Research Engineer - Automated Lab Development

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.

Minimum Qualifications

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

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

* 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

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

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

Preferred Qualifications

* 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

* 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)

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

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

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

* Familiarity with modern laboratory connectivity standards and middleware protocols

Responsibilities

* 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

* 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

* 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

* 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

About Meta

Meta builds technologies that help people connect, find communities, and grow businesses. When Facebook launched in 2004, it changed the way people connect. Apps like Messenger, Instagram and Whats App further empowered billions around the world. Now, Meta is moving beyond 2D screens toward immersive experiences like augmented and virtual reality to help build the next evolution in social technology. People who choose to build their careers by building with us at Meta help shape a future that will take us beyond what digital connection makes possible today-beyond the constraints of screens, the limits of distance, and even the rules of physics.

Equal Employment Opportunity

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