Senior Human Factors Engineer

About the role

You will serve as the dedicated human-factors voice for Robotics, owning the user experience for the software that powers Lila's autonomous labs. Partnering closely with software engineers and research scientists, you are responsible for making the most demanding surfaces - simulation, research operations, orchestration, and SCADA-style monitoring - clear, safe, and trustworthy under pressure. In this role, you directly shape how fast the factory runs and how few mistakes it makes by grounding every decision in real workflows and evidence. You will lead research, define human-in-the-loop workflows, and champion accessibility and operational excellence across the platform. Your work will establish interaction patterns and information architecture that ensure situational awareness is never compromised in high-stakes contexts. You will translate complex scientific and robotic workflows into coherent, predictable, and efficient user experiences. Ultimately, you will act as the bridge between deep domain expertise and engineering execution, ensuring the UI becomes a strength of the system rather than a source of risk.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Lead contextual inquiry, task analysis, and usability testing to uncover real workflows and turn them into concrete UI direction for Robotics.
• Design high-density, high-stakes displays and information architectures for orchestration and SCADA-style monitoring where situational awareness is paramount.
• Build Figma prototypes and define testable interaction flows for simulation, lab operations, and capacity-planning interfaces, iterating based on qualitative and quantitative evidence.
• Define human-in-the-loop workflows and supervision patterns that enable operators to effectively oversee, intervene in, and trust automated and AI-driven processes.
• Partner directly with software engineers to translate research insights into specifications, interaction patterns, and design-system contributions.
• Set and uphold accessibility and interaction standards, ensuring the platform remains safe and usable as it scales.
• Establish and refine usability metrics and operational displays that reduce operator error and support rapid, reliable factory throughput.
• Collaborate with domain experts to ensure scientific, laboratory, and robotics workflows are accurately represented in the digital control layer.
• Contribute to the broader design language of Lila so that every new surface remains consistent, predictable, and aligned with human factors best practices.
• Act as the authoritative source for human-centered design within the Robotics software team, influencing priorities and trade-offs.
• Support the creation of training and operational materials that reflect the designed interaction model and support safe use.
• Evaluate emerging control-room and MUI paradigms (e.g., ANSI/ISA-101, SCADA/HMI best practices) and adapt relevant patterns to Lila's autonomous context.
• Plan and execute quantitative studies, such as survey design and behavioral analytics, to complement qualitative research and validate design decisions.
• Explore and prototype interfaces for AI-driven and autonomous workflows, ensuring operators maintain clear oversight and understanding.

Requirements

• Bring 4-8 years of UX research or human-factors experience focused on complex operational, industrial, or scientific software.
• Demonstrate a research-first mindset where studies directly inform design decisions and product direction.
• Show mastery of contextual inquiry, task analysis, and usability testing, and the ability to synthesize findings into actionable guidance.
• Possess strong information architecture and interaction design skills, with proven prototyping ability in Figma or equivalent tools.
• Have a strong track record designing for high-stakes, high-density displays where situational awareness is essential.
• Be comfortable defining human-in-the-loop workflows that balance automation with operator control and trust.
• Communicate effectively with software engineers and domain experts, defending design choices with evidence and clarity.
• Understand the importance of accessibility and be committed to meeting or exceeding interaction and usability standards.
• Experience in regulated, safety-critical environments is required, with an understanding of systems engineering and operational risk.
• Familiarity with laboratory, robotics, manufacturing, or other scientific contexts is essential.

Nice to have

• Prior work in aerospace, manufacturing, healthcare, or other regulated domains where human factors and safety are critical.
• Knowledge of ISO 9241-210 (human-centred design) or WCAG 2.2 (accessibility) guidelines and how to apply them in practice.
• Experience with laboratory, robotics, or manufacturing environments and an understanding of their operational constraints.
• Exposure to SCADA, MES, or control-room HMI design patterns such as ANSI/ISA-101.
• Experience combining qualitative and quantitative research methods, including survey design and behavioral analytics.
• Background designing for AI-driven, autonomous, or assistive workflows where human oversight remains essential.

Practical notes

This is a full-time position based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Travel is not expected as part of this role. The position is not eligible for visa sponsorship at this time.