Lab Automation & Instrumentation Specialist

Lab Automation & Instrumentation Specialist

Do you want to join a purpose driven company who are making a global impact on society and creating a healthier environment both now and for future generations?

If working with an honest, fair, reputable, responsible and rapidly expanding global organisation is high on your agenda, joining our team could be for you.

The Lab Automation & Instrumentation Specialist supports Whitefox's product development and laboratory operations by building, integrating, and improving automated laboratory and pilot-scale systems that increase efficiency, improve process and data visibility, and accelerate learning. The role is intended to systematize industrial process work at lab scale, reduce operator time investment in repetitive or low-value tasks, maximize useful data collection, and increase throughput, cadence, and reliability across prototype, test, and development activities while supporting safe scale-up of innovative process and materials technologies.

The Research & Development team advances Whitefox product and process innovation through safe laboratory operations, prototype design, technical testing, data-driven validation, and scale-up support. The department is responsible for building practical solutions that improve product performance, process reliability, and the transition from batch experimentation toward continuous and increasingly automated operation.

Every improvement you make moves us closer to our 2030 goal of being globally trusted leaders in efficiency and innovation.

• Transform conceptual ideas into prototypes and support product development from concept through validation and market introduction as needed.
• Design, build, program, integrate, and troubleshoot automation and electronics packages for laboratory and pilot equipment, including digital and analog sensors, transmitters, power supplies, relays, signal conditioning, alarms, interlocks, emergency shutdown functions, and data logging systems.
• Develop and support PLC-, HMI-, and small-control-platform solutions for research and prototype equipment using platforms such as Siemens SIMATIC (for example S7-1200 / S7-1500 with TIA Portal), Rockwell Automation Allen-Bradley (for example Compact Logix / Control Logix with Studio 5000), Beckhoff TwinCAT, ABB AC500, Schneider Modicon, or equivalent platforms as appropriate for the application.
• Systematize industrial processes at lab scale by converting manually operated, batch-style, or semi-manual workflows into repeatable, instrumented, and scalable systems with a defined control philosophy, alarm strategy, operating windows, and practical operator interface.
• Increase efficiency, execution cadence, and throughput by reducing manual interventions, setup time, troubleshooting time, downtime, and variability in how experiments and pilot activities are performed.
• Select and integrate instrumentation, valves, actuators, motor controls, DAQ hardware, HMIs, networking components, and related hardware for research, testing, and process development applications.
• Develop data logging, dashboard, remote monitoring, and visibility solutions that improve experimental traceability, process understanding, troubleshooting speed, and decision‑making quality.
• Develop and execute test plans to validate technical concepts, automation logic, control strategies, and equipment performance; support commissioning, point-to-point checks, and functional verification as needed.
• Review technical specifications and prepare, review, or maintain engineering drawings, wiring diagrams, bills of materials, SOPs, test procedures, control narratives, and other technical documentation.
• Work with third-party contractors, vendors, fabricators, and service providers for electrical installations, upgrades, inspections, commissioning activities, and specialty support.
• Perform troubleshooting, root cause investigation, and corrective action follow-up on a variety of products, heaters, instruments, automation systems, and associated equipment; support both preventive and reactive maintenance activities.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives that evolve products and processes…