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Staff Systems Design Engineer - Consumables / Microfluidics at Thermo Fisher Scientific, Pleasanton, CA

Staff Systems Design Engineer - Consumables / Microfluidics at Thermo Fisher Scientific in Pleasanton, CA. Full-time. $135,900 to $181,200 a year. Apply with swipeandhired.

Discover Impactful Work
Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Genetic Sciences Division develops life-science platforms integrating instruments, consumables, assays, software and data.

We are seeking a Staff Engineer in Consumables & Microfluidics to lead the design and commercialization of next-generation consumables for molecular biology, genetic-analysis and sample-to-answer workflows. This individual will integrate fluid handling, materials, reagents and instrument interfaces while meeting requirements for scientific performance, usability, manufacturability, reliability and cost.

This role requires demonstrated success taking microfluidic consumables beyond prototypes into commercially manufactured products. The successful candidate will combine creativity and hands-on engineering with practical knowledge of suppliers, tooling, manufacturing processes and unit economics.

Location
This is a fully onsite role based at our Pleasanton, CA facility. Relocation assistance is not provided for this position.

What You’ll Do
Develop Consumable and Microfluidic Architectures

Lead the design of consumables, cartridges and microfluidic systems for molecular biology and sample-preparation workflows.
Translate customer and scientific workflows into fluidic functions, consumable requirements and interface definitions.
Develop architectures incorporating fluid transport, metering, mixing, thermal control, sealing, reagent storage and waste management.
Lead concept generation, prototyping, modeling and trade studies across materials, mechanisms and form factors.
Optimize interactions among consumables, assays, reagents, instruments, automation and users.
Evaluate concepts based on scientific performance, customer experience, manufacturability, scalability and unit cost.
Balance consumable complexity with instrument functionality to achieve the best system and business outcome.

Advance Materials and Manufacturing Innovation

Evaluate polymers, adhesives, coatings, membranes and other materials for chemical, biological, optical and mechanical compatibility.
Develop solutions using processes such as injection molding, thermoforming, bonding, lamination, precision assembly and reagent integration.
Identify new materials, surface treatments and manufacturing technologies that enable differentiated capabilities.
Apply design-for-manufacturing, assembly, automation and inspection principles from early development.
Set design-to-cost targets and define critical-to-quality characteristics, tolerances and process requirements.
Ensure innovative concepts can be manufactured reliably and economically at commercial scale.

Lead Commercialization and Supplier Partnerships

Lead development from feasibility through tooling, process development, design transfer and commercial launch.
Validate manufacturing, scale and cost assumptions before significant design or tooling commitments.
Develop production concepts addressing tooling, equipment, cycle time, inspection, yield and quality controls.
Identify and evaluate suppliers based on technical capability, quality, capacity, cost and supply resilience.
Build effective relationships with contract manufacturers, tooling partners and specialized technology providers.
Partner with Operations and suppliers to improve yield, control variation and achieve target cost.
Make evidence-based trade-offs involving performance, COGS, capital investment and manufacturing risk.
Resolve issues involving materials, tooling, processes, consumable lots and supplier variation.

Enable Integrated and Automated Workflows

Design consumables as part of complete sample-to-answer systems—not standalone components.
Partner with systems, assay, instrument and automation teams to define interfaces and operating conditions.
Develop architectures supporting robotic handling, liquid handling and automated execution.
Improve workflow simplicity, contamination control, sample integrity and error prevention.
Consider the full consumable lifecycle, including loading, processing, disposal, traceability and sustainability.
Support future connected and intelligent laboratory workflows.

Apply Modeling, Data and AI

Use fluidic, thermal, mechanical and statistical models to guide design and manufacturing decisions.
Apply simulation and model-based methods to reduce design cycles and prototype iterations.
Use AI-assisted engineering for concept exploration, optimization, tolerance analysis and experiment planning.
Apply advanced analytics to connect design and process parameters with yield, cost and scientific performance.
Explore computer vision and intelligent inspection for defect detection and production quality.
Ensure AI-generated recommendations receive appropriate engineering review and experimental validation.

Lead Technical Development and Build Capability

Design experiments to characterize fluidic behavior, material interactions and system performance.
Lead root-cause investigations involving consumables, assays, instruments and manufacturing.
Apply design of experiments, statistics and risk-management methods to technical decisions.
Define requirements and test methods with systems and V&V teams.
Develop reusable design principles, models and reference architectures.
Mentor engineers and scientists in microfluidics, manufacturability and design-to-cost.

What You Bring
Education and Experience

Master’s degree or PhD in mechanical engineering, bioengineering, biomedical engineering, chemical engineering, materials science or a related discipline.
Industry experience commercializing microfluidic consumables for molecular biology, diagnostics or related life-science applications.
Proven success taking consumables from concept through tooling, manufacturing scale-up, design transfer and launch.
Experience developing cost-effective products for repeat production—not only research prototypes or low-volume devices.
Experience working with assay development, engineering, operations, quality, sourcing and external manufacturers.
Experience in regulated or highly quality-controlled product-development environments.

Technical and Commercial Depth

Strong knowledge of microfluidics, fluid transport, thermal systems and consumable architecture.
Experience integrating consumables with molecular biology assays, reagents, instruments and workflows.
Knowledge of polymers, adhesives, coatings, membranes, surface properties and biological compatibility.
Direct experience with relevant high-volume manufacturing, bonding, assembly and inspection processes.
Strong understanding of tooling, tolerances, process capability, yield and manufacturing economics.
Ability to make design trade-offs based on COGS, capital investment and supply scalability.
Experience with CAD, multiphysics simulation or computational fluid-dynamics tools.
Expertise in experimental design, statistics and root-cause investigation.
Familiarity with qPCR, dPCR or related molecular biology workflows is strongly preferred.

Leadership and Behaviors

Creative but commercially grounded technical leader.
Connects molecular biology, engineering, manufacturing and customer value.
Challenges impractical concepts early and supports recommendations with evidence.
Builds effective partnerships with internal teams, suppliers and manufacturers.
Influences without direct authority and develops other engineers.
Balances innovation and speed with quality, scalability and cost.

Why This Role Matters
Consumables increasingly define the performance, usability, cost and automation potential of life-science workflows. This role will ensure that innovative microfluidic concepts become reliable, scalable and cost-effective commercial products while building reusable consumable capabilities for future platforms.

Compensation and Benefits
The salary range estimated for this position based in California is $135,900.00–$181,200.00.
This position may also be eligible to receive a variable annual bonus based on company, team, and/or individual performance results in accordance with company policy. We offer a comprehensive Total Rewards package that our U.S. colleagues and their families can count on, which includes:

A choice of national medical and dental plans, and a national vision plan, including health incentive programs

Employee assistance and family support programs, including commuter benefits and tuition reimbursement

At least 120 hours paid time off (PTO), 10 paid holidays annually, paid parental leave (3 weeks for bonding and 8 weeks for caregiver leave), accident and life insurance, and short- and long-term disability in accordance with company policy

Retirement and savings programs, such as our competitive 401(k) U.S. retirement savings plan

Employees’ Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) offers eligible colleagues the opportunity to purchase company stock at a discount

For more information on our benefits, please visit: https://jobs.thermofisher.com/global/en/total-rewards