation, logging, and error recovery.
- Work hands-on with physical hardware to debug real systems, improve reliability, and iterate quickly.
- Evaluate modern AI, autonomy, foundation-model, reinforcement-learning, or imitation-learning approaches where they can improve real robotic lab execution.

Qualifications (Required):

- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field.
- Recent graduates with strong robotics, automation, hardware/software integration, or relevant project experience are encouraged to apply.
- PhD candidates are welcome to apply, particularly if they are excited by hands-on robotic system building, integration, and lab automation.
- Strong software engineering skills in one or more modern programming languages (e.g., Python, C++, C#), cloud-based workflows, and production software systems.
- Familiarity with robotics software frameworks such as ROS2, MoveIt, or comparable tools.
- Familiarity with computer vision, perception, motion planning, robotic manipulation, or sensor integration.
- Comfort working with physical hardware, debugging real systems, and learning by doing.
- Strong problem-solving skills, attention to detail, and ability to work across disciplines.
- Ability to communicate clearly with scientists, automation engineers, software engineers, and robotics experts.

Preferred Qualifications:

- Experience with 6-axis robotic arms, autonomous mobile robots, grippers, machine vision systems, or automated material handling.
- Experience with OpenCV, object detection, segmentation, tracking, pose estimation, SLAM, localization, or scene understanding.
- Experience with Foxglove, Isaac Sim, MuJoCo, Gazebo, or other robotics simulation and debugging tools.
- Experience integrating laboratory instruments such as liquid handlers, plate hotels, incubators, readers, and microscopes.
- Experience with agentic AI frameworks (LangGraph, OpenAI Agents SDK, AutoGen, PydanticAI), Model Context Protocol (MCP), or AI systems that integrate language models with external tools and software.
- Familiarity with biological or chemical assays such as PCR, gel electrophoresis, DNA quantification, microscopy, high-throughput screening, or cell-based assays.
- Experience with CAD, 3D printing, laser cutting, CNC machining, or rapid prototyping.
- Exposure to GPU-accelerated inference (CUDA, TensorRT, ONNX), edge deployment, foundation models, reinforcement learning, imitation learning, behavior trees, autonomous task planning, or agentic robotics systems.

What We Offer:

- The opportunity to help build a state-of-the-art automated biology laboratory from the ground up.
- Hands-on experience developing robotic systems for high-throughput, data-generating biological labs.
- Exposure to robotics, lab automation, data infrastructure, and AI-enabled experimental systems.
- Structured mentorship from experienced robotics, automation, software, and scientific leaders.
- The opportunity to work with a passionate, interdisciplinary team on ambitious drug discovery projects.
- A dynamic, innovative, and supportive work environment.
- Professional growth and development opportunities in a rapidly growing company.

## Compensation

We offer a competitive compensation and benefits package, seeking to provide an open, flexible, and friendly work environment to empower employees and provide them with a platform to develop their long-term careers. A Summary of Benefits is available for all applicants. We offer a competitive package that includes base salary, bonus, and equity. The base pay range for this position is expected to be $150,000 - $180,000 annually; however, the base pay offered will vary depending on the market, job-related knowledge, skills and capabilities, and experience.

Xaira Therapeutics an equal-opportunity employer. We believe that our strength is in our differences. Our goal to build a diverse and inclusive team began on day one, and it will never end.

TO ALL RECRUITMENT AGENCIES: Xaira Therapeutics does not accept agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to our jobs alias or employees. Xaira Therapeutics is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.

## About Xaira Therapeutics

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Xaira Therapeutics is an integrated biotechnology company applying artificial intelligence across the entire drug discovery and development process to design next-generation medicines.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series A)
- **Headquarters**: South San Francisco, California, United States (with offices in Seattle, Washington, and London, UK)
- **Founded**: 2023
- **Founders**: Co-founded and incubated by ARCH Venture Partners and Foresite Labs, with foundational scientific contributions from Nobel Laureate Dr. David Baker (Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington).

## Core Business
- **Primary industry/industries**: Biotechnology, Drug Discovery & Development, Artificial Intelligence
- **Target customers**: B2B (pharmaceutical partners, biotech collaborators) and ultimately patients via its own therapeutic pipeline.
- **Mission or purpose statement**: "Pioneering the transformative artificial intelligence that will help discover and develop the next generation of life-changing medicines." [xaira.com](https://www.xaira.com/)

