Automation Engineer

Location: Dublin 15

Sector: Pharmaceutical Manufacturing

Working Arrangement: On-site

The Opportunity

An established biopharmaceutical manufacturing operation in Dublin is seeking a hands-on Site Automation Engineer to support the reliability, performance and compliance of its manufacturing control systems.

Based within the Operational Technology (OT) team, you will work closely with live production in a regulated Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) manufacturing environment.

This is an excellent opportunity for an engineer who enjoys practical problem-solving, investigating recurring faults and improving automation systems. Alongside day-to-day production support, you will contribute to system upgrades, equipment improvements and engineering projects that help maintain safe, reliable and compliant manufacturing operations.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide hands-on automation support to manufacturing operations, resolving control-system issues that affect production.
• Troubleshoot PLC, HMI, SCADA, DCS, batch-control and building management systems, including associated hardware and software.
• Conduct root-cause investigations and contribute to incident reviews, deviations, non-conformances and Corrective and Preventive Actions (CAPA).
• Support automation system upgrades, replacements and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Deliver small-to-medium engineering projects to improve system reliability and manufacturing performance.
• Prepare and maintain engineering specifications, technical documentation, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and work instructions.
• Manage system changes through formal change-control processes and support validation and GxP computerised-system lifecycle activities.
• Maintain system reliability, data integrity and compliance with quality, safety and environmental requirements.
• Collaborate with Manufacturing, Maintenance, Engineering, Quality, Validation and EHS teams.
• Participate in the OT team's out-of-hours on-call rota.

Essential Requirements

• A degree or relevant qualification in Automation, Controls, Electrical Engineering or a related engineering discipline.
• Practical experience supporting automation or process-control systems within pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, API or another regulated manufacturing environment.
• Strong hands-on PLC troubleshooting skills, ideally with Siemens S7.
• Experience with SCADA/HMI and/or DCS platforms in a live manufacturing environment.
• A methodical approach to fault-finding, root-cause analysis and resolving production issues.
• An understanding of GMP, quality systems, validation, change control and EHS requirements.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to work effectively with production and technical teams.

Desirable Technical Experience

Experience with the following technologies, systems or standards would be advantageous:

• Control systems: Siemens PCS 7, WinCC, iFIX, Wonderware InTouch and batch systems.
• Building management: Cylon or Siemens Desigo BMS.
• Industrial infrastructure: Historians, databases, OT networking, TCP/IP, routing and switching, Active Directory and network monitoring.
• GMP and validation: GAMP 5, FDA 21 CFR Part 11, EU Annex 11 and GxP computerised-system lifecycle requirements.
• Engineering standards and processes: ISA-88, ISA-95, deviation management, change control and CAPA.