---
title: 'Senior Mechatronics Engineer at Ginkgo Bioworks Inc.'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-mechatronics-engineer-ginkgo-bioworks-inc-emeryville-nxd8vvdz2s3h'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-12'
---

# Senior Mechatronics Engineer at Ginkgo Bioworks Inc.

- **Company:** Ginkgo Bioworks Inc.
- **Location:** Emeryville, CA
- **Posted:** 2026-07-21
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-12
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/ginkgobioworks/jobs/5186637007

## Job description

Our mission is to make biology easier to engineer. Ginkgo is constructing, editing, and redesigning the living world in order to answer the globe’s growing challenges in health, energy, food, materials, and more. Our bioengineers make use of an in-house automated foundry for designing and building new organisms.

Ginkgo Introduction

Ginkgo is a high-growth, well-capitalized public biotech company headquartered in Boston that is redesigning the living world to solve some of the globe's growing challenges in health, energy, food, materials, and more. Ginkgo is constructing, editing, and redesigning the living world in order to answer the globe's growing challenges in health, energy, food, materials, and more. Our mission to "make biology easier to engineer" is poised to disrupt multiple industries by leveraging our innovative data, automation, and scale in biological engineering.

## Team Introduction

We're looking for talented senior engineers who are excited by the challenges of scaling and improving our Automation Technology. The Automation Team is creating integrated robotic workcells, designing processes around walk-up robotic systems, improving how data is handled, working with scientists on scaling their processes, and much more.

Ginkgo is hiring a Senior Mechatronics Engineer to join our in-house automation and integration team. This team is responsible for designing, developing, and deploying automation solutions to both internal labs and external automation customers. Ginkgo's Automation team is building the technology for a scalable, reconfigurable, highly automated industrial factory.

Job Description

As a Senior Mechatronics Engineer, you will serve as a technical lead working hand in hand with biologists, software developers, and other engineers to co-develop the hardware and aid in the development of software infrastructure that enables walkaway automation for various applications. You will bring deep expertise in CAD and mechanical design, complemented by working knowledge of robot trajectory programming, to bear on some of our most complex integration challenges.

The Automation Mechatronics Team is responsible for designing and deploying the mechanical, electrical, and control systems that form the basis for our novel integrated robotic systems. As a senior member of the team, you will be responsible for identifying and sourcing off-the-shelf equipment, delivering custom hardware solutions, leading robot trajectory design and programming, managing assembly vendors, programming PLCs, and mentoring junior engineers. You will own your designs through the complete product lifecycle from concept, to requirements gathering, to delivery, to second tier support.

Like all Mechatronics engineers on the team, you will have tasks sourced from a number of different projects on your to-do list. You should expect variety in your day-to-day work, along with an agile environment where priorities shift quickly in response to new projects and updated customer needs. At the senior level, you are expected to provide technical direction, identify risks early, and drive cross-functional alignment on mechatronics architecture decisions. We're open to learning new tools or methodologies to get the job done more efficiently, and we hope that you will bring new ideas and perspectives to the team!

## Responsibilities

- Lead the design, development, and deployment of mechatronics infrastructure for automating various lab processes
- Own end-to-end SolidWorks CAD design for custom mechanical assemblies, including detailed drawings, PDM Vault management, and design reviews
- Design, program, and optimize robot trajectories for industrial six-axis robot arms, ensuring safe, repeatable, and efficient motion in workcell environments
- Refine and reinforce mechatronics design standards, best practices, and documentation requirements across the team
- Collaborate with biologists on automation equipment design and operation to translate scientific requirements into robust engineering solutions
- Work with vendors to build mutual understanding of needs and capabilities; lead technical evaluations of new instruments and components
- Mentor and provide technical guidance to junior and mid-level Mechatronics Engineers
- Drive cross-functional coordination between Hardware, Software, and Systems teams on integration projects
- Manage mechanical BOM accuracy and revision control within our PLM system
- Support change management and upgrade/retrofit deployment across our existing fleet of deployed enclosures and hardware configurations, helping balance standardization goals with the practical realities of a diverse installed base

## Minimum Requirements

- BS or MS in Mechanical, Mechatronics, Systems, Robotics Engineering or equivalent; 5+ years of relevant industry experience
- Advanced proficiency in SolidWorks (2020 or later), including part modeling, assemblies, detailed drawings, and PDM Vault — deep, hands-on mechanical design experience is the most heavily weighted technical requirement for this role
- Proven experience applying Design for Manufacturability (DFM) and Design for Assembly (DFA) principles to production hardware
- Basic software engineering proficiency; comfortable reading and writing simple scripts or recipe-language logic (e.g., Python or equivalent) to support automation workflows
- Minimum robotics experience required:
- Trajectory design: can build, simulate, and validate robot paths, including path planning, collision/reach checking, and cycle-time optimization
- Motion fundamentals: understands joint-space vs. Cartesian motion and can structure approach-contact-retract sequences
- Hands-on teaching: experience jogging and teaching points on a physical six-axis or SCARA arm, not limited to simulation alone
- Experience in 3 or more of the following areas:
- Laboratory automation systems and experimental workflow development
- Experience with making both 2D and 3D parts; familiarity with metal and/or plastic fabrication techniques including milling, turning, laser/waterjet/plasma methods
- Basic knowledge of wiring circuits, terminating cables with various connector types, power budgets, etc.
- Fundamentals with PLCs, safety circuits and safety sensors, power electronics, etc.
- Systems engineering mindset with strong attention to detail
- Proven ability to independently own and execute complex, multi-month engineering projects with minimal supervision

## Preferred Capabilities and Experience

We do not expect that any one candidate will have all of the following experiences - each is independently a preferred or "nice-to-have" capability.

- Familiarity with lab automation equipment fundamentals (liquid handlers from Agilent, Hamilton, and Beckman/Labcyte; plate sealers, bulk dispensers, etc.)
- Experience in an 'integrator' role: sourcing and combining technologies from various vendors and industries to create an integrated robotic workcell or assembly line
- Experience with conveyor or transport systems (e.g., MagneMotion or similar)
- Demonstrable fabrication experience or hands-on 'workshop' skills
- Experience with motion control software stacks (e.g., Beckhoff TwinCAT, Siemens, or equivalent)
- Prior experience in life sciences, biotech, or pharmaceutical automation environments

Closing

We also feel that it's important to point out the obvious here - there's a serious lack of diversity in our industry, and that needs to change. Our goal is to help drive that change. Ginkgo is deeply committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion in all of its practices, especially when it comes to growing our team. Our culture promotes inclusion and embraces how rewarding it is to work with people from all walks of life.

We're developing a powerful biological engineering platform, so we must remain mindful of the many ways our technology can - and will - impact people around the world. We care about how our platform is used, and having a diverse team to build it gives us the best chance that it's something we'll be proud of as it continues to grow. Therefore, it's critical that we incorporate the diverse voices and visions of all those who play a role in the future of biology.

It is the policy of Ginkgo Bioworks to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and employment applicants.

Special Requirements / Materials to be Provided by Candidates

- Portfolio or examples of SolidWorks designs and/or robot trajectory programming work are strongly encouraged
- In all applications, application source and EEO (equal employment opportunity) data fields along with links (LinkedIn, GitHub) are included in the post for the candidate to populate.

It is the policy of Ginkgo Bioworks to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees, employment applicants, and EOE disability/vet.

Privacy Notice

I understand that I am applying for employment with Ginkgo Bioworks and am being asked to provide information in connection with my application. I further understand that Ginkgo gathers this information through a third-party service provider and that Ginkgo may also use other service providers to assist in the application process.  Ginkgo may share my information with such third-party service providers in connection with my application and for the start of employment.  Ginkgo will treat my information in accordance with Ginkgo's [Privacy Policy](https://www.ginkgobioworks.com/concentric-privacy-policy/).  By submitting this job application, I am acknowledging that I have reviewed and agree to Ginkgo's [Privacy Policy](https://www.ginkgobioworks.com/concentric-privacy-policy/) as well as the privacy policies of the third-party service providers used by Ginkgo's associated with the application process.

## About Ginkgo Bioworks Inc.

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Ginkgo Bioworks builds and operates autonomous labs that replace manual benchwork with robotics, enabling scientists to program biology for applications across biopharma, agriculture, and industrial biotechnology.
- **Entity Type**: Public (NYSE: DNA)
- **Headquarters**: Boston, Massachusetts, United States
- **Founded**: 2009
- **Founders**: Jason Kelly, Reshma Shetty, Barry Canton, Austin Che, Tom Knight

## Core Business
- Primary industry: Biotechnology Research, Synthetic Biology, Autonomous Labs
- Target customers: Biopharma, agriculture, and industrial biotech companies (B2B, Enterprise)
- Mission: "Build the tools that make biology easier to engineer for everyone" — with a vision that "our children will program biology like we once programmed computers."

## Products & Services
- **[Autonomous Lab Platform]**: A robotics-driven laboratory system where scientists can order experimental work to be run by robots, replacing manual benchwork. Available as Ginkgo’s in-house lab or as a "cloud lab" service.
- **[Ginkgo Datapoints]**: A contract research service offering small molecule developability, high-throughput screening, and ADME (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion) services.
- **[Ginkgo Solutions]**: Custom contract research and development services for customer-specific biotech projects.
- **[Catalyst Agent]**: A tool that lets scientists "run your experiments on Ginkgo's autonomous lab in Boston, virtually."
- **[Biosecurity Software]**: A software offering focused on biosecurity applications.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Publicly traded (NYSE: DNA); market cap fluctuates — as of mid-2025, the company had a market cap in the range of ~$1-2 billion (check current quote). IPO date: September 17, 2021.
- **Total Funding**: $3.31 billion (cumulative, including IPO and post-IPO equity)
- **Key Metric**: Annual Revenue — Not publicly available in search results; the company reports financials in SEC filings. Headcount: ~454 employees (-36% YoY, reflecting a significant restructuring).
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Flagship Pioneering, Takeda, Sanofi, Novartis, Bayer, and others. Key acquisitions include FGen (2022), Circularis Biotechnologies (2022), Altar (2022), Bitome (2022), and AgBiome’s GENESIS Platform (2024).
- **Growth Signals**: Trusted by over 130 customers; operates in 10 countries; strong government partnerships (CEO Jason Kelly previously chaired the U.S. National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology); active job postings up 175% YoY (though from a low base).

## Competitive Advantages
- **Autonomous Lab Leadership**: Ginkgo is pioneering the shift from manual benchwork to fully automated, robot-run labs — a significant moat in productivity and scalability.
- **Founding Team**: Founders are pioneers in synthetic biology (e.g., Tom Knight is considered the "father of synthetic biology"; Jason Kelly chaired the U.S. National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology).
- **Platform Approach**: The "cell programming platform" allows biology to be engineered more like software, enabling applications across diverse markets (food, fragrance, pharmaceuticals).
- **Government & Biosecurity Ties**: Deep relationships with U.S. government agencies for biosecurity and national security applications.

## Strategic Focus
- **Autonomous Lab Expansion**: Scaling the autonomous lab platform and making it available as a "cloud lab" to external customers.
- **Commercialization**: Moving from R&D to commercial revenue through Datapoints and Solutions services.
- **Cost Optimization**: The 36% headcount reduction suggests a focus on operational efficiency and path to profitability.
- **Biosecurity**: Leveraging government partnerships for biosecurity software and services.

## Why Work Here
- **Cutting-Edge Mission**: Work at the intersection of biology, robotics, and software — "program biology like we once programmed computers."
- **Engineering Culture**: Heavy emphasis on software engineering for autonomous lab systems (robotics, scheduling, optimization, driver development) — roles for senior software engineers, automation engineers, and hardware engineers.
- **Locations**: Primary hub in Boston, Massachusetts (headquarters); second office in Emeryville, California. Some remote roles (e.g., Director, Government Partnership Development).
- **Culture**: Described as a place where scientists "focus on insight, creativity, and judgment rather than manual lab work." Internships available in software, automation, and commercial operations.
- **Perks**: Not explicitly detailed in search results, but typical for a public biotech: equity, health benefits, and the chance to work on world-changing problems.
- **Important Note**: The company has undergone a 36% headcount reduction in the past year — potential job seekers should be aware of restructuring and recent departures of senior leaders (e.g., Head of Commercial, Director of National Security partnerships).

## Sources
1. [ginkgo.bio](https://www.ginkgo.bio/)
2. [ginkgo.bio/about](https://ginkgo.bio/about)
3. [LinkedIn - Ginkgo Bioworks](https://www.linkedin.com/company/ginkgo-bioworks)
4. [Greenhouse - Ginkgo Bioworks Jobs](https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/ginkgobioworks)

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