H-1B Visa Automation Project Manager Jobs
Automation Project Manager roles qualify for H-1B visa sponsorship as specialty occupations requiring a bachelor's degree in engineering, computer science, or a related technical field. Employers in manufacturing, logistics, and tech regularly file LCAs for these positions. The 85,000-cap lottery runs each spring, with cap-exempt employers offering year-round filing.
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INTRODUCTION
Generate:Biomedicines is seeking an experienced and highly motivated Senior Automation Engineer to join our team at the interface of lab instrumentation, integrated workcells, custom hardware, and protein therapeutics discovery.
This role will be central to sustaining and advancing Generate's wet lab platform, with particular emphasis on automated workflows spanning DNA production, protein production, cell culture, and screening & validation assays. Just as importantly, this senior engineer will extend Generate's capabilities beyond immediate automation support by building and integrating custom instrument capabilities into the wet lab ecosystem and leading adjacent engineering efforts where thoughtful hardware, fluidics, or systems integration can unlock better science.
The role serves as the automation engineering lead both as an individual contributor and the direct manager of automation engineers. The ideal candidate will bring strong expertise in liquid handling, workcell automation, scripting, wet lab agentic deployment, and method development, along with experience building, adapting, or integrating instrumentation in close partnership with scientists and the rest of the engineering team. This role is well-suited for someone who can execute at a high technical level while thinking end-to-end about building scalable support through training, documentation, AI, and handoff practices that increase scientist independence. As a central communicator in the lab, the role will be tasked with consistently identifying areas of the lab that can be enhanced with engineering solutions.
ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES
- Design, build, and integrate custom instrument capabilities into Generate's wet lab platform, including in-house-built hardware, fluidic systems, or related technologies into scientist-facing workflows.
- Own critical automation and instrumentation problems end-to-end, from method design and system improvement through live troubleshooting on active runs, vendor coordination, documentation, and knowledge transfer.
- Drive reliability, troubleshooting, and method development for DNA/protein production and assay/readout workflows on integrated workcells, while improving throughput, parallelization, and data quality across platform and pipeline programs.
- Partner closely with scientists to provide high-quality in-lab support, unblock experiments quickly, and identify new automation- or engineering-enabled capabilities that reduce timelines for production, scale-up, and future platform workflows.
- Identify and prioritize lab automation projects across the automation engineering team and seek out key stakeholders as collaborators.
- Manage a team of automation engineers in both day-to-day activities and long-term projects providing guidance and proper resourcing to their efforts.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
- BS + with 7+ years industry experience in lab automation and analytical & process instrumentation development, MS with 5+ years industry experience, or PhD in engineering, computer science, physics, chemistry, life sciences, or a related field.
- A proven track record of leadership within a wet lab and within an engineering team both via project management and direct reports.
- Strong experience with liquid handlers and integrated workcells, including platforms such as Biomek, Tecan, Lynx, Hamilton, Opentrons, HighRes, Retisoft, and/or similar systems.
- Experience owning workflows end-to-end, from method design and execution through debugging, documentation, and operational support.
- A strong drive to proactively hand-off workflows to scientists in a way that improves adoption, increases autonomy, and effective use of automation tools.
- Exceptional communication skills and proactivity to facilitate interactions between scientists, engineers, lab operations, and other stakeholders that span a range of technical and scientific languages.
- Experience developing and/or deploying wet lab-facing agentic applications, e.g. closed-loop experimental systems.
- Experience building, integrating, or supporting custom instrumentation, fluidic systems, and/or microfluidic devices in an R&D environment.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience supporting DNA production, protein production, protein purification, cell culture, functional & binding assays, and/or related molecular biology workflows at scale.
- Significant experience with HighRes, Retisoft, and/or other advanced scheduling and orchestration systems and integrated hardware environments.
- Experience supporting platform transfer, vendor coordination, user training, or expansion of methods across multiple instruments and lab locations.
- Experience working in a highly collaborative, matrixed research environment where automation, platform engineering, and discovery teams are tightly integrated.
WHO WILL LOVE THIS JOB
- You are motivated working in fast-paced and dynamic research environments, with a drive to frequently move out of your immediate comfort zone and learn new things.
- You like working in the lab and helping scientists succeed not only by solving urgent problems, but by building systems, habits, and training that empowers them.
- You enjoy translating across biology, engineering, software, and instrumentation, and you are energized by working on problems that span automation as well as broader wet lab engineering.
- You take a pragmatic, builder-oriented approach to method development and troubleshooting: moving fast, improving iteratively, and focusing on what will best unblock the science.
- You are a people person who genuinely wants to be a people manager: you enjoy coaching engineers, investing in their growth, and helping them build meaningful careers.
