Senior Automation Engineer

European Tech Recruit; Dublin; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

European Tech Recruit is seeking an experienced Senior Automation Engineer to join the Plant Automation team at a leading biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Dublin. This permanent role owns, maintains, and improves critical automation systems supporting packaging and manufacturing operations.

You will act as System Owner for key automation assets, provide hands-on support, lead investigations, manage Change Controls, Deviations and CAPAs, and collaborate with Engineering, Manufacturing,

Qualifications

• Degree in Automation, Electrical, Electronic, Controls Engineering or a related discipline.
• Strong experience supporting automation systems within a pharmaceutical or biopharmaceutical manufacturing environment.
• Experience with automation system ownership and lifecycle management.
• Strong troubleshooting and root-cause analysis capability.
• Experience working with Change Controls, Deviations and CAPAs.
• Good understanding of GMP, validation and regulated manufacturing requirements.
• Ability to work effectively across Engineering, Manufacturing and Quality functions.
• Strong communication and problem-solving skills.

Responsibilities

• Act as System Owner for critical manufacturing and packaging automation systems
• Provide technical support and troubleshooting for automation equipment and systems
• Lead investigations into automation-related equipment and system issues
• Perform root-cause analysis and implement effective corrective actions
• Manage automation-related Change Controls, Deviations and CAPAs
• Maintain automation systems in a validated and compliant state
• Manage system configuration, software versioning and configuration control
• Support automation lifecycle management, upgrades and optimisation activities
• Implement software and configuration changes where required
• Provide on-the-floor technical support to manufacturing and packaging operations
• Work closely with Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Validation and other technical teams
• Support the introduction of new equipment and technologies
• Identify and implement opportunities to improve system reliability and manufacturing performance
• Contribute to Industry 4.0 initiatives including data integration, analytics and digital technologies

Skills

Automation systems ownership

Troubleshooting & RCA

Change Controls & CAPAs

Cross-functional collaboration

GMP knowledge

Education

Degree in Automation/Electrical/Controls

Job description

We are looking for an experienced Senior Automation Engineer to join the Plant Automation team at a leading biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Dublin.

This is a permanent position with responsibility for the ownership, reliability, compliance and continuous improvement of critical automation systems supporting packaging and manufacturing operations.

The successful candidate will act as a System Owner for key automation assets, providing technical leadership and hands‑on support throughout the systems' lifecycle.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as System Owner for critical manufacturing and packaging automation systems
• Provide technical support and troubleshooting for automation equipment and systems
• Lead investigations into automation-related equipment and system issues
• Perform root-cause analysis and implement effective corrective actions
• Manage automation-related Change Controls, Deviations and CAPAs
• Maintain automation systems in a validated and compliant state
• Manage system configuration, software versioning and configuration control
• Support automation lifecycle management, upgrades and optimisation activities
• Implement software and configuration changes where required
• Provide on-the-floor technical support to manufacturing and packaging operations
• Work closely with Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Validation and other technical teams
• Support the introduction of new equipment and technologies
• Identify and implement opportunities to improve system reliability and manufacturing performance
• Contribute to Industry 4.0 initiatives including data integration, analytics and digital technologies

Requirements

• Degree in Automation, Electrical, Electronic, Controls Engineering or a related discipline
• Strong experience supporting automation systems within a pharmaceutical or biopharmaceutical manufacturing environment
• Experience with automation system ownership and lifecycle management
• Strong troubleshooting and root-cause analysis capability
• Experience working with Change Controls, Deviations and CAPAs
• Good understanding of GMP, validation and regulated manufacturing requirements
• Ability to work effectively across Engineering, Manufacturing and Quality functions
• Strong communication and problem-solving skills

Advantageous

• Experience supporting highly automated pharmaceutical manufacturing equipment
• Automation software/configuration management
• Data integration and manufacturing analytics
• Industry 4.0 / digital manufacturing technologies
• Experience introducing or upgrading automation technologies in a regulated environment