Robotics Application Engineer – Laboratory Automation

Your role

In this role, you will be the technical bridge between our robotic platforms and real-world laboratory environments. You will work directly with end customers — lab operators in pharma, biotech, diagnostics, and academic research — as well as with integration partners and domain specialists in lab automation, to design, build, and commission robotic use cases that solve workflow problems on the lab bench. You will move fluidly between customer site visits, solution design, hands-on integration work, and collaboration with our engineering and product teams back at HQ.

Your responsibilities:

• Scope, design, and implement robotic automation solutions for laboratory use cases together with end customers and integration partners

• Act as the technical point of contact during pre-sales, proof-of-concept, and deployment phases for lab automation projects

• Integrate Franka robotic arms with third-party lab equipment, instruments, and software (e.g., liquid handlers, plate readers, LIMS, SiLA/SLAS-standard devices)

• Develop and validate application-specific end-effectors, grippers, and fixtures in collaboration with mechanical engineering

• Write and adapt robot programs, motion sequences, and safety configurations tailored to lab environments (biosafety, cleanroom, ISO requirements where applicable)

• Provide on-site and remote commissioning, troubleshooting, and technical support for deployed systems

• Build and maintain strong working relationships with strategic lab automation partners and system integrators

• Capture customer and partner feedback to inform product development and improve platform usability for laboratory applications

• Create technical documentation, application notes, and best-practice guides for recurring lab automation use cases

Your experience and qualifications

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in Robotics, Mechatronics, Automation Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Process Engineering, or a related field

• Practical experience in laboratory automation, life science instrumentation, or a closely related application domain

• Experience in software development with ROS2, C/C++, and Python

• Hands-on experience integrating robotic arms or automated systems with third-party lab devices and software

• Solid understanding of robot programming and control (experience with collaborative/force-controlled robots is a strong plus)

• Familiarity with common lab automation standards and ecosystems (e.g., SiLA, SLAS/ANSI footprint, LIMS/SCADA integration) is a plus

• Comfort working directly with customers and partners — strong communication skills in both technical and commercial conversations

• Willingness to travel to customer and partner sites (Germany and internationally, mostly North America and Europe)

• Fluent in English; German language skills are a plus

• A pragmatic, hands-on mindset with the ability to solve problems independently in unfamiliar environments

Why us?

About us

At FRANKA ROBOTICS - we build robots with ethics, which comes with great responsibility, creating state-of-the-art award-winning technology made to improve human lives and change our world for the better. Every day is filled with hard and exciting work, and the ability to take game-changing decisions from day one. We seek a hands-on mindset of those who strive for results, but enjoy the process of getting there.

Franka Robotics GmbH, formerly known as Franka Emika, is a fully owned subsidiary of Agile Robots SE. Agile Robots SE is an international high-tech company based in Munich (GER) with a production site in Kaufbeuren and more than 1900 employees worldwide.

We have great plans – we have great people  – Do you want to become part of our FRANKA ROBOTICS Team?