Purpose:

The Director of Automation provides owner-side leadership for automation architecture, process control systems, and digital infrastructure supporting pharmaceutical manufacturing capital projects of total value > $2B. The role serves as the Design Authority for automation and digital systems, ensuring manufacturing control systems, data infrastructure, and digital platforms are designed to meet operational, regulatory, and data integrity requirements. This position ensures effective integration of process automation, facility control systems, and enterprise digital platforms supporting modern pharmaceutical manufacturing. The incumbent is responsible for ensuring that the automation systems are designed, integrated, and implemented in alignment with corporate engineering standards, regulatory expectations, and operational requirements. This role provides technical oversight of specialist contractor engineering activities and ensures that core automation engineering deliverables meet the technical, safety, and operational standards required for pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities. This role shall also ensure effective integration of process design with utilities, automation, commissioning, qualification, and operational readiness activities. The role also supports integration of technology with AI and digital innovation teams such as the Factory of the Future.  The incumbent will report to Director, Engineering in the Operations Transformation organization.    

Responsibilities

• Serve as the owner’s senior automation and digital systems leader.
• Define the automation architecture and digital strategy for the project.
• Lead the owner’s automation engineering team.
• Provide oversight for design and implementation of Distributed Control Systems (DCS), PLC-based equipment control systems, Batch automation systems, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), Process control strategies
• Provide oversight into the design and implementation of environmental monitoring systems and Building automation systems
• Ensure automation supports reliable manufacturing operations and regulatory compliance.
• Ensure compliance with data integrity and regulatory requirements.
• Oversee development of control narratives and cause-and-effect diagrams.
• Ensure integration between automation systems, equipment vendors, and process control systems.
• Ensure automation supports process control, safety interlocks, and operational efficiency.
• Ensure automation systems comply with corporate cybersecurity and GxP data integrity requirements.
• Implement secure and reliable automation architectures
• Support automation system testing and commissioning including system integration testing and operational readiness. Ensure automation systems support CQV activities.
• Drive transformation across all phases of the projects to deliver best-in-class technology, efficiency in execution to reduce the overall project line up to 20% from the baseline, introduce AI and digitalization in various aspects of project management and development.
• Monitor and control the cost and schedule of automation vendor driven programs including hardware and software to ensure adherence to project budgets and timeline