Biotech Automation Engineer; Wet Lab and AI

Location: In person in our office in Edinburgh, UK, as well as frequent visits to our partners (accommodation and travel are, of course, covered)

Start date: Flexible, late 2026 or early 2027, depending on your availability

Salary: £45k–£65k depending on experience, plus options

Danu Insights is hiring a Biotech Automation Engineer (Wet Lab and AI) to connect our software to real bioprocess hardware in partner labs, as part of a large cell‑therapy innovation and automation project. You’ll work with both our ML/software team in Edinburgh and our partners’ process scientists, hardware engineers, and management teams.

You’ll act as the liaison between them: translating both ways, debugging at the bench, and getting our systems to work smoothly with real hardware. As Danu’s key representative on the ground, you’ll own the projects, keep them on track and be instrumental in project success, with ample support from the rest of the team. You’ll also delivery on‑site training and bring bioprocess and automation know‑how back into our team.

You’ll spend a significant share of your time embedded on‑site at partner facilities across the UK. Accommodation and travel are, of course, covered.

Wet lab and AI know‑how

• Enough mammalian cell‑culture / cell‑therapy literacy to work with process scientists as a peer. Alternatively, experience in adjacent fields and a desire to learn quickly is also welcome.
• Enthusiasm for automation, AI and ML. Danu Insights is an AI start‑up, but this is not an AI engineer role.
• Some software skills (e.g. Python, APIs, data pipelines, data standards) are key to being effective in this role.
• Bonus: familiarity with bioprocess control and/or monitoring systems.

• Organisational skills and project management experience to navigate the project as the key contact from Danu’s side. This does not have to be formal (we certainly don’t need PM accreditation). You are comfortable bringing together different stakeholders (some more senior than you) and “think on your feet” to solve problems quickly and make this project a success.
• Clear communication, especially “translating” between the ML/software team and wet lab scientists.
• A desire to work at an early‑stage start‑up and to shape all aspects of it.

We are aware that we are looking for a particular combination of skills. If you are unsure if you fit the brief, but have experience or skills that you think would make you great in this role, we want to hear from you! Please use the link below to apply and tell us about it (we manually review each and every application).

We are a small, fast‑growing start‑up founded in Edinburgh. Our mission is to accelerate life‑science discovery by empowering scientists to get more from every experiment through AI and ML. We develop our own award‑winning tech stack set out to revolutionise biotech R&D.

We are a close‑knit team that empowers each other to grow our product, our tech, and the company as a whole. We value adaptability, practical curiosity, and integrity. Most days are spent collaborating in the office, but we work from home on occasion or when life requires. Top‑tier snacks and coffee included.

Competitive compensation package includes:

• Annual salary of £45k–£65k depending on experience
• Options
• 25 days of holiday plus bank holidays
• Dedicated training and professional development budget
• Direct mentorship from industry‑leading experts
• Our central Edinburgh office, with the best view in the city

• Short phone interview with one of our co‑founders
• Interview day with the…