DevOps Lead (MES Lead Engineer)

SimoTech; Limerick; Hybrid; EUR 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

SimoTech in Limerick, Ireland, is seeking an experienced DevOps Lead Engineer to join a large-scale greenfield MES implementation on site. You will design, configure and maintain MES CI/CD pipelines and own the MES environment, ensuring secure, repeatable deployments across development, test and production.

The ideal candidate has prior lead or senior DevOps experience, strong SDLC knowledge, and hands-on skills with Azure DevOps, Jenkins, GitHub Actions, Terraform, Ansible, PowerShell, Bash and

Qualifications

• Proven experience as a DevOps Lead or Senior DevOps Engineer delivering complex enterprise software programmes.
• Hands-on SDLC and modern DevOps practices.
• Strong CI/CD, infrastructure-as-code, automation, and scripting experience.
• Experience with regulated pharmaceutical or life sciences environments (GxP, CSV, GAMP 5).
• Experience with MES integrations and containerisation technologies (Docker, Kubernetes).

Responsibilities

• Develop, own, and evolve the DevOps strategy across the MES programme.
• Design, implement, and optimise CI/CD pipelines for development, test, and production environments.
• Own the DevOps toolchain and environment lifecycle, including source control, IaC, config management, release management, monitoring.
• Lead provisioning and management of secure, resilient infrastructure supporting MES platforms.
• Manage MES platforms (ideally Emerson Syncade) including deployments and upgrades.
• Define and enforce development standards, branching, release governance, and change control.
• Collaborate with software engineering, QA, MES vendors, system integrators, and stakeholders to deliver automated deployments.
• Embed automated testing and quality gates within CI/CD pipelines with QA partners.
• Implement monitoring, logging, and alerting to manage platform health.
• Support CSV, audit readiness, disaster recovery and business continuity with compliant docs.
• Drive continuous improvement using DevOps metrics (DORA).
• Act as technical authority for complex infra, deployment, and operation issues.

Skills

DevOps leadership

CI/CD

SDLC

Automation

Scripting

Tools

Azure DevOps

Jenkins

GitHub Actions

Terraform

Ansible

PowerShell

Bash

Python

Emerson Syncade

SAP

LIMS

Docker

Kubernetes

Job description

SimoTech provides manufacturing automation and IT systems engineering, project management and validation services. We partner with life sciences companies to design, build, operate and optimise critical process automation systems that deliver fast track project delivery, operational efficiency, improve manufacturing agility and achieve regulatory compliance.

Why SimoTech

What is it like to work at SimoTech? With a strong collaborative teamwork culture based on respect, trust and excellence, we play a critical partnering role to our clients’ life-changing supply of products to patients. In return, there is excellent salary, benefits, career progression, educational support and much more.

SimoTech has a new opportunity for an DevOps Lead Engineer to join our team, supporting a large-scale greenfield implementation for a state-of-the-art biotech manufacturing campus on site in Limerick, Ireland.

Working closely with development, operations and QA teams your core responsibility will be to successfully design, configure, and maintain MES CI/CD pipelines to support reliable and repeatable MES deployments. As DevOps Lead Engineer you will take ownership of MES standards, applications/tools, and the MES environment, forming the basis of the MES program.

The ideal candidate will have proven experience as a Lead or Senior DevOps Engineer with experience deploying configuration changes across development, test and live production environments. This includes experience using version control for MES configuration, expertise in CI/CD pipelines, and supporting automated testing

Key Responsibilities

• Develop, own, and evolve the DevOps strategy, defining the toolchain, automation approach, and ways of working that support secure, scalable, and efficient software delivery across the MES programme.
• Design, implement, and optimise CI/CD pipelines to enable consistent, reliable, and repeatable deployments across development, test, and production environments.
• Own the DevOps toolchain and environment lifecycle, including source control, infrastructure-as-code, configuration management, release management, version control, monitoring, and observability.
• Lead the provisioning and management of secure, resilient, and scalable infrastructure supporting MES platforms, ensuring high availability, performance, and operational stability.
• Manage and support MES platforms, ideally Emerson Syncade, including deployments, configuration, patching, upgrades, environment management, and ongoing operational support.
• Define and enforce development standards, branching strategies, code review practices, release governance, and change control processes aligned with regulated manufacturing environments.
• Collaborate with software engineering, QA, MES vendors, system integrators, and business stakeholders to deliver automated deployments, infrastructure-as-code, and integrated quality practices.
• Embed automated testing and quality gates within CI/CD pipelines in partnership with QA teams, promoting shift-left testing and improving release quality.
• Implement monitoring, logging, and alerting capabilities to proactively manage platform health, performance, and operational issues.
• Support Computer System Validation (CSV), audit readiness, disaster recovery, and business continuity through compliant documentation, deployment records, and operational practices.
• Drive continuous improvement across the software delivery lifecycle by eliminating deployment bottlenecks and improving delivery performance using key DevOps metrics (DORA).
• Act as the technical authority and escalation point for complex infrastructure, deployment, and operational issues.

Key Requirements

• Proven experience as a DevOps Lead or Senior DevOps Engineer delivering complex enterprise software programmes.
• Hands-on software development background with a strong understanding of the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) and modern DevOps practices.
• Strong expertise in CI/CD, infrastructure-as-code, automation, and scripting using tools such as Azure DevOps, Jenkins, GitHub Actions, Terraform, Ansible, PowerShell, Bash, and Python.
• Experience managing enterprise application environments, including release management, configuration management, and infrastructure provisioning.
• Strong experience supporting MES platforms, ideally Emerson Syncade, including deployment, configuration, upgrades, and operational support.
• Experience working within regulated pharmaceutical or life sciences environments, with knowledge of GxP, Computer System Validation (CSV), GAMP 5, and validation practices.
• Good understanding of MES integrations with SAP, LIMS, historian systems, and containerisation technologies such as Docker and Kubernetes.
• Strong problem-solving, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to work in a hybrid model, with three days per week based on-site in Limerick and two days working remotely.

What SimoTech Can Offer

• Role provides a high degree of autonomy to allow the successful candidate to reach their full potential.
• Develop new skills and enhance technical ability by working with innovative technologies in a multi-disciplined environment.
• Opportunity to work with large corporate clients on exciting capital projects.