Project Manager - Manufacturing Automation - Columbus, OH

Abbott • Columbus, OH

2d • Onsite

About The Position

Abbott is a global healthcare leader that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. Our portfolio of life-changing technologies spans the spectrum of healthcare, with leading businesses and products in diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic medicines. Our 115,000 colleagues serve people in more than 160 countries.

This role will lead comprehensive capital upgrades to modernize OT infrastructures within a manufacturing environment across multiple North America sites. The Project Manager will develop project charters, scopes, budgets, schedules, risk assessments, and execution plans aligned with business objectives. They will manage projects from concept through commissioning, startup, validation, and closeout, coordinating internal stakeholders, contractors, OEMs, system integrators, and suppliers to ensure successful project delivery. The position requires utilizing established PM tools and techniques to stay within authorized budget limits and achieve project and organizational objectives. This includes developing project plans, supporting project strategy development, leading cross-functional collaboration, coordinating procurement, managing risks, developing capital requests, and effectively delegating work. The role also involves monitoring progress, removing barriers, and providing coaching to ensure successful execution of OT and automation capital projects, while balancing oversight with autonomy to develop team capabilities and ensure compliance with site and corporate standards. The Project Manager will simplify complex technical details into concise and understandable narratives for business leaders.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Automation Engineering, Computer Engