Staff Consumables Mechanical Engineer

At Element Biosciences, we are passionate about our mission to empower the scientific community with more freedom and flexibility to accelerate our collective impact on humanity. We have built a highly efficient product-driven organization where employees can learn, grow, and thrive in a challenging but encouraging environment. We are committed to scientific integrity, collegiality, honesty, objectivity, and openness.

We are looking for a Staff Consumables Mechanical Engineer to join our team and lead the design and development of hardware consumables. In this role, you will be responsible for the end-to-end development of plastic parts and assemblies, including material selection, prototyping, testing, and transition to high-volume manufacturing. This position reports to the Senior Manager of Consumables Engineering and is based in San Diego, California.

If you possess the following and want to make a meaningful impact, we invite you to explore this role.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities:

• Lead Consumables Development: Own the end-to-end design of biotech consumables, from concept and material selection through prototyping, design, DFX, testing, and transfer to high-volume manufacturing


• Design & Verification: Design injection-molded and multi-process plastic components. Develop and execute test plans, tolerance analyses, and verification/validation protocols to meet performance, quality, and regulatory standards


• Prototyping & Integration: Build and test prototypes, fixtures, and jigs. Ensure seamless integration of consumables with complex fluidic and system-level interfaces


• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with Systems Engineering, Fluidics Engineering, Assay Development, Manufacturing, and Supply Chain teams to ensure design alignment and manufacturability


• Documentation & Technical Leadership: Manage design control documentation and risk assessments; Act as a subject matter expert and mentor in plastic part design and consumable development

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering with a minimum of 10 years of relevant industry experience (or equivalent)


• Injection Molding & Plastic Manufacturing: Deep expertise in the design and manufacturing of injection-molded components; Additional experience with over-molding, blow molding, thermoforming, and rotational molding processes


• Consumables Bonding: Extensive experience with various bonding techniques such as laser welding, ultrasonic welding, heat sealing, fusion bonding, vapor bonding, adhesives, epoxies, etc


• Material Selection: Strong proficiency in selecting plastic and elastomeric materials based on performance, durability, environmental robustness, weldability, chemical compatibility, and manufacturability for high-volume consumables


• Fluidic Design: Milli/Microfluidic consumable design for precision reagent dosing, metering, mixing, volumetric splitting, and dispensing


• Mechanical Design & CAD: Advanced SolidWorks user with expertise in technical drawings and the application of GD&T for precise part definition and communication


• Engineering Analysis & Best Practices: Skilled in tolerance analysis, FEA, DFMA, FMEA, and structured root cause analysis; Solid foundation in applying engineering best practices throughout the design process


• Product Development Lifecycle: Comprehensive understanding of the product lifecycle, from initial concept and prototyping through verification, manufacturing transfer, and end-of-life planning; Deep vendor network and project management skills


• Prototyping & Fabrication: Hands-on machine shop skills with broad experience in rapid prototyping methods, including 3D printing, CNC machining, and soft tooling for iterative design and testing


• Data Analysis & Validation: Proficient in JMP and similar statistical tools for design validation, process control, and yield analysis


• Test Automation & Scripting: Experience using Python to program early-stage test beds and automate experimental workflows for prototype evaluation


• Fluidic Consumable Expertise: Familiar with fill-and-seal technologies used in biotech consumables, particularly those interfacing with fluidic and assay systems

Physical Requirements:

• Must be able to lift 25 pounds

Location:

• San Diego, CA (on-site)

Travel:

• Up to 10% or as needed

Base Compensation

• $125,000 - $165,000

In addition to base compensation, you will be eligible for stock options, discretionary annual bonus, no cost health insurance plans, 401k with company match, and flexible paid time off. 

Please Note: Base compensation will depend on multiple factors, including geographic location, qualifications, and experience. 

We foster an environment such that all people are afforded the freedom to pursue their passions without regard to race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, gender (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, veteran status or any other characteristics protected by law.