Windchill PLM Architect

Tekshapers; United States; Remote; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Tekshapers seeks a Windchill Subject Matter Expert (SME) with 12+ years of hands-on Windchill experience to lead an upgrade assessment for Windchill 2027. The role focuses on evaluating current implementations, customizations, integrations, and data models within medical devices or life sciences contexts.

Upcoming upgrade strategy will balance in-place, parallel, or phased migrations, with emphasis on regulatory compliance and data governance.

Qualifications

• Windchill Subject Matter Expert with 12+ years hands-on experience in Windchill architecture and upgrades.
• Experience with Windchill 12.x/13.x and modernization programs toward Windchill 2027.
• Background in Medical Devices, Life Sciences, or Healthcare domains preferred.
• Strong PLM process knowledge and experience in regulated environments (FDA/ISO 13485).

Responsibilities

• Perform comprehensive Windchill assessment of current implementation (configuration, customizations, data model, workflows, integrations).
• Evaluate readiness for Windchill 2027 adoption and assess new capabilities for business fit.
• Review customizations, identify upgrade risks and deprecated APIs, and recommend modernization strategies.
• Develop upgrade approach options (in-place, parallel, phased) including timeline, cost, and resources.
• Assess end-user impact, quantify benefits, and conduct stakeholder interviews.

Skills

Windchill PDMLink

ProjectLink

MPMLink

PartsLink

Change Management

Document Management

Configuration Management

Windchill 12.x/13.x

Windchill upgrades

Java/J2EE

REST APIs

Oracle/SQL Server

Tools

Java/J2EE

REST APIs

Oracle

SQL Server

Job description

Experience: 12+ Years

Location: Remote role

Domain: Medical Devices (additionally we can look at candidates from Life Sciences, Healthcare domain as well but preference shall be for candidates with Medical Devices domain background)

Employment Type: Full Time / Contract

Position Summary

We are seeking a highly experienced Windchill PLM Subject Matter Expert (SME) to lead the assessment and strategic planning for a future upgrade to PTC Windchill 2027. The ideal candidate will possess deep technical expertise in Windchill, strong business process knowledge, and a proven track record of PLM transformation programs within Life Sciences, Healthcare, or Medical Device organizations.

The consultant will evaluate the current Windchill implementation landscape, review customizations and integrations, assess business value and user impact of upgrading to Windchill 2027, and provide recommendations on optimal upgrade timing and execution strategy.

Key Responsibilities

Windchill Assessment & Upgrade Strategy

• Perform a comprehensive assessment of the current Windchill implementation, including:
• Configuration
• Customizations
• Data model
• Workflows
• Integrations
• Analyze the organization's readiness for Windchill 2027 adoption.
• Evaluate new capabilities available in Windchill 2027 and determine business applicability.

Customization & Technical Evaluation

• Review existing customizations, extensions, and configurations.
• Identify upgrade risks, technical debt, obsolete customizations, and deprecated APIs.
• Assess impact of current and planned enhancements on the Windchill 2027 implementation timeline.
• Recommend remediation, retirement, or modernization strategies.

Business Process Assessment

• Evaluate current Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) processes and alignment with Windchill best practices.
• Perform gap analysis between current processes and Windchill 2027 capabilities.
• Identify opportunities to improve engineering change management, document control, quality management, regulatory compliance, and product development processes.
• Review the current implementation roadmap and identify optimal insertion points for the Windchill 2027 upgrade.
• Develop upgrade approach options including:
• In-place upgrade
• Parallel implementation
• Phased migration
• Assess timeline, cost, resource requirements, and schedule implications of each option.

End User Impact & Benefits Analysis

• Assess organizational impact of moving to Windchill 2027.
• Quantify expected benefits wherever possible, including:
• Productivity improvements
• Reduced manual effort
• Faster change processes
• Improved system performance
• Regulatory compliance efficiencies
• Conduct stakeholder interviews and change impact assessments.

Data Migration & Integration Assessment (IMPORTANT)

• Evaluate impact on:
• Historical records
• Classification structures
• Change objects
• Assess integrations with:
• MES
• QMS
• Regulatory Systems
• CAD Systems (Creo, SolidWorks, CATIA)
• Enterprise applications
• Recommend migration and validation strategies.
• Review current PLM architecture and scalability.
• Recommend future-state architecture aligned with Windchill 2027.
• Establish upgrade governance, risk management, and validation approach.

Required Skills & Experience

Windchill Expertise

• 12+ years of hands-on experience with PTC Windchill.
• Expertise across:
• Windchill PDMLink
• ProjectLink
• MPMLink
• PartsLink
• Change Management
• Document Management
• Configuration Management
• Strong knowledge of Windchill versions 12.x/13.x and roadmap toward Windchill 2027.
• Experience with Windchill upgrades, migrations, and modernization programs.

Technical Skills

• Windchill customization framework.
• Java/J2EE, JSP, REST APIs.
• Windchill Workflow, OIRs, ACLs, Data Model.
• Windchill Integration Frameworks.
• Database knowledge (Oracle, SQL Server).
• Cloud and on-prem deployment architectures.

Business & Functional Expertise

• Strong understanding of PLM business processes.
• Product Development Lifecycle.
• Design Control.
• Product Data Governance.
• Regulatory Compliance and Validation.
• Medical Devices Industry.
• Understanding of regulated product development environments.
• Knowledge of:
• GxP
• Design History File (DHF)
• Device Master Record (DMR)

Preferred / Nice-to-Have

• Ability to obtain and deploy a Windchill 2027 evaluation environment from PTC.
• Hands-on installation, configuration, and sandbox assessment of Windchill 2027.
• PTC Windchill certifications.
• Experience working directly with PTC product teams.
• Prior consulting experience in large-scale PLM transformations.
• Experience preparing executive business cases and ROI assessments.
• Knowledge of:
• FDA 21 CFR Part 11
• ISO 13485
• Current State Assessment Report
• Windchill 2027 Readiness Assessment
• Upgrade Impact Analysis
• Customization Fit-Gap Assessment
• Data Migration & Integration Impact Report
• Business Benefits & ROI Assessment
• Upgrade Roadmap with Recommended Insertion Points
• Executive Presentation and Recommendations