ABOUT GENERATE BIOMEDICINES
We are a clinical-stage generative biology company pioneering the AI revolution in drug design and development. We are advancing a new approach to drug creation—one grounded in the ability to design proteins with defined biological intent. By integrating machine learning with large-scale experimentation, this approach aims to reduce the uncertainty, time, and cost associated with developing protein-based medicines.
Founded in 2018, we are advancing a growing pipeline of clinical and preclinical programs across multiple disease areas and protein modalities. By unifying computational design and clinical development within a single operating model, we translate this approach into clinical-stage programs and are leading a shift from traditional drug discovery toward systematic drug generation.
At Generate:Biomedicines, we collaborate across disciplines in new ways to invent and innovate. We bring diverse perspectives to a shared goal of delivering better medicines to patients in need, faster, guided by our values and leadership behaviors.
Generate:Biomedicines is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.
Recruitment & Staffing Agencies: Generate:Biomedicines does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than candidates. The submission of unsolicited resumes by recruitment or staffing agencies to Generate:Biomedicines or its employees is strictly prohibited unless contacted directly by the Company's internal Talent Acquisition team. Any resume submitted by an agency in the absence of a signed agreement will automatically become the property of Generate:Biomedicines and the Company will not owe any referral or other fees with respect thereto.
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Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding H-1B Visa Sponsorship as an Automation Project Manager
Verify your degree supports specialty occupation
USCIS evaluates whether your degree field directly relates to automation project management. A degree in industrial engineering, systems engineering, or computer science strengthens your case more than a general business degree paired with experience alone.
Target cap-exempt employers for year-round filing
Universities, nonprofit research organizations, and government-affiliated entities are cap-exempt, meaning they can file your H-1B petition any time without lottery exposure. Automation project management roles exist at these institutions in research and infrastructure divisions.
Search LCA filings to find active sponsors
Use Migrate Mate to filter employers by verified H-1B LCA filing history for project management and automation roles, so you're applying to companies that have already navigated sponsorship for comparable positions rather than guessing at willingness.
Confirm prevailing wage tier before negotiating
Your employer's LCA must certify wages at or above the DOL prevailing wage for your role and location. Run the OFLC Wage Search using SOC code 11-9041 (Architectural and Engineering Managers) to understand the wage levels before entering offer discussions.
Document PMP or agile credentials before filing
USCIS RFEs on specialty occupation are common for project management titles. Having a PMP certification, Six Sigma, or documented technical credentials in automation systems strengthens the petition and reduces the employer's legal exposure during adjudication.
Align your start date with the October 1 activation window
Cap-subject H-1B petitions filed in April can't authorize work until October 1. Negotiate your offer start date around this window so your employer doesn't face a months-long gap between your selection notice and your legal ability to begin.
H-1B Visa Automation Project Manager: Frequently Asked Questions
Does an Automation Project Manager role qualify as a specialty occupation for H-1B purposes?
Yes, provided the position genuinely requires a bachelor's degree or higher in a directly related technical field such as industrial engineering, systems engineering, computer science, or electrical engineering. Titles with 'project manager' can attract USCIS scrutiny if the job duties appear generalist. The employer's job description should emphasize technical automation responsibilities, not just coordination or oversight, to support the specialty occupation finding.
Which industries sponsor H-1B visas most consistently for Automation Project Manager roles?
Manufacturing, automotive, aerospace, logistics, and enterprise software companies file LCAs for Automation Project Manager positions with regularity. These industries invest heavily in robotics, PLC systems, and industrial automation, which require dedicated technical project management. You can browse employers with verified H-1B filing history in these sectors on Migrate Mate, filtered by role and location.
Can my employer file my H-1B petition outside the annual lottery?
Yes, if your employer qualifies as cap-exempt. Universities, nonprofit research institutions, and certain government-affiliated research organizations can file H-1B petitions at any point during the year without entering the April lottery. Some automation project management roles exist at national labs, university engineering departments, and federally funded research centers, making cap-exempt pathways worth exploring.
What happens to my H-1B status if I change employers mid-project?
You can port to a new employer under H-1B portability rules once your current petition has been approved and you've been in valid H-1B status for at least one year, as long as the new employer files an H-1B transfer petition before your current authorization expires. The new role must also qualify as a specialty occupation. You can begin working for the new employer once USCIS receives the transfer petition, not after approval.
How does the DOL prevailing wage requirement affect job offers for this role?
Before filing your H-1B petition, your employer must submit an LCA certifying they'll pay you at least the DOL prevailing wage for an Automation Project Manager in your specific metro area. Wage levels vary by location and experience tier. You can check the applicable wage level using the OFLC Wage Search with the relevant SOC code before negotiating your offer, so you understand the floor your employer is legally required to meet.