Associate Director, IT Research Automation Engineer - R&D

Job Description

Associate Director, IT Research Automation Engineer in RaDS IT 

RaDS IT Research Infrastructure Product Line (RIPL) engineering team is seeking an Associate Director - Research Laboratory Automation Engineer. This position will be a member of the OT Research Automation Operations product (Laboratory and Plant) within RIPL.  As an automation engineer, you will be responsible for the strategy, designing, implementing, and maintaining the automation platforms within the our Company Research Laboratories compound/sample screening laboratories and our Company Research Laboratories Pilot Plants using a variety of sophisticated robotic, automation, and manufacturing technologies across our Company enterprise and isolated OT networks. Your software experience in screening data automation, plant automation, and system integration will contribute to building new platforms, enhancing existing ones for expansion, efficiency and productivity across drug discovery modalities and clinical phases. You will collaborate with multidisciplinary organizations in our Company Research Laboratories and IT, including scientists, engineers, IT architects, infrastructure, quality, vendors in building, optimizing, and troubleshooting the automation systems.

As an Associate Director Technical Lead within RIPL, you will enable Automation capabilities that help our scientists generate hypotheses and draw rapid conclusions by interrogating target biology and its relationship to human disease and pharmacological interventions.
 

Additionally, you will be accountable for identifying opportunities to grow and improve the IT technical landscape while simultaneously ensuring consistent performance of existing IT applications. You will use your knowledge of these automation IT products to promote their meaningful use by giving product demos, sharing user stories, and showing the connection of our data and technology products to our mission to serve patients.

The primary location is West Point, PA., Boston, MA., or Rahway, NJ, and will provide support services to other sites.

Job Description

• Define overall strategy for Laboratory and Pilot Plant automation workflows

• Design and develop automated laboratory workflows, including sample preparation, assay execution on high throughput robotic screening platforms.

• Collaborate with our Company Research Laboratories scientists and engineers to identify automation needs and define project requirements.

• Collaborate with instrument vendors and suppliers to evaluate and implement new laboratory automation and robotics technologies.

• Proficient in modern object-oriented programming languages such as LabView, C#, Java, Oracle/SQL Server, Spotfire, Python, including real-time data automation, system integration and GUI design.

• Effectively troubleshoot the systems, including not only the software but other aspects such as the hosting servers and computers, instrument drivers such detectors, liquid handlers, centrifuge, etc. ensuring minimal disruption to research activities

• Test software prototypes and/or production systems according to safety, environment, electrical, software and essential performance specifications. 

• Manage implementation and upgrade of software in support of maintenance and upkeep of the laboratory automation systems, improving operational efficiencies, reliability, operability, and maintainability.

• Act as the single point of IT contact for all technical matters within the assigned product

• Own IT product technology solutions from concept to retirement, while striving to increase ROI and reduce financial investment.

• Manage a team of cross functional technical resources assigned to multiple squads within the product.

• Develop and convey accurate and realistic project plans, resource estimates and timelines in alignment with prioritized business requirements.

• Demonstrate an eagerness to learn drug discovery & development processes and regulatory requirements as necessary to solve problems.

• Commit to IT infrastructure optimization, prioritizes, and proposes opportunities for continuous improvement by identifying gaps, common trends and inefficiencies and help establish services where none exists. Recommend obsolescent programs for the technology and infrastructure wherever possible.

• Prioritize and manage multiple IT tasks in capital and non-capital projects and responsible for the complete process adherence according to our Company standards and polices. Lead/assist project scopes, define IT and infrastructure deliverables, timelines and estimates for a wide array of technologies and services.

• Good understanding of all phases of SDL