At the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT), we're on a mission to translate scientific discovery into real world impact. We bring together visionary scientists, technologists, engineers, researchers, educators and innovators to tackle humanity's greatest challenges in four transformative areas:

Health, Medical Science & Generative Biology
Food Security & Sustainable Agriculture
Climate Change & Managing CO₂
Artificial Intelligence & Robotics

This is ambitious work - work that demands curiosity, courage, and a relentless drive to make a difference. At EIT, you'll join a community built on excellence, innovation, tenacity, trust, and collaboration, where bold ideas become real-world breakthroughs. Together, we push boundaries, embrace complexity, and create solutions to scale ideas from lab to society. Explore more at www.eit.org.

Welcome to the Pathogen Project:

Within this ecosystem, the Pathogen Mission exemplifies EIT's commitment to transformative science. It aims to revolutionise the diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases by leveraging whole genome sequencing (WGS)-based metagenomic and pathogen-specific analytical tools. This remit includes the development of a decentralised, sample-to-answer sequencing diagnostic platform for infectious diseases, enabling rapid and accurate analysis of patient samples without prior assumptions. Supported by Oracle Inc.'s cloud-computing scale and security infrastructure, the Pathogen Mission is progressing towards certified diagnostic products for deployment in laboratories, hospitals, and public health organisations worldwide.

Your Role:

At EIT we are seeking an experienced and detail orientated Microfluidics Engineer / Scientist to help develop next-generation diagnostic technology. In this role, you'll work alongside experts in microfluidics, microbiology, electronics and firmware to design, build and iterate prototype instrumentation for a point-of-care device capable of metagenomic sequencing through a microfluidic cartridge interface.

You will take a hands-on role in translating microfluidic workflows into robust, system-ready implementations, working at the interface between cartridge design and automated instrumentation. This will involve designing and running experiments, supporting integration of microfluidic systems with actuation and control hardware, and resolving real-world challenges related to fluid behavior, timing, sealing and system interaction. You will contribute directly to the development of decentralised diagnostic systems aimed at improving infectious disease detection in hospitals and public health settings worldwide.

Key Responsibilities:

Design, develop and improve microfluidic systems and cartridge architectures for use within automated instrumentation.
Translate biological assay requirements into practical microfluidic designs suitable for automation.
Define and refine interfaces between cartridge and instrument, including fluidic, mechanical and thermal interactions.
Ensure cartridge designs remain compatible with automation, sensing and actuation strategies throughout development and system integration.
Collaborate with instrumentation, electronics and firmware engineers to ensure cartridge designs work effectively with automated actuation and control systems.
Support integration of microfluidic cartridges into prototype systems, including hands-on testing, troubleshooting and system-level validation.
Prototype and test microfluidic designs using appropriate fabrication techniques, such as soft lithography, machining and rapid prototyping.
Design and execute experiments to evaluate cartridge performance, including yield, efficiency and repeatability.
Identify and help resolve fluidic, mechanical and assay-related failure modes.
Contribute to improving robustness, manufacturability and ease of use of cartridge designs.
Document designs, test results and iteration outcomes clearly and systematically.
Contribute to design reviews and technical decision-making within the microfluidics domain.

Health, Medical Science & Generative Biology
Food Security & Sustainable Agriculture
Climate Change & Managing CO₂
Artificial Intelligence & Robotics

Welcome to the Pathogen Project:

Your Role:

Key Responsibilities:

Design, develop and improve microfluidic systems and cartridge architectures for use within automated instrumentation.
Translate biological assay requirements into practical microfluidic designs suitable for automation.
Define and refine interfaces between cartridge and instrument, including fluidic, mechanical and thermal interactions.
Ensure cartridge designs remain compatible with automation, sensing and actuation strategies throughout development and system integration.
Collaborate with instrumentation, electronics and firmware engineers to ensure cartridge designs work effectively with automated actuation and control systems.
Support integration of microfluidic cartridges into prototype systems, including hands-on testing, troubleshooting and system-level validation.
Prototype and test microfluidic designs using appropriate fabrication techniques, such as soft lithography, machining and rapid prototyping.
Design and execute experiments to evaluate cartridge performance, including yield, efficiency and repeatability.
Identify and help resolve fluidic, mechanical and assay-related failure modes.
Contribute to improving robustness, manufacturability and ease of use of cartridge designs.
Document designs, test results and iteration outcomes clearly and systematically.
Contribute to design reviews and technical decision-making within the microfluidics domain.

Health, Medical Science & Generative Biology
Food Security & Sustainable Agriculture
Climate Change & Managing CO₂
Artificial Intelligence & Robotics

Welcome to the Pathogen Project:

Your Role:

Key Responsibilities:

Design, develop and improve microfluidic systems and cartridge architectures for use within automated instrumentation.
Translate biological assay requirements into practical microfluidic designs suitable for automation.
Define and refine interfaces between cartridge and instrument, including fluidic, mechanical and thermal interactions.
Ensure cartridge designs remain compatible with automation, sensing and actuation strategies throughout development and system integration.
Collaborate with instrumentation, electronics and firmware engineers to ensure cartridge designs work effectively with automated actuation and control systems.
Support integration of microfluidic cartridges into prototype systems, including hands-on testing, troubleshooting and system-level validation.
Prototype and test microfluidic designs using appropriate fabrication techniques, such as soft lithography, machining and rapid prototyping.
Design and execute experiments to evaluate cartridge performance, including yield, efficiency and repeatability.
Identify and help resolve fluidic, mechanical and assay-related failure modes.
Contribute to improving robustness, manufacturability and ease of use of cartridge designs.
Document designs, test results and iteration outcomes clearly and systematically.
Contribute to design reviews and technical decision-making within the microfluidics domain.

Fluidic System Engineer - Pathogen

Ellison Institute of Technology

Heatley Rd, Littlemore, Oxford OX4 4GE, UK