Automation/AI Operations Manager

Level: 4

Salary band: £65,000 – £85,000

Bonus: 8% performance-based, discretionary

Location: Hybrid – 3 days per week on-site in our London HQ, Angel

At Automata, we are 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.

We are 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.

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 with cutting-edge technology.

• Growth: We invest in our people through hands-on experience, professional development, and collaborative projects to help you grow.

• Community: Join a diverse, passionate team that values collaboration and social activities.

We’re looking for an AI/Automation Operations Manager to design, build, and own internal automations and AI-powered workflows across the company.

This role sits at the intersection of:

• Business operations

• Workflow automation

• APIs and internal tooling

• Practical AI use cases

You will work closely with teams across Automata to identify repetitive or manual processes, then turn them into reliable, automated workflows or added tooling that scales with the company.

This is a hands-on role for someone who enjoys proactive building and leading projects—and who wants to see their work used daily by colleagues across the business.

What You’ll Be Responsible For

Process Discovery & Prioritisation

• Partner with teams across the business to map current workflows and identify inefficiencies, bottlenecks, and failure points

• Quantify the impact of automation opportunities (time saved, error reduction, cycle time)

• Maintain a prioritised internal automation roadmap aligned with company goals

Workflow Automation & Systems Integration

• Design and implement end-to-end automations using workflow automation tools, APIs and webhooks to integrate SaaS tools and internal systems, and light scripting where necessary

• Ensure automations have a clear ROI, and are reliable, well-documented, and easy to maintain

AI Enablement

• Identify and implement practical AI use cases

• Work with stakeholders to define Human-in-the-loop requirements, guardrails and ongoing monitoring of outputs

Internal Tools & Enablement

• Build lightweight internal tools to support workflows (often using low-code platforms)

• Carry out tooling research and lead the implementation of appropriate external tooling (e.g., ERP system)

• Enable teams to use automations effectively through clear documentation, training and feedback loops for improvement

Reliability, Governance & Scale

• Own the operational health of internal automations and created tooling

• Partner with Data and Engineering teams to ensure data integrity and scalability as the company grows

What We’re Looking For

Technical Skills

• Hands-on experience building workflow automation

• Strong understanding of APIs

• Comfortable writing light-to-moderate code (SQL, Python)

• Experience integrating common SaaS tools (e.g., Asana, Salesforce)

• Practical experience using AI APIs in real workflows

Project Management & Product Thinking

• Strong ability to translate messy, real-world processes into clean system flows

• Good prioritisation, knows what not to automate

• Bias toward shipping, iterating, and improving

• Comfortable operating with ambiguity

Soft Skills

• Excellent communication with both technical and non-technical stakeholders

• Collaborative and pragmatic approach

• Clear documentation habits

• Comfortable building new processes from scratch

Nice to Have

• Experience at a scaling startup (50-300 employees)

• Experience with hardware-enabled software companies

• Experience working closely with Data or Engineering teams

Why This Role Matters

This role will directly:

• Reduce operational friction across Automata

• Increase execution speed and gross margin as we scale

• Help teams spend more time on high-value work

• Turn data insights into systematic action in collaboration with our Data Analyst

• You’ll have real ownership, real impact, and the freedom to build

UK Team Benefits:

• Vitality Health Insurance

• Eye Care

• Salary Sacrifice – EV

• Salary Sacrifice – Bike & Tech

• Wellbeing & Support

• Wellbeing & Development Allowance

• Spill & Employee Assistance Programme

• Additional Leave

• Pension Scheme

• Group Life & Critical Illness cover

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, colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran status is strictly prohibited.