Operational Technology (OT) Engineer

Autolus Therapeutics; Stevenage; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A biopharmaceutical company in Stevenage seeks an Operational Technology Engineer to support critical operations involving process control and monitoring in manufacturing. The ideal candidate will have experience in IT support roles within healthcare, demonstrating excellent communication skills and knowledge of GxP standards. This role offers a dynamic environment and opportunities for growth in a team committed to innovative cancer therapies.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Performance-related bonus

Private medical insurance

Life assurance

Pension

Qualifications

• Experience in IT design and operational support.
• Hands-on experience with manufacturing OT equipment.
• Experience working in GxP/GMP environments.

Responsibilities

• Support implementation of OT hardware and software.
• Perform system administration for OT technology.
• Act as coordination point between operations and IT.

Skills

IT Infrastructure Knowledge

GxP Experience

OT Computing and Security

Excellent Communication Skills

Agile Methodologies

Education

Degree level education (Preferred)

Tools

Windows Operating Systems

Network Technologies

Job description

Job Title

Operational Technology (OT) Engineer

Reports to

Head of Operational Technology (OT)

Department

IT Operations

Hours

Shift Working: 5 on- 2 off. This will rotate across earlies and lates. Early shift: 0600 to 1400; late shift: 1400 to 2200.

Location

Stevenage, UK

About Autolus

Autolus is a biopharmaceutical company, advancing innovative therapies at both clinical and commercial stages of development, focused on next-generation, programmed T cell therapies for the treatment of cancer. Using a broad suite of proprietary and modular T cell programming technologies, the company is engineering precisely targeted, controlled, and highly active T cell therapies designed to better recognize cancer cells, break down their defence mechanisms, and eliminate these cells. Autolus has a pipeline of product candidates in development for the treatment of haematological malignancies, solid tumours, and autoimmune diseases.

Why Autolus

Our team is passionate in the pursuit of excellence and in pushing the boundaries of cancer therapy and autoimmune diseases to deliver life-changing treatments to patients. Whilst working at Autolus you will enjoy a flexible, diverse, and dynamic working environment which actively promotes creativity, leadership and teamwork. In addition to this Autolus is proud to offer a competitive salary, performance related bonus as well as private medical insurance, life assurance, and pension.

Our Promise

Autolus is developing complex, breakthrough therapies for a globally diverse market and equally recognises that diversity amongst our people is critical to our mission. As we draw on our differences, what we’ve experienced, and how we work, we celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

Role Summary

As an OT Engineer, you have responsibility for the support of the OT technology which in-turn supports the critical operations of the business. This includes but is not limited to, process control and monitoring equipment, clean room instrumentation, clean room software, laboratory software, laboratory instrumentation and laboratory and plant infrastructure. You must be able to forge an open working relationship with system owners and key members of the Manufacturing, QC team and IT promoting proactive, two-way communication in order to implement best-practice and integration with the IT Infrastructure. You will be responsible for ensuring OT issues are responded to and resolved in a timely manner.

Additionally, you will need to be aware of current and emerging technologies which could benefit/add value to Manufacturing and promote these opportunities internally.

Key Responsibilities

• Support implementation of OT hardware, software, and connectivity to supporting infrastructure services
• Perform technical operational support work and systems administration for operational technology systems
• Guide on OT system design ensuring user requirements are understood and catered for.
• Support the management and delivery of OT led projects, focused on maturing & streamlining business processes.
• Monitor, operate and enhance complex OT infrastructure platforms and OT equipment.
• Provide consultation with regards to software/systems implementation and validation including work with the project team to ensure smooth service transition into operations.
• Act as a central coordination point and bridge between operations, QC, IT, third party suppliers and Engineering to resolve complex problems, including problem tracking, analysis, resolution and escalation.
• Strive to provide the best workable solution using the software/systems and systems available in alignment with the sites digital strategy.
• Provide hands-on operational support (technology, out-of-the-box configurations, process and content) for installed solutions.
• Provide technical support in partnership with the onsite IT team as required.
• Contribute to GxP business and technical requirements, use cases, process flow document, test plans and scripts, execute testing, support user acceptance testing, and perform production rollout.
• Perform high level system administration of OT systems: managing the user roles, including their configurations, security rights and access rights.
• Understanding of ISA-95 and security principles and work with IT to ensure best practise is followed for OT equipment.
• Work closely with IT, Cybersecurity teams to ensure best practices are followed, and monitor OT systems to ensure they are patched and kept up to date.
• Ensure OT technology roadmap is in place and plans are put in to replace legacy software ware and hardware
• Support the implementation of and manage both backup and disaster recovery services associated to OT hardware and systems.
• Manage risks associated with software and hardware vitality

Demonstrated skills and competencies

E – Essential P – Preferred

Experience

• Experience in IT Design, build and operational support (E)

• Experience in a similar role Manufacturing OT equipment (E) preferably in a Healthcare/Pharma environment

• Experience working with GxP and GMP environments (E)

• Developing design and implementation Patterns and Standards (E)

• Developing System implementation and operational documents/procedures. (E)

• Hands-on experience with IT infrastructure technologies networking, PC’s, AD+ (E)
• Experience working with tools and standards such as firewalls, antivirus, patch management, and network segmentation (E)

Qualifications

• Degree level education but not essential. (P)

Skills/Specialist knowledge

• Understanding of ISA-95 / Purdue Framework (P)
• Experience in project delivery methodologies and best practices (Agile, Waterfall) (E)
• Technical Knowledge of OT computing and security principles (E)
• Knowledge of Windows operating systems and Storage Systems (E)
• Technical knowledge of integration techniques and communication protocols (P)
• Excellent communication skills – particularly written English (E)
• Agile / able to re-prioritise quickly (E)
• Responsive / understands OT relationship to patient need (E)
• Knowledge of asset management, backup/recovery, and system diagnostics tools (E)

Autolus Core Competencies

Focus on Results: Works to meet business goals set by management and leaders

Builds Trust and Relationships: Ensures trust with internal and external partners by delivering on commitments

Resilience: Has the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness

Communicates and Collaborates: Builds partnerships and works collaboratively with others to meet objectives

Autolus is committed to the protection of the personal information that we collect & process and we are fully compliant with General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)