Scientist / Senior Scientist, Microfluidic LNP Formulation

🚀 About Lila Sciences

Lila Sciences is the world’s first scientific superintelligence platform and autonomous lab for life, chemistry, and materials science.  We are pioneering a new age of boundless discovery by building the capabilities to apply AI to every aspect of the scientific method.  We are introducing scientific superintelligence to solve humankind's greatest challenges, enabling scientists to bring forth solutions in human health, climate, and sustainability at a pace and scale never experienced before. Learn more about this mission at  www.lila.ai    

At Lila, we are uniquely cross-functional and collaborative. We are actively reimagining the way teams work together and communicate. Therefore, we seek individuals with an inclusive mindset and a diversity of thought. Our teams thrive in unstructured and creative environments. All voices are heard because we know that experience comes in many forms, skills are transferable, and passion goes a long way.

If this sounds like an environment you’d love to work in, even if you only have some of the experience listed below, please apply.

🌟 Your Impact at Lila 

As a Scientist/Senior Scientist on our Physical Sciences team, you will lead the design and development of advanced microfluidic platforms for the controlled synthesis and characterization of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) and other nanocarriers. Your work will bridge the physical sciences and bioanalytical domains, enabling high-throughput experimentation integrated with real-time analytics. Collaborating across chemistry, biology, machine learning, and data science teams, you’ll help establish next-generation tools for therapeutic development and delivery.

🛠️ What You'll Be Building

• Design & Commission: Design, construct, and validate microfluidic systems for LNP synthesis with tight control over formulation parameters and scalability.
• Integrate & Scale: Interface real-time and near real-time characterization tools with microfluidic platforms to enable feedback-driven synthesis and formulation.
• Bioanalytical Assays: Develop and run in vitro assays to evaluate LNP performance.
• Workflow Optimization: Integrate microfluidic platforms with robotics and software pipelines for automated, high-throughput experimentation and data-rich workflows.
• Closed-Loop Execution: Collaborate with AI teams to run iterative experiments in real time, enabling fast optimization and discovery cycles.
• Collaboration & Documentation: Work with chemists, material scientists, engineers, and data scientists to document systems, share insights, and refine best practices in autonomous flow chemistry.

🧰 What You’ll Need to Succeed

• Ph.D. or M.S. in Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Pharmaceutical Sciences, or a related field.
• ≥ 5 years of hands-on experience in microfluidic device development and LNP synthesis.
• Deep expertise in flow-based nanoparticle formulation, especially for therapeutic delivery.
• Strong working knowledge of bioanalytical techniques (e.g., DLS, fluorescence spectroscopy, electrophoresis, in vitro assays).
• Experience integrating analytical instruments into automated or modular experimentation platforms.
• Proficiency in Python or other scripting languages for data analysis.
• Excellent troubleshooting, communication, and interdisciplinary collaboration skills; ability to both innovate and communicate cross-functionally across materials science and life science domains.

✨ Bonus Points For

• Experience with self-driving lab platforms or closed-loop optimization systems.
• Familiarity with GMP considerations for nanoparticle manufacturing.
• Prior experience working on nucleic acid delivery systems (e.g., mRNA, siRNA).
• Knowledge of design-of-experiment (DoE) methods and Bayesian optimization.
• Experience contributing to scientific software tools or open-source automation frameworks.

🌈 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.

🤝 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.