Associate Director, Engineering - Digital Lead

Merck•De Soto, KS

8d•Hybrid

About The Position

Our Animal Health Division is investing $895 million in expanding our manufacturing and research & development facilities in De Soto, Kansas — the state’s largest economic development project to date. As a Digital lead, you will be part of a world-class team at our Center of Excellence in the Animal Health Corridor, contributing directly to the production of veterinary products that improve animal health and welfare globally. As a Technical Digital lead, you will be given the opportunity to challenge and grow your talents, as well as development of interpersonal and leadership skills to overcome difficult situations and solve technical problems. You will support the start-up of a new manufacturing facility by ensuring that digital solutions fully meet process and business needs, with a strong focus on MES (Manufacturing Execution System).

Requirements

Bachelor's Degree, preferably in science, engineering, or supply chain management with at least eight (8) years of experience working in vaccine/biopharma manufacturing
Strong working knowledge and experience with MES implementation and usage
Strong knowledge of vaccine/biopharma manufacturing
Strong knowledge of the change control system
Strong knowledge of SAP
Accountability
Applied Engineering
Change Management
Data Integrity
Digital Workflow Management
Prioritization
Process Automations
Product Formulation
Project Management
Technical Support
Vaccine Manufacturing

Nice To Haves

Understanding of cGMP, and Process Automation System Life Cycle methodologies
Record of effectively leading teams through the change management process
Consistent demonstration of strong leadership, communication, interpersonal, teamwork
Technical and problem-solving skills to motivate cross-functional team responsible for implementation
Ability to prioritize, focus on and obtain business results
Principled and effective communication and organizational skills

Responsibilities

Act as the primary point of contact for digital topics related to the manufacturing process, translating process and operational needs into system requirements.
Collaborate with the central/global digital team, IT, engineering, operations, QA, and automation to design and implement digital capabilities (e.g., MES, data collection, eLogbook’s, dashboards) that align with site standards, GMP, and business processes.
Lead the on-site MES implementation, including defining requirements (recipes, master batch records, workflows), supporting configuration and testing, coordinating validation activities, and ensuring integration with systems such as ERP, automation, LIMS (Lab Information Management System), and data historians.
Represent the site in digital and MES project forums, contribute to planning and issue resolution, and provide clear updates on progress and risks to stakeholders and site leadership.
Support user readiness and adoption by contributing to training, documentation, and change management activities; collect user feedback and drive improvements in digital workflows.
Provide on-site support during commissioning, qualification, and initial production, helping troubleshoot MES and digital workflow issues and identifying opportunities for continuous improvement.
Ensure compliance of digital solutions with Gapp, data integrity, cybersecurity, and internal standards, and support good governance of MES configuration and master data.