## Products & Services
- **AI-Powered Drug Discovery Platform**: An end-to-end platform integrating advanced AI research, expansive data generation (functional genomics, proteomics, multi-omics), and robust therapeutic product development to shift drug discovery from an empirical science to a precise engineering discipline. [xaira.com](https://www.xaira.com/our-approach)
- **Computational Protein Design**: Built on foundational work by Nobel Laureate Dr. David Baker, leveraging AI to design entirely new proteins from scratch for previously undruggable targets. [xaira.com](https://www.xaira.com/our-approach)
- **X-Cell (Virtual Cell Model)**: An AI model trained on billions of genomic data points to simulate and understand cellular biology. [xaira.com](https://www.xaira.com/)
- **Therapeutic Pipeline**: A pipeline of differentiated therapeutics across multiple modalities (small molecules, biologics, protein therapeutics) developed through an integrated AI-driven process.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed. The company launched in 2023 with a $1 billion Series A financing, one of the largest in biotech history.
- **Key Metric**: Total Funding of $1 billion (Series A, 2023).
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: ARCH Venture Partners (co-founder and lead investor), Foresite Labs (co-founder and incubator), F-Prime Capital, and other top-tier investors. Board includes leaders from ARCH, Foresite, NEA, and Johnson & Johnson. Scientific advisors include Nobel Laureates Carolyn R. Bertozzi and David Baker, and other luminaries. [xaira.com](https://www.xaira.com/our-team)
- **Growth Signals**: Launched in 2023 with a record $1B Series A; rapidly building a world-class team across three global hubs (South San Francisco, Seattle, London); actively hiring across AI, computational biology, protein design, and drug development roles; announced X-Cell, a virtual cell model trained on billions of genomic data points. [xaira.com](https://www.xaira.com/)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Unprecedented Capital & Talent**: Launched with a $1B Series A, enabling aggressive hiring of top-tier AI and biology talent and long-term investment in infrastructure.
- **End-to-End AI Integration**: Uniquely positioned to apply AI across the entire drug discovery and development lifecycle, from target identification to clinical development, creating a powerful data flywheel.
- **World-Class Scientific Foundation**: Built on foundational AI protein design work from Nobel Laureate David Baker's lab, with a board and advisory board including multiple Nobel Laureates, former FDA commissioners, and industry leaders from Genentech, Johnson & Johnson, and top venture firms. [xaira.com](https://www.xaira.com/our-team)
- **Massive Data Generation**: Investing heavily in functional genomics and proteomics to generate proprietary, multi-dimensional datasets that fuel AI model development, creating a defensible data moat.

## Strategic Focus
- **End-to-End AI Integration**: Building predictive and agentic AI models across the complete drug discovery and development spectrum to increase probability of success, reduce timelines, and lower costs. [xaira.com](https://www.xaira.com/our-approach)
- **Data as a Core Asset**: Generating and integrating massive, multi-dimensional biological datasets (from molecular to human scales) to train and improve AI models continuously.
- **Pipeline Development**: Advancing a pipeline of differentiated therapeutics across multiple modalities (small molecules, biologics, protein therapeutics).
- **Talent Acquisition**: Aggressively hiring across AI research, engineering, computational biology, protein design, and drug development to build a world-class, interdisciplinary team.

## Why Work Here
- **Mission-Driven**: Opportunity to work at the forefront of AI and biology to fundamentally transform how medicines are discovered and developed, with the potential to impact millions of patients.
- **World-Class Team & Mentorship**: Work alongside and learn from Nobel Laureates, top AI researchers, and experienced drug developers from leading pharma and biotech companies. [xaira.com](https://www.xaira.com/our-team)
- **Interdisciplinary Culture**: A unique blend of AI/ML engineers, protein designers, computational biologists, and drug hunters all working together in a highly collaborative environment.
- **Global Hubs & Flexibility**: Offices in South San Francisco, Seattle, and London, offering multiple locations for talent.
- **Generous Resources**: Backed by a $1B Series A, providing the resources to pursue ambitious, long-term research without short-term funding pressure.
- **Job Scam Awareness**: The company has issued a warning about fraudulent job offers; all legitimate recruitment is conducted through official channels (Greenhouse) and never via Google Chat or requests for payment. [xaira.com](https://www.xaira.com/work-with-us)

## Sources
1. [xaira.com](https://www.xaira.com/)
2. [xaira.com](https://www.xaira.com/our-approach)
3. [xaira.com](https://www.xaira.com/our-team)
4. [xaira.com](https://www.xaira.com/work-with-us)
5. [greenhouse.io](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/xairatherapeutics)

## Other roles at Xaira Therapeutics

- [Principal Scientist, Biology](https://feeny.ai/job/principal-scientist-biology-xaira-therapeutics-south-san-francisco-california-2azp7k7sb0b2) — South San Francisco California, United States
- [Lab Software Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/lab-software-engineer-xaira-therapeutics-south-san-francisco-california-mt9p82bbxdfp) — South San Francisco California, United States
- [Principal Associate Scientist, Bioanalytical Science](https://feeny.ai/job/principal-associate-scientist-bioanalytical-science-xaira-therapeutics-south-9a4gcetj8vab) — South San Francisco California, United States
- [AI Scientist Intern, Computational Protein Design](https://feeny.ai/job/ai-scientist-intern-computational-protein-design-xaira-therapeutics-seattle-cwyf0hr1nk3c) — Seattle Washington, United States / South San Francisco California, United States
- [Senior Scientist, Biology](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-scientist-biology-xaira-therapeutics-south-san-francisco-california-am8z6cjwb0xn) — South San Francisco California, United States
- [Facilities Coordinator II  - Lab Operations (Contract)](https://feeny.ai/job/facilities-coordinator-ii-lab-operations-contract-xaira-therapeutics-south-san-z65y9vbqwcce) — South San Francisco California, United States
- [AI in Residence, Computational Protein Design](https://feeny.ai/job/ai-in-residence-computational-protein-design-xaira-therapeutics-seattle-ns335n33bw1n) — Seattle Washington, United States
- [Payroll Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/payroll-manager-xaira-therapeutics-south-san-francisco-california-cwj1ck4aywe9) — South San Francisco California, United States
- [Vice President, Business Development and Alliance Management](https://feeny.ai/job/vice-president-business-development-and-alliance-management-xaira-therapeutics-vyvtp8b00s9q) — South San Francisco California, United States
- [Senior Manager, Projects and Programs - Research](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-manager-projects-and-programs-research-xaira-therapeutics-south-san-j0pcpkzrc2pf) — South San Francisco California, United States