Controls Strategy Lead (SCADA/Ignition)

We’re looking for a director to help define and deliver this future vision. This position serves as a technical leader for laboratory operations technology and orchestration platforms across the Development Sciences and Clinical Supply organization. The successful candidate will combine deep hands-on technical expertise with strategic leadership, helping define the long-term architecture, standards, roadmap, and adoption strategy for laboratory SCADA and orchestration platforms while continuing to actively design and implement high-impact solutions.

Responsibilities

• Lead Ignition and laboratory orchestration strategy: Shape the vision, roadmap, architecture, standards, and investment priorities for scalable SCADA and orchestration capabilities across Development Sciences and Clinical Supply, partnering with scientific, automation, digital, IT, and engineering leaders.
• Deliver high-impact solutions: Remain hands-on by designing, developing, and deploying complex Ignition, automation, and integration solutions while providing technical leadership across critical programs and unique business challenges.
• Build sustainable platform ecosystems: Establish reusable architectures, development patterns, governance, validation approaches, and implementation practices that connect instrumentation, robotics, process equipment, data platforms, and enterprise systems.
• Advance innovation and future capabilities: Evaluate emerging technologies and translate opportunities in AI, advanced analytics, digital twins, and autonomous laboratories into practical platform capabilities that address current and future scientific needs.
• Grow organizational technical depth: Coach, mentor, and educate laboratory automation, software, and digital engineering colleagues through direct project engagement, formal mentorship and training, technical forums, and communities of practice.
• Influence decisions and adoption: Communicate complex technical ideas, build alignment across teams and sites, and guide technology selection, resource prioritization, and adoption of common platform approaches.

Education Minimum Requirement

• A Ph.D. in Engineering (i.e. Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical), Robotics, Mechatronics, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Pharmaceutical Sciences or a closely related field with at least 6 years of relevant experience
• A M.S. in Engineering (i.e. Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical), Robotics, Mechatronics, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Pharmaceutical Sciences or a closely related field with at least 8 years of relevant experience
• A B.S. in Engineering (i.e. Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical), Robotics, Mechatronics, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Pharmaceutical Sciences or a closely related field with at least 10 years of relevant experience

Required Experience and Skills

• Significant experience designing and deploying industrial or laboratory SCADA, orchestration, or operations technology solutions.
• Demonstrated expertise with Ignition, DeltaV, WinCC OA, or similar industrial automation platforms.
• Proven ability to lead technical strategy while remaining an active individual contributor.
• Demonstrated success delivering complex automation, integration, or digital transformation initiatives.
• Experience developing software solutions using modern engineering practices including version control, testing, CI/CD, and maintainable software architectures.
• Excellent communication skills, including the ability to present complex technical concepts to broad scientific and leadership audiences.
• Demonstrated experience coaching, mentoring, and developing talent.

Preferred Experience and Skills

• Strong understanding of systems integration, industrial networking, OT/IT convergence, cybersecurity, and platform architecture
• Deep expertise with Ignition architectures, gateway deployment strategies, module development, and enterprise-scale implementations.
• Experience developing laboratory digital transformation strategies.
• Experience with data historians, MES, LIMS, ELN, enterprise data platforms, and cloud-based analytics solutions.
• Experience integrating laboratory robotics, process analytical technology (PAT), and advanced instrumentation platforms.
• Familiarity with AI/ML applications within laboratory operations and scientific workflows.
• Experience building reusable software frameworks, development standards, or enterprise technology platforms.
• Understanding of biologics, vaccine, sterile, small molecule, or analytical development environments.
• Experience leading communities of practice, technical academies, or organizational training programs.
• Demonstrated ability to identify future technology needs and develop long-term platform roadmaps.
• Strong understanding of regulatory, quality, and compliance considerations relevant to pharmaceutical development environments.
• Ability to influence technical direction across multiple organizations without direct authority.