Lead Automation Engineer

Our Frederick Manufacturing Center (FMC) creates life-changing medicines for people around the world and has been recognized by our local community as being a Top 50’ Business in Frederick and awarded Frederick County’s ‘Best Place to Work’. This distinctive biologic manufacturing facility, with over 800 employees, makes a direct contribution to treating people with cancer, respiratory and autoimmune conditions across the globe. We work hard to deliver life-changing medicines to patients, and we take time to have fun and celebrate our accomplishments. From catered site festivities to competitive events, community outreach activities, environmental and wellness showcases and team-building functions, we take time to recognize our achievements and celebrate our diversity. We are dedicated to creating a culture of inclusion and collaboration and are committed to continuous learning by offering ongoing skill building and training for our staff. Fueled by our aspiration to deliver accelerated growth for our company and to make people’s lives better, there’s never been a more exciting time to join the team and shape the future of AstraZeneca Operations.
The Lead Automation Engineer provides technical leadership for automation engineering activities supporting capital projects, technology transfers, lifecycle management, continuous improvement, and small-to-medium control system upgrades at a biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility. The role is accountable for the design, integration, implementation, commissioning, validation, and ongoing technical support of process control and automation systems, with primary responsibility for Emerson DeltaV DCS and Rockwell Automation PLC/FactoryTalk systems. The Lead Automation Engineer serves as a automation technical authority across Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Process Development, Facilities, IT/OT, Validation, and external engineering partners. The role ensures that automation solutions are safe, reliable, maintainable, scalable, compliant with cGMP requirements, and aligned with site and enterprise automation standards. The position will lead automation scope for capital projects and provide hands-on engineering support for smaller system modifications, including troubleshooting, software and hardware changes, system upgrades, control strategy improvements, alarm management, data integration, and obsolescence-related activities. The role also provides technical direction, coaching, and mentoring to Automation Engineers, contractors, system integrators, and project teams. This position may participate in an on-call or escalation rotation to support continuous manufacturing operations.
Responsibilities
Technical ownership: Serve as the automation technical lead for assigned capital projects, process improvements, technology transfers, equipment installations, and control system lifecycle initiatives.
Control system design: Develop, review, and approve automation concepts, system architectures, control narratives, functional specifications, software design specifications, instrument indexes, I/O assignments, network diagrams, alarm philosophies, and control strategies.
DeltaV systems: Lead the design, configuration, programming, testing, commissioning, troubleshooting, and lifecycle management of Emerson DeltaV DCS applications, including control modules, equipment modules, phases, unit procedures, recipes, graphics, alarms, historian interfaces, batch functionality, and system infrastructure.
Rockwell and FactoryTalk systems: Lead or provide technical oversight for Rockwell PLC and FactoryTalk applications, including ControlLogix and CompactLogix platforms, FactoryTalk View, FactoryTalk Batch where applicable, HMI applications, communication networks, safety systems, VFD interfaces, and packaged equipment integrations.
Small upgrades and modifications: Independently scope and execute control system changes such as recipe updates, sequence modifications, alarm changes, HMI enhancements, instrumentation changes, equipment integrations, software upgrades, reports, historian tags, network changes, and obsolescence replacements.
Technical ownership: Serve as the automation technical lead for assigned capital projects, process improvements, technology transfers, equipment installations, and control system lifecycle initiatives.
Control system design: Develop, review, and approve automation concepts, system architectures, control narratives, functional specifications, software design specifications, instrument indexes, I/O assignments, network diagrams, alarm philosophies, and control strategies.
DeltaV systems: Lead the design, configuration, programming, testing, commissioning, troubleshooting, and lifecycle management of Emerson DeltaV DCS applications, including control modules, equipment modules, phases, unit procedures, recipes, graphics, alarms, historian interfaces, batch functionality, and system infrastructure.
Rockwell and FactoryTalk systems: Lead or provide technical oversight for Rockwell PLC and FactoryTalk applications, including ControlLogix and CompactLogix platforms, FactoryTalk View, FactoryTalk Batch where applicable, HMI applications, communication networks, safety systems, VFD interfaces, and packaged equipment integrations.
Small upgrades and modifications: Independently scope and execute control system changes such as recipe updates, sequence modifications, alarm changes, HMI enhancements, instrumentation changes, equipment integrations, software upgrades, reports, historian tags, network changes, and obsolescence replacements.
Systems integration: Ensure effective integration among DeltaV, Rockwell PLCs, FactoryTalk applications, MES/electronic batch record systems, historians, building management systems, laboratory systems, enterprise applications, and third-party equipment.
Standards and architecture: Establish and maintain site automation standards for hardware, software, programming, graphics, alarm management, batch configuration, networking, cybersecurity, naming conventions, source-code management, and system documentation.
Lifecycle management: Evaluate system health, reliability, capacity, maintainability, cybersecurity, vendor support, and obsolescence. Develop and implement lifecycle strategies, including upgrades, migrations, backups, disaster recovery, spares, and replacement plans.
Capital Project Delivery
Project leadership: Lead automation engineering scope for small-to-large capital projects from concept development and feasibility through design, procurement, construction, commissioning, qualification, operational handover, and closeout.
Project planning: Define automation scope, deliverables, resource requirements, schedules, cost estimates, risks, assumptions, interfaces, and execution strategies.
Design reviews: Lead or participate in design reviews, including process automation, instrumentation, electrical, network, cybersecurity, data integrity, maintainability, operability, and safety reviews.
Vendor and contractor management: Provide technical direction to system integrators, automation vendors, EPC contractors, equipment manufacturers, and commissioning organizations. Review deliverables for technical quality, compliance, completeness, and alignment with site standards.
Equipment integration: Ensure that skids, process equipment, utilities, packaging systems, and other automated assets are appropriately integrated into the site control architecture and operational model.
Project interfaces: Coordinate automation interfaces with Process Engineering, Manufacturing, Facilities, Quality, Validation, IT/OT, EHS, Supply Chain, and other project disciplines.
Capital governance: Provide automation input to project estimates, schedules, change requests, risk registers, procurement decisions, design reviews, stage gates, and management reporting.
Commissioning, Qualification, and Validation
Testing strategy: Develop and approve automation test strategies, test plans, Factory Acceptance Test protocols, Site Acceptance Test protocols, commissioning plans, and qualification documentation.
FAT and SAT execution: Lead or support FAT, SAT, loop checks, I/O verification, functional testing, sequence testing, alarm testing, interlock testing, communications testing, failure-mode testing, and performance testing.
Validation support: Provide automation subject-matter expertise for commissioning, qualification, computerized system validation, and computer software assurance activities, and requirements traceability.
Requirements traceability: Ensure that user requirements, functional requirements, design specifications, risk assessments, test cases, deviations, and acceptance criteria are complete and appropriately linked.
Defect management: Manage test discrepancies, punch-list items, deviations, and corrective actions through documented resolution and approval.
Handover: Ensure that automation systems are transferred to site operations with complete documentation, training, backups, licenses, source code, spare parts, maintenance procedures, and support arrangements.
Manufacturing Support and Troubleshooting
Operational support: Provide technical support to Manufacturing, Facilities, Process Engineering, Quality Control, and Maintenance for automation-related issues affecting process performance, equipment availability, product quality, or compliance.
Root-cause investigations: Lead troubleshooting and investigations involving control system software, instrumentation, networks, equipment interfaces, sequences, alarms, batch execution, data collection, and operator interaction.
Deviation and CAPA support: Support or lea