With the establishment of a new state-of-the-art facility in Leinster, an experienced Senior Leader within Automation is required to join this biological manufacturing operation. As a global contract development and manufacturing organisation, with a headcount of approximately 3000 staff across operations in China, Europe and Asia, they are working on additional ongoing expansions into the U.S, Ireland and Germany. The business consists of five core divisions; Small Molecule Therapeutics R&D - Manufacturing and Testing, Biological Therapeutics R&D and Manufacturing, Gene and Cell Therapies Manufacturing, Medical Device Testing, and lastly Genomics and Molecular Diagnostics. As a leading biologic services provider, the business offers comprehensive, integrated and customised services to over 200 clients globally, including 13 of the top 20 biopharmaceutical companies worldwide.

Without question, the primary focus of this role will require the individual to have full involvement in site development and technology deployment through to completion of this project. Moving on from that phase, sustaining setup and maintenance planning is hugely important as the site moves into commercial manufacturing. This individual will drive operational excellence across all processes. Continuing to develop and harness the right culture and commitment within the team requires a senior professional with effective communication and influencing skills.

While this role is broad, we can summarise the key areas of delivery as being:

• Reporting to the Senior Director of Engineering, leading a team of engineers across the site.
• Manage a team of technical professionals across the project and sustaining operations.
• Oversee the continued development, design and implementation of the automaton strategy for the site, ensuring this is translated into effective operational plans that deliver on all customer and project commitments.
• Managing the partnership with selected vendors to support the project as required.
• Liaising with the global engineering group to align site and global strategies, with a real opportunity to shape decision and policy making.
• Implementing system changes and conducting investigations across automation systems as required.
• Working as part of the global engineering group to integrate standards and align the operation accordingly.
• Liaising closely with business partners and internal stakeholders to support manufacturing operations successfully.
• Continue to cultivate a culturally committed team, working with each team member closely to develop and improve, metrics and performance.

To ensure full and effective performance in this challenging and exciting role, executives will have or demonstrate:

• A degree in a technical discipline.
• A minimum of 5-7 years industry experience within a leadership position.
• Industry experience must sit within a biologics or chemical process and manufacturing operation, with an understanding of GMP and fundamental control principles.
• A practical approach to problem solving with an understanding of the commercial impact of key decisions.
• Expertise in designing and mapping sustaining work in addition to ongoing operational support plans.
• Full understanding of automation system implementation and validation.
• Knowledge and proven experience operating deltaV, iFix graphics, deltaV architecture and software, familiarity with historian and alarm management.
• Proficiency with main stream DCS and PLC systems, I/O component, communication module and configuration and supervisory control systems (SCADA).
• Be a well-rounded leader who can influence the Management Team, demonstrating a collaborative approach to leadership.
• Experience of working in a fast paced, customer centric environment.
• Previous experience in the development of high performance work teams.
• Excellent communication skills, be organised and articulate.

To discover more about this opportunity, apply now or contact Aisling Clements at HRM on +353 87 752 1041 for a confidential discussion.