Senior Engineer/Equipment

ACL Digital; Thousand Oaks (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

ACL Digital is seeking an Equipment Senior Engineer for its Thousand Oaks Pilot Plant in a 100% onsite role. The candidate will be responsible for reliability, performance, and lifecycle management of major process equipment including bioreactors and chromatography skids.

The role emphasizes data-driven decisions, preventive maintenance, and collaboration with Operations and support functions. The position requires a strong independence, deep technical depth, and the ability to drive system

Qualifications

• Must have an advanced degree with required years of experience or equivalent.
• Experience diagnosing equipment issues and communicating root causes.
• Proven ability to own assets and drive reliability improvements using data.
• Strong cross-functional collaboration with Operations, Maintenance and support teams.

Responsibilities

• Provide day-to-day onsite technical support to Operations focusing on troubleshooting and maintenance coordination.
• Drive preventive maintenance strategies and asset management across process equipment (bioreactors, chromatography skids, single-use/stainless systems).
• Guide technical decisions during equipment issues, process changes, and system improvements.
• Identify opportunities to apply digital tools and AI to improve troubleshooting, reliability, and workflow efficiency.
• Work independently with a strong reliability mindset in a fast-paced development environment.

Skills

Root cause analysis

System ownership & reliability

Cross-functional communication

Education

Master’s degree, 2 years experience

Bachelor’s degree, 4 years experience

Associate degree, 8 years experience

High school diploma or GED, 10 years experience

Tools

Maximo

Job description

Work arrangement: 100% onsite; local candidates preferred

Hours: 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., with potential overtime and participation in an on-call rotation

Top 3 Must Have Skill Sets:

• Equipment troubleshooting and root cause analysis: Independently diagnoses equipment issues, explains the root cause, and describes how the resolution was verified.
• System ownership and reliability: Takes accountability for assigned equipment and drives maintenance and reliability improvements using data.
• Cross-functional communication: Works effectively with Operations, Maintenance, and support teams; communicates clearly during equipment issues and improvement work.

Basic Qualifications

• Master’s degree and 2 years of experience; or
• Bachelor’s degree and 4 years of experience; or
• Associate degree and 8 years of experience; or
• High school diploma or GED and 10 years of experience.

Preferreably with experience applying AI workflows or implementing AI-enabled solutions is preferred.

Relevant pharmaceutical manufacturing engineering experience may be considered in lieu of the stated experience requirements.

This role serves as an Equipment Senior Engineer supporting manufacturing in the Thousand Oaks Pilot Plant, a non-GMP environment. The engineer is responsible for the reliability, performance, and lifecycle management of assigned process equipment, such as bioreactors, chromatography skids, and single-use and stainless-steel systems.

The position provides day-to-day, onsite technical support to Operations, with an emphasis on troubleshooting, maintenance coordination, and data-driven decision-making. The engineer partners closely with Operations and support functions to guide technical decisions during equipment issues, process changes, and system improvements. The role does not involve directly operating equipment.

The engineer also supports preventive maintenance strategy, asset management (for example, in Maximo), and the introduction of new equipment, ensuring systems are effectively integrated and maintained to meet evolving process needs. The role includes identifying opportunities to use digital tools and AI to improve troubleshooting, reliability, and workflow efficiency.

Success in this role requires independence, technical depth, a strong reliability mindset, and effective cross-functional collaboration in a fast-paced development environment.

Basic Qualifications

Doctorate degree OR Masters degree and 2 years of experience OR Bachelors degree and 4 years of experience OR Associates degree and 8 years of experience OR High school diploma / GED and 10 years of experience