Research Engineer - Automated Lab Development

**Summary:**

Meta Reality Labs is seeking a Hardware Research Engineer to advance battery and energy storage technologies for next-generation virtual and augmented reality devices, including headsets, wearables, and smart glasses. In this role, you will lead research and development of novel battery cell chemistries, pack architectures, and energy management strategies that push the boundaries of what is possible in compact, high-performance wearable form factors. You will define the long-term technical direction for battery systems across Meta's Reality Labs hardware portfolio, working at the intersection of electrochemistry, thermal management, and consumer electronics engineering.

**Required Skills:**

Research Engineer - Automated Lab Development Responsibilities:

1. Define the overall technical roadmap and detailed system architecture to build an autonomous, automated, end-to-end battery research lab, seamlessly integrating both commercially available instruments and custom hardware solutions

2. Identify gaps where commercial automation solutions fall short. Define strategies for external partner engagement and directly lead the co-development of custom automation approaches with third-party vendors. Own build-out of partner automation solutions within Meta labs. Drive or directly develop application-specific customizations and extensions of automation solutions

3. Guide development of software by internal and/or external partners to operate individual system components, orchestrate the full system, and provide resulting data to researchers

4. Translate the needs of internal research scientists into actionable hardware and software engineering specifications for the autonomous lab system, ensuring continuous alignment with core research objectives

**Minimum Qualifications:**

Minimum Qualifications:

5. Bachelor's degree in Robotics, Mechatronics, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, or a related technical discipline

6. 8+ years of hands-on experience designing, scaling, and deploying automated laboratory systems, robotic workcells, or complex industrial testing/characterization hardware

7. Experience setting requirements for and using software to control physical hardware, manage device state machines, sequence multi-instrument workflows. Experience setting requirements for custom APIs, web services, or serial communication protocols to bridge data and control pathways between different vendor instruments

8. Experience managing technical definitions, timelines, and deliverables with third-party automation vendors, system integrators, or external OEM partners

9. Experience collaborating with cross-functional teams (e.g., research scientists, software engineers, hardware engineers) to translate scientific experimental requirements into engineering specifications

**Preferred Qualifications:**

Preferred Qualifications:

10. Direct experience working on automated high-throughput screening (HTS) or "closed-loop" autonomous discovery systems where hardware execution loops were driven by algorithmic/ML inputs

11. Experience with battery and materials characterization techniques, including electrochemical cell characterization, cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)

12. Master's or Ph.D. in Robotics, Mechatronics, Computer Science, or a related field with a thesis or research focus on automated physical systems

13. Experience integrating automated hardware with Electronic Laboratory Notebooks (ELNs), Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS), or centralized cloud data warehouses

14. Experience with industrial lab orchestration/scheduling software or data workflow management tools

15. Familiarity with modern laboratory connectivity standards and middleware protocols

**Public Compensation:**

$173,000/year to $245,000/year + bonus + equity + benefits

**Industry:** Internet

**Equal Opportunity:**

Meta is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, sexual stereotypes, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law. Meta participates in the E-Verify program in certain locations, as required by law. Please note that Meta may leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies in connection with applications for employment.

Meta is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities in our recruiting process. If you need any assistance or accommodations due to a disability, please let us know at accommodations-ext@meta.com.