Assoc. Dir , Technical Product Management

Associate Director, Plant Automation Technology

Location Rahway, NJ (supports multiple sites)

This role serves as the senior technical and product leader for pilot plant and manufacturing-facing research automation platforms. The Associate Director is accountable for strategy, architecture, delivery, and operational excellence of plant-side automation and OT infrastructure, while also providing hands-on technical leadership and oversight of system integration, cybersecurity, and regulated operations.

This position owns the plant automation technology portfolio end-to-end, from concept and design through validation, deployment, support, and lifecycle management.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and own the strategy for pilot plant and plant-facing research automation platforms
• Act as technical lead and single point of accountability for plant automation solutions for capital end project deployments
• Translate business, scientific, and manufacturing needs into platform roadmaps and execution plans
• Lead OT architecture, infrastructure design, and system integration across plant environments
• Ensure secure, compliant OT networking aligned with ISA/IEC 62443 principles
• Oversee integration of plant automation systems with enterprise platforms (PI, MES, data platforms)
• Lead and approve system design, architecture decisions, and technical standards
• Within the scope of the product, manage capital and non-capital project execution, including scope, estimates, and delivery timelines
• Ensure adherence to SDLC, change control, validation, and GmP requirements
• Partner with Quality, Engineering, Infrastructure, Security, and vendors on delivery and support
• Provide escalation leadership for incidents, root cause analysis, and remediation
• Lead continuous improvement of OT platforms, including obsolescence and modernization
• Manage and mentor R3 engineers and contractors supporting plant automation
• Communicate platform status, risks, and roadmap clearly to leadership and stakeholders

Required Skills and Experience

• 8+ years experience in automation, OT infrastructure, or plant automation systems
• Strong experience with DeltaV, PLCs, Ignition, SCADA, MES
• Hands-on knowledge of OT networking, firewalls, VLANs, and segmented architectures
• Experience designing and operating virtualized OT environments (VMware, Hyper-V)
• Proven experience integrating plant systems with enterprise IT platforms
• Demonstrated leadership in regulated (GmP) environments
• Strong understanding of SDLC, validation, and change management
• Ability to lead multiple concurrent initiatives and cross-functional teams
• Strong communication skills with technical and non-technical stakeholders

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Automation, Engineering, Computer Science, or related field
• Master's degree preferred

Required Skills:

Asset Management, Automation Solutions, Benefits Management, Computer Science, Firewall Security, GMP Compliance, Industrial Automation, Infrastructure Design, Management System Development, Operational Excellence, Pilot Plant Operations, Pilot Plants, Plant Automation (Industrial), Product Management, Requirements Management, Stakeholder Relationship Management, Strategic Planning, System Designs, Technical Leadership, VMware

Preferred

Skills:

Salary range for this role is $ - $

The successful candidate will be eligible for annual bonus and long-term incentive, if applicable.

We offer a comprehensive package of benefits. Available benefits include medical, dental, vision healthcare and other insurance benefits (for employee and family), retirement benefits, including 401(k), paid holidays, vacation, and compassionate and sick days. More information about benefits is available at

You can apply for this role through  (or via the Workday Jobs Hub if you are a current employee). The Final date to receive applications for this position is stated on this posting.

San Francisco Residents Only:
We will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records for employment in compliance with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance

Los Angeles Residents Only:
We will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent…