Customer Success Manager at Automata in Cambridge, Boston

Level: 5

Location: Hybrid

At Automata, we're on a mission to transform how scientists work by making automation accessible to every lab in the world. We believe that by giving labs the power to automate, we can unlock discoveries that will shape the future of life sciences—from diagnostics and drug discovery to synthetic biology.

But we’re more than just a company disrupting the industry—we're a team of innovators, problem-solvers, and creators passionate about empowering scientists. Our LINQ platform combines hardware and software to streamline workflows, making lab automation fast, flexible, and affordable. This means our customers can focus on groundbreaking research, while we take care of the rest.

Why Work at Automata?

• Impact: Your work will directly contribute to advancements in science and medicine, supporting labs around the globe as they push boundaries in research and innovation.

• Innovation: You’ll be part of a team solving complex problems (seriously, no one else has figured out how to do this yet), using cutting-edge technology (we have robots).

• Growth: We invest in our people. Whether through hands-on experience, professional development, or collaborative projects, you’ll grow both professionally and personally.

• Community: Join a diverse, passionate team that values collaboration (golf on a Thursday, Soccer once a month, movie nights whenever we fancy it).

Automata is a leading robotics and automation company powering the laboratories of the future. Our mission is to unlock labs’ space, people, and potential through automation hardware and software.

Our lab automation technology is efficient, scalable and reliable and effectively carries out routine tasks, to free up scientists to work on innovative research.

We meet labs where they are on their automation journey, and are the trusted partner to customers including trusts within the NHS, bit.bio and The Francis Crick Institute. We are also supporting advancements across Core Testing Labs, Academic Institutes, CDMOs, Pharma’s and Biotech’s.

We are looking for a Customer Success Manager whose mission is to lead and grow a team of Customer Success Managers who deliver a best-in-class experience for our life sciences customers, while personally owning strategic account relationships and setting the standard for how Automata delivers integrated lab automation.

Why is this role important for Automata?

You will sit at the centre of how our customers experience Automata. This is a player-coach role: you will own a book of strategic accounts end to end, from contract signature through design, build, testing, installation and handover, and you will line manage a team of Customer Success Managers who do the same. You will be the bridge between our customers' scientists and our internal solutions, product and engineering teams, making sure every account realizes the benefits of Automata's LINQ platform. You will live at the intersection of science, hardware, software and people leadership, and you will directly shape whether our mission of making automation a reality for every lab lands in practice.

In this role you will be responsible for:

• Team leadership (approx. 55%): Line manage a team of four to six Customer Success Managers. Run 1:1s, set clear expectations, coach against the Customer Success career progression framework, own development plans and performance reviews, and lead hiring and onboarding as the team grows. Set the standard for project management, customer communication and tooling discipline across the team.

• Strategic account ownership (approx. 20%): Personally own a book of strategic accounts from contract signature through low-level design, procurement and build, in-house testing, shipping, installation, re-testing, training and handover to field services. Act as the trusted senior point of contact for customer scientists and leadership, including the difficult conversations on timelines, scope and technical trade-offs.

• Portfolio oversight and escalations (approx. 15%): Maintain a clear, current view of timelines, risk and resourcing across every US account. Report status, risk and mitigation to Customer Success leadership early and clearly. Step into at-risk accounts alongside the account CSM to reset the path to success. Forecast resource needs across CSM, Success Engineering and Field Service teams and flag gaps.

• Process, product and cross-functional impact (approx. 10%): Lead change initiatives that improve how the Customer Success organization delivers. Act as the voice of the customer into Product, communicating roadmap and platform gaps to customers and priorities back to the business. Build relationships with third-party instrument vendors that make our deployments smoother.

What it takes:

• 8+ years in customer-facing roles within life sciences or lab technology (customer success, account management, project or program management, field applications), with at least 2 years line managing a customer-facing team.

• Proven track record delivering complex, multi-stakeholder hardware and software deployments into working laboratories (lab automation, analytical instruments, liquid handling, LIMS or ELN integrations).

• Expert understanding of laboratory science and the lab automation landscape: vendors, product lines, limitations, and how instrument choice affects a customer's scientific workflow.

• Strong program management skills: running multiple concurrent projects, proactively identifying and mitigating risk, allocating resources across projects, and reporting clearly to leadership. Fluent in Asana, Jira or similar tools.

• Executive-level stakeholder management. Comfortable protecting both the customer's interests and Automata's in the same conversation, and able to handle delays, scope changes and technical issues with senior non-technical audiences.

• Demonstrated ability to coach and develop people, with evidence of raising individual and team performance.

• Experience in start-up or scale-up environments where process is still being built.

• US based. Greater Boston preferred with hybrid working; strong remote candidates considered with regular travel to our UK or US HQ.

• Willingness to travel to customer sites as needed (typically 20 to 30%).

Nice to haves:

• Hands-on experience with automated lab equipment, scheduling software, or scripting (Python, SDKs, JSON) used to configure and troubleshoot automated workflows.

• Scientific depth in cell-based assays, genomics, proteomics or clinical diagnostics workflows.

• Experience delivering into regulated or GxP environments and familiarity with lab automation compliance and safety standards.

• Ownership of commercial outcomes on a book of business (renewals, expansions, reference customers).

• Experience building or scaling a customer success or professional services function.

Prior experience as a Principal or Staff-level CSM, or equivalent, before moving into people leadership.
What gets us excited?

We’re passionate about the future of technology and automation and our growing success is built upon like minded individuals who share our passion.

You will sit at the centre of how our customers experience Automata. This is a player-coach role: you will own a book of strategic accounts end to end, from contract signature through design, build, testing, installation and handover, and you will line manage a team of Customer Success Managers who do the same. You will be the bridge between our customers' scientists and our internal solutions, product and engineering teams, making sure every account realises the benefits of Automata's LINQ platform. You will live at the intersection of science, hardware, software and people leadership, and you will directly shape whether our mission of making automation a reality for every lab lands in practice.

If this sounds like a good fit and have tick the right boxes, you will love having the opportunity to build something that immediately adds value.

US team benefits:

Healthcare 🩺
Competitive healthcare for you and your family

401k 💰
We offer a 401(k) retirement savings plan

Well-being budget ☀️
Invest in your own well-being, personal growth, and hobbies

Holiday 🏖
30 days + 10 federal holidays

Additional leave days ☺️
Time off for dependents, 'Me days', birthdays and volunteering days off

Birthday trees 🌳
Planting a tree for every employee on their birthday, every year

Paid sick leave 🏥
10 days paid sick leave to stay home and focus on rest and recovery

Mental health support 🧠
Access the therapy for you and your family through Spill

Career progression frameworks 💫
Each department & discipline has a progression framework

We are an equal-opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Discrimination of any kind based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran status is strictly prohibited.