Engineering Director Jobs in USA with Visa Sponsorship
Engineering Director roles attract strong H-1B visa sponsorship from U.S. tech companies, with many employers also sponsoring EB-1C and EB-2 NIW green card pathways. Senior leadership experience, a relevant technical degree, and demonstrated team management are the baseline expectations for visa approval. For detailed occupation requirements, see the O*NET profile.
Find Engineering Director JobsOverview
Showing 5 of 7,840+ Engineering Director jobs
See all 7,840+ Engineering Director Jobs
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new Engineering Director roles.
Get Access To All JobsThe Role:
Generate Biomedicines is seeking a Director of Wet Lab Engineering to lead our multidisciplinary team in building the technologies that will define the next generation of experimental science. The team spans hardware, optics, microfluidics, automation, and software, and develops novel instruments, automated workflows, and integrated experimental systems that connect the physical laboratory with data, computation, and AI to accelerate the discovery and development of protein and biologic therapeutics.
This is an exciting opportunity for someone who is deeply technical, creative, and a people-focused engineering leader who can help define the laboratory of the future and then build it. This leader will shape our vision for increasingly agentic laboratory operations, bringing together instruments, robotics, software, new assays and data types, and AI to enable experiments at unprecedented speed, complexity, and scale. The ideal candidate will have deep expertise in at least one physical engineering discipline, along with the technical breadth and judgment to lead across many others, recognize excellent engineering, and bring people and technologies into systems that are more powerful than their individual components.
Importantly, Wet Lab Engineering is embedded within a highly technology-driven therapeutics organization, where the systems we build are not ends in themselves: enabling biological discovery, platform development, and therapeutic programs. We value leaders who are genuinely energized and engaged by biology and drug discovery, comfortable partnering closely with scientists, and able to understand the purpose behind an assay or workflow. The ideal leader will be motivated by seeing engineering translate into better experiments, faster learning, and ultimately better medicines.
Here's how you will contribute:
- Lead, develop, and grow a multidisciplinary team of engineers spanning hardware, optical, microfluidic, automation, and software engineering.
- Set the technical vision for Wet Lab Engineering and identify opportunities where new engineering capabilities can fundamentally change how we do science.
- Drive the development of bespoke instruments, automation, and integrated experimental systems from early ideas through deployed capabilities.
- Advance our vision for increasingly autonomous and agentic laboratory operation, tightly connecting physical experimentation with software, data, and AI/ML.
- Work side-by-side with wet-lab scientists, biologists, computational scientists, and ML teams to rapidly understand scientific needs and translate them into working systems, with a strong sense of urgency around shared platform development and pipeline execution goals.
- Build a culture of creativity, technical excellence, rapid experimentation, and rigorous engineering.
The Ideal Candidate will have:
- A deeply technical engineering leader with 10+ years of relevant industry experience and a PhD or Masters degree in a physical engineering discipline; equivalent depth of research and industry experience will also be considered.
- An inventive builder and systems thinker with a forward-looking perspective on experimental science, able to recognize opportunities where engineering can fundamentally change how science is done and energized by integrating instrumentation, automation, robotics, and other technologies into capabilities that do not yet exist.
- A proven and excellent hands-on people manager with experience leading and developing multidisciplinary technical teams of 10-15 people, providing strong technical direction while creating space for domain experts to excel.
- Familiar with the technologies, assays, and workflows used in biotechnology and drug discovery, particularly in protein and biologic research, and comfortable working closely with scientists across disciplines.
- Possesses the technical range to engage meaningfully across hardware, automation, software, data, and AI/ML.
- Ideally, brings experience in robotics and robotic system development.
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.
The Role:
Generate Biomedicines is seeking a Director of Wet Lab Engineering to lead our multidisciplinary team in building the technologies that will define the next generation of experimental science. The team spans hardware, optics, microfluidics, automation, and software, and develops novel instruments, automated workflows, and integrated experimental systems that connect the physical laboratory with data, computation, and AI to accelerate the discovery and development of protein and biologic therapeutics.
This is an exciting opportunity for someone who is deeply technical, creative, and a people-focused engineering leader who can help define the laboratory of the future and then build it. This leader will shape our vision for increasingly agentic laboratory operations, bringing together instruments, robotics, software, new assays and data types, and AI to enable experiments at unprecedented speed, complexity, and scale. The ideal candidate will have deep expertise in at least one physical engineering discipline, along with the technical breadth and judgment to lead across many others, recognize excellent engineering, and bring people and technologies into systems that are more powerful than their individual components.
Importantly, Wet Lab Engineering is embedded within a highly technology-driven therapeutics organization, where the systems we build are not ends in themselves: enabling biological discovery, platform development, and therapeutic programs. We value leaders who are genuinely energized and engaged by biology and drug discovery, comfortable partnering closely with scientists, and able to understand the purpose behind an assay or workflow. The ideal leader will be motivated by seeing engineering translate into better experiments, faster learning, and ultimately better medicines.
Here's how you will contribute:
- Lead, develop, and grow a multidisciplinary team of engineers spanning hardware, optical, microfluidic, automation, and software engineering.
- Set the technical vision for Wet Lab Engineering and identify opportunities where new engineering capabilities can fundamentally change how we do science.
- Drive the development of bespoke instruments, automation, and integrated experimental systems from early ideas through deployed capabilities.
- Advance our vision for increasingly autonomous and agentic laboratory operation, tightly connecting physical experimentation with software, data, and AI/ML.
- Work side-by-side with wet-lab scientists, biologists, computational scientists, and ML teams to rapidly understand scientific needs and translate them into working systems, with a strong sense of urgency around shared platform development and pipeline execution goals.
- Build a culture of creativity, technical excellence, rapid experimentation, and rigorous engineering.
The Ideal Candidate will have:
- A deeply technical engineering leader with 10+ years of relevant industry experience and a PhD or Masters degree in a physical engineering discipline; equivalent depth of research and industry experience will also be considered.
- An inventive builder and systems thinker with a forward-looking perspective on experimental science, able to recognize opportunities where engineering can fundamentally change how science is done and energized by integrating instrumentation, automation, robotics, and other technologies into capabilities that do not yet exist.
- A proven and excellent hands-on people manager with experience leading and developing multidisciplinary technical teams of 10-15 people, providing strong technical direction while creating space for domain experts to excel.
- Familiar with the technologies, assays, and workflows used in biotechnology and drug discovery, particularly in protein and biologic research, and comfortable working closely with scientists across disciplines.
- Possesses the technical range to engage meaningfully across hardware, automation, software, data, and AI/ML.
- Ideally, brings experience in robotics and robotic system development.
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.
See all 7,840+ Engineering Director Jobs
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new Engineering Director roles.
Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding Engineering Director Jobs
Target companies with existing sponsorship track records
Large tech companies and well-funded startups file the most Engineering Director H-1B petitions. Focusing your search on companies with documented sponsorship history significantly increases your chances of finding a role that moves quickly through the process.
Understand that EB-1C is often the fastest green card path
Companies sponsoring Engineering Directors frequently pursue the EB-1C multinational manager route if you've led teams internationally. This category skips the PERM labor certification process, cutting years off the typical EB-2 or EB-3 green card timeline.
Your technical degree matters more than your title history
USCIS evaluates the H-1B specialty occupation requirement based on your degree field, not your seniority. A bachelor's or higher in computer science, electrical engineering, or a closely related discipline is essential to support an Engineering Director petition.
Document your team leadership scope clearly in the petition
Engineering Director petitions succeed when the job description clearly defines org size, reporting structure, and strategic scope. Vague descriptions of "overseeing engineers" create unnecessary RFE risk. Ask your employer's attorney to specify headcount and product impact.
Premium processing is worth it at this level
At the Engineering Director level, employers routinely use premium processing to get an H-1B decision within 15 business days. Given the seniority of the role, most companies absorb this cost rather than wait months for standard adjudication.
NIW is a viable self-petition option for exceptional leaders
Engineering Directors with published research, patents, or evidence of national importance can self-petition under the EB-2 National Interest Waiver. This removes employer dependency entirely and is increasingly viable for senior technical leaders with a strong professional record.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Engineering Director roles commonly come with H-1B sponsorship?
Yes. Engineering Director is one of the most frequently sponsored senior roles in the U.S. tech industry. Large employers including major cloud, software, and hardware companies file H-1B visa petitions for this title regularly. You can browse current Engineering Director roles with confirmed sponsorship on Migrate Mate, which filters specifically for employers willing to sponsor.
What degree do I need for an Engineering Director H-1B to be approved?
USCIS requires a bachelor's degree or higher in a field directly related to the role. For Engineering Director positions, that typically means computer science, software engineering, electrical engineering, or systems engineering. A general business or management degree alone is unlikely to satisfy the specialty occupation requirement, even if you have years of engineering management experience.
Can an Engineering Director qualify for an EB-1C green card?
Yes, if you've managed teams or divisions at a qualifying foreign affiliate, subsidiary, or parent company for at least one year in the prior three years. The EB-1C is a strong fit for Engineering Directors promoted from international offices into a U.S. leadership role, as it bypasses PERM and has no backlog for most nationalities outside India and China.
How does the H-1B lottery affect Engineering Director hiring?
Engineering Director candidates are subject to the standard H-1B cap and lottery unless the hiring company is cap-exempt (universities, nonprofits, certain research institutions). For cap-subject employers, selection is not guaranteed. Some companies respond by pursuing O-1A petitions for candidates with exceptional achievement, or by timing offers around the April lottery cycle.
What makes an Engineering Director petition more likely to receive an RFE?
The most common trigger is a job description that reads more like a general manager than a technical specialist. USCIS scrutinizes whether the role genuinely requires a specific engineering degree. Petitions that clearly tie the Director's day-to-day responsibilities to specialized technical domains, and that include an organizational chart showing the scope of engineering oversight, tend to fare significantly better.
What is the prevailing wage requirement for sponsored Engineering Director jobs?
U.S. employers sponsoring a visa must pay at least the prevailing wage, which is what workers in the same role, area, and experience level typically earn. The Department of Labor sets this rate to make sure companies aren't hiring foreign workers simply because they'd accept lower pay than a U.S. worker. It varies by job title, location, and experience. You can look up current prevailing wage rates for any occupation and location using the OFLC Wage Search page.