MES Solution Architect

Role: MES Solution Architect

Location: London, UK

Type: Full-Time/ Permanent

Job Responsibilities

Solution Architecture & Design

• Define end-to-end MES solution architectures for enterprise and multi-site manufacturing environments.
• Translate manufacturing requirements across production, quality, traceability, scheduling, material management, and operations into logical and physical solution designs.
• Develop and maintain architecture artifacts, including system landscapes, process flows, integration patterns, deployment architectures, and technical design documentation.
• Ensure MES solutions align with enterprise architecture, cybersecurity, scalability, availability, performance, and other non-functional requirements.
• Establish architecture principles, standards, and reusable solution patterns for MES implementations.
• Provide architectural governance throughout the MES lifecycle, from requirements and design through implementation, deployment, stabilization, and continuous improvement.

Technical Leadership & Delivery Support

• Act as the technical authority for MES architecture and solution design decisions throughout the delivery lifecycle.
• Provide technical leadership, guidance, and mentorship to solution architects, designers, technical leads, developers, and implementation teams.
• Support the configuration, extension, and customization of MES capabilities based on business and manufacturing requirements.
• Lead the analysis and resolution of complex architecture, integration, performance, scalability, and deployment challenges.
• Review technical designs and implementation approaches to ensure alignment with approved architecture and engineering standards.
• Drive consistency and standardization across MES implementations and manufacturing sites.

Integration & Data Architecture

• Design and govern integrations between MES and enterprise, engineering, and shopfloor systems, including:
• ERP platforms
• PLM platforms
• SCADA and industrial automation systems
• PLC and machine-level systems
• IoT and edge platforms
• Enterprise data and analytics platforms
• Define manufacturing data models, master data structures, genealogy and traceability models, transactional data flows, and real-time integration patterns.
• Design secure and scalable integration architectures using appropriate APIs, messaging, event-driven, and data exchange patterns.
• Ensure data integrity, consistency, availability, performance, and end-to-end visibility across manufacturing and enterprise systems.
• Define information flows across ISA-95 Levels 3 and 4 and ensure appropriate separation of responsibilities between manufacturing and enterprise systems.
• Apply ISA-95 and ISA-88 principles to manufacturing system architecture and process design.

Manufacturing Process Alignment

• Collaborate with manufacturing operations, engineering, quality, supply chain, and IT teams to align MES capabilities with business and operational processes.
• Translate manufacturing requirements into scalable digital workflows covering:
• Production execution
• Quality management
• Work-in-progress (WIP) tracking
• Material and resource management
• Genealogy and traceability
• Scheduling and capacity planning
• Maintenance and operational support
• Support the development of a connected digital thread across manufacturing, quality, engineering, and supply chain processes.
• Identify opportunities to improve manufacturing visibility, standardization, automation, traceability, and operational efficiency through MES capabilities.
• Ensure MES architecture supports current operational requirements while providing flexibility for future manufacturing transformation initiatives.

Stakeholder & Partner Collaboration

• Engage business, manufacturing, engineering, quality, and IT stakeholders to understand requirements and validate solution architecture.
• Facilitate architecture workshops and communicate complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Collaborate with technology partners, system integrators, and product teams to evaluate capabilities and ensure alignment with the overall solution architecture.
• Support solution estimation, technical proposals, architecture assessments, and transformation initiatives.
• Provide technical input to program leadership and executive stakeholders on architecture decisions, dependencies, risks, and implementation considerations.

Required Qualifications

• Experience in MES architecture, solution design, implementation, manufacturing systems, or related technology roles.

• Proven experience designing and delivering enterprise-scale MES solutions across complex or multi-site manufacturing environments.

• Strong understanding of manufacturing operations, shopfloor processes, production systems, and manufacturing execution principles.

• Hands-on experience with enterprise MES platforms and their capabilities across production execution, quality, scheduling, traceability, and manufacturing intelligence.

• Strong experience integrating MES with ERP, PLM, SCADA, PLC, IoT, industrial automation, and enterprise data platforms.

• Strong knowledge of ISA-95, ISA-88 , manufacturing information models, and MES architecture principles.

• Experience with enterprise integration patterns, APIs, messaging, event-driven architectures, and manufacturing data flows.

• Experience developing solution architecture, integration architecture, deployment architecture, and technical design documentation.

• Strong understanding of cybersecurity, performance, scalability, availability, and other non-functional requirements within manufacturing environments.

• Excellent communication, stakeholder-management, analytical, and problem-solving skills.

• Ability to work effectively with plant-level teams, engineering organizations, IT leadership, system integrators, and executive stakeholders.

• Certification in an established MES, manufacturing technology, enterprise architecture, or related platform.

• Experience across one or more manufacturing sectors, including:

• Industrial Manufacturing

• Automotive

• Aerospace & Defense

• Life Sciences

• Process Manufacturing

• Experience with digital manufacturing, smart factory, Industry 4.0, or manufacturing transformation programs.

• Previous experience as an MES Solution Architect, Manufacturing Systems Architect, Smart Manufacturing Architect, Digital Manufacturing Architect, or Industry 4.0 Architect .

• Experience working within complex, regulated, global, or multi-site manufacturing environments.

• Familiarity with cloud-based manufacturing platforms, edge computing, industrial IoT, analytics, AI/ML-enabled manufacturing, and digital thread architectures.

• Experience establishing MES architecture standards, reference architectures, reusable frameworks, and governance models.

Core Competencies

• MES Solution Architecture
• Manufacturing Systems Integration
• ISA-95 / ISA-88
• Production & Quality Management
• Manufacturing Data Architecture
• Genealogy & Traceability
• ERP / PLM / Shopfloor Integration
• Industrial IoT & Automation
• Digital Manufacturing & Industry 4.0
• Enterprise & Solution Architecture
• Technical Leadership
• Multi-Site Manufacturing Transformation
• Architecture Governance
• Manufacturing Data & Analytics
• Integration & API Architecture