Staff R&D Tooling and Automation Engineer

Bring more to life. Are you ready to accelerate your potential and make a real difference within life sciences, diagnostics and biotechnology? At Cepheid, one of Danaher’s 15+ operating companies, our work saves lives—and we’re all united by a shared commitment to innovate for tangible impact.  You’ll thrive in a culture of belonging where you and your unique viewpoint matter. And by harnessing Danaher’s system of continuous improvement, you help turn ideas into impact – innovating at the speed of life. At Cepheid, we are passionate about improving health care through fast, accurate, molecular diagnostic systems and tests. As a member of our team, you’ll get to make an immediate, measurable impact on a global scale, within an environment that fosters career growth and development. Our mission drives us to develop groundbreaking solutions for the world’s most complex health challenges. Together, we bring MORE change to the world. Learn about the Danaher Business System which makes everything possible. The Staff Tooling and Automation Engineer is responsible for designing, developing, qualifying, and bringing up R&D tooling and automation solutions that support consumables development and assembly. This includes translating consumables design and process requirements into robust tooling, fixtures, equipment, and automated assembly methods that enable rapid development, verification, and scalable manufacturing readiness. This position is part of the R&D Consumables Team and will be located in Sunnyvale, CA or Lodi, CA. The R&D Consumables team spearheads the engineering of Cepheid's consumable components, tooling, and assembly processes. From developing R&D tooling and fixtures, partnering with vendors to bring up new equipment, and implementing automation for consumables assembly, this department plays a critical role in delivering products and processes that meet or exceed customer needs. In this role, you will have the opportunity to: Collaborate with Assay R&D, Chemistry R&D, R&D Lab Operations, Systems Integration, Technical Operations, Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, and external vendors to support Innovation and New Product Development projects, taking responsibility for tooling and automation development from concept through build, qualification, verification, and transfer readiness in a medical device environment. Enable consumables development through tooling design, fixture design, equipment specification, CAD, engineering drawings, prototyping, design of experiments, process characterization, equipment qualification, and verification with an emphasis on improving manufacturability, assembly efficiency, process robustness, and cost effectiveness. Lead R&D automation efforts for consumables assembly and lab automation including vendor communications, equipment bring-up, fixture integration, standard operating procedures, control plans, test method development, acceptance criteria, and quality control procedures. The essential requirements of the job include: Professional education related to Tooling Engineering (Mechanical Engineering, Plastics Engineering, Polymer Science) with 8+ years of related work experience or equivalent experience. Proven expertise in tooling design, fixture development, automation equipment development, vendor management, equipment bring-up, and qualification for plastic consumables, assemblies, or medical device products. Product and process life cycle experience, including requirements definition, concept development, design reviews, test planning, execution, data analysis, associated documentation, and implementation into scalable manufacturing under design control processes. Strong analytical and troubleshooting experience, including understanding of mechanical, automation, controls, and consumables system interfaces, with the ability to quickly analyze, tackle, and resolve equipment, tooling, and process integration challenges in ambiguous and complex