Cephla is building the critical imaging infrastructure for modern biology and drug discovery. Our open and programmable automated microscopes and integrated solutions around them take down barriers to high-end imaging and are already powering research and large-scale data production at leading academic labs, biotech startups, and pharma. In parallel, our Octopi brings AI-enabled microscopy to diagnostics, starting with malaria.
We're a small team of scientists and engineers, mission-driven and deeply invested in our users' success as the experiments running on our instruments are often critical to research that will advance science and can impact human health. You'll work closely with the founders and the rest of our team, and may collaborate directly with our users.
Responsibilities
You will own projects from idea to production, with aspects including:
- Mechanical design — designing components and assemblies for new modules/instruments and improvements to existing ones (CAD, GD&T, mechanical and opto-mechanical assemblies)
- Design to manufacturing — taking designs from concept through production: drawings, BOMs, vendor coordination, DFM iteration
- Prototyping and assembly — building first prototypes with your own hands
- Testing and characterization
- System integration
- Documentation
Depending on your interests and what we need, your work may also stretch into:
- Automation and robotics
- Exploratory work on new imaging modalities and early-stage technology development
Required qualifications
- Currently pursuing or recently completed a degree in Engineering, Physics, or a related field
- Proficiency in a modern CAD package (SolidWorks, Autodesk Inventor, etc.)
- Demonstrated hands-on building experience — personal projects, project teams, prior internships, lab work, anything where you've actually made things
- Strong understanding of engineering fundamentals
- Excellent communication (written and verbal)
Preferred qualifications
- Prior mechanical engineering industry experience, including owning products from concept to production
- Experience with opto-mechanical design/precision design and manufacturing is a plus
- Comfortable with rapid prototyping — 3D printing, machining, basic electronics, soldering
Additional Requirements
- Resourceful, flexible and adaptable. You're happy to take on whatever the project needs
- Comfortable with ambiguity. You find that having to define the problem is exciting rather than frustrating
- You deliver. It's tempting to keep tweaking a design, but it's more important to ship something that works and works reliably — and that usually comes down to getting the small details right
- Curious across disciplines. You're excited to learn across disciplines — optics, mechanics, electronics, biology — and to go deep where a problem demands it
Who will love this job (and who we're looking for)
- You're passionate about science and tool-building, and you want your work to enable discoveries and/or help solve important problems
- You have high agency. You take ownership and figure things out without being told what to do next
- You want a high-leverage opportunity to do real engineering, learn, and grow
Expected Compensation
$3,000 – $4,500 per month.