Automation Sales Engineer – Laboratory Robotics & Automation Platforms

Travel: 40% – 60% Globally

Reports To: Director of Sales, Liquid Handling

Formulatrix engineers and builds unique automation solutions to enable life science laboratories. Our products help labs innovate, solve problems faster, and achieve more reproducible results. Laboratories in pharma, biotech, academia and diagnostics around the world use our solutions.

We’re looking for a technically strong professional who can both sell and demonstrate Formulatrix integration solutions including STACK and Rover. In this role you are the customer’s main expert from first conversation to signed order. You’ll learn the products in depth, run live demos yourself, scope the right configuration for each lab and answer technical questions with confidence.

This is not a transactional instrument sales role. You will be selling a highly complex, integrated ecosystem consisting of advanced robotics, related software, and specialized consumables. The ideal candidate will have deep organizational fluency and be capable of influencing multi-stakeholder groups—from Bench Scientists and Lab Automation Engineers to Procurement and C-suite Executives.

The ideal candidate will be able to distinguish and relate appropriate value messaging to each stakeholder group.

We offer a competitive compensation package, with a base salary range of $90,000–$130,000, plus bonus. Compensation will be tailored based on experience, qualifications, and overall fit.

Key Responsibilities

• Full-Cycle Pipeline Management: Prospect, qualify, negotiate, and close complex, multi-year enterprise deals that can consist of hardware, software, and custom engineering services.
• Consultative Workflow Discovery: Partner with prospective clients to map out current laboratory bottlenecks (e.g., high-throughput screening, NGS, synthetic biology, or QC/QA workflows) and position our platform as a high-ROI solution.
• Cross-Functional Deal Orchestration: work with and influence a highly collaborative internal team ecosystem—including Product Managers, software and mechanical engineers, marketing team and others to deliver technical presentations, custom workflow simulations, and successful Proof-of-Concept (PoC) validations.
• Strategic Account Planning: Coordinate and cooperate with internal sales support personnel to build and execute data-driven territory mapping strategies, prioritize high-value targets and consistently meet or exceed quarterly and annual revenue targets.
• Value-Based Economic Selling: Construct detailed ROI models, total cost of ownership (TCO) analyses, and executive-level presentations that justify large-scale capital expenditure and workflow migration.
• Meticulous CRM Hygiene: Maintain an accurate, up-to-date sales pipeline within our crm software to manage sales cycles and, provide predictable revenue forecasting combined with strategic insights back to the leadership team.

Qualifications & Experience

Required (Must-Haves):

• Bachelor’s degree in a Life Science discipline (e.g., Biology, Biochemistry, Bioengineering, Molecular Biology) or an equivalent technical/scientific background.
• Strong knowledge and experience working as an automation engineer in a research environment such as Pharma, Biotech, CRO or Academia.
• Deep technical familiarity with specific high-value workflows, such as Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS), Proteomics, Cell & Gene Therapy, or high-throughput screening.
• Demonstrated ability to manage complex capital equipment deals ($250k+ contract value) involving multiple stakeholders across C-Suite, R&D, IT, Quality Compliance, and Procurement.
• Willingness and ability to travel up to 50–60% for face-to-face client meetings, laboratory site visits, and industry conferences like SLAS.
• Must possess a valid driver's license and maintain a clean driving record.

Preferred (Nice-to-Haves):

• Direct experience selling laboratory automation systems (e.g., liquid handlers, integrated robotic workcells) or enterprise-grade scientific software (e.g., LIMS, ELN, scheduling software, or manufacturing execution systems).
• An existing, robust network of Lab Automation directors, R&D executives, and operations leaders within the designated territory.

Core Competencies & Cultural Fit

• Scientific Credibility: The ability to speak the "language of the bench"—instilling trust in technical scientific evaluators before shifting to commercial negotiations.
• Organizational Fluency: Exceptional diplomatic skills; able to push back on scope creep, align matrixed teams, and successfully champion platform adoption without causing friction.
• An Open To Learn Mindset: A proactive learner with great curiosity to always be learning and growing skill sets that include outreach tactics, technical knowledge, and negotiation strategies in an ever changing market.

How to Apply

** RESUMES SUBMITTED WITHOUT THE INFORMATION REQUESTED BELOW WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED **

If you are interested in this position, please email [email protected] with the words "Automation Sales Engineer" in the subject line.

You must include a copy of your resume (Word or PDF only), a covering letter, and answer the following questions in the body of your email:

• What are your salary requirements?
• When are you available to start?
• What specifically interests you about this position?
• Are you authorized to work in the United States?
• Will you now or in the future require visa sponsorship (such as H-1B, TN, E-3) to work legally in the U.S., and what is your current work authorization status (e.g, U.S. citizen, green card holder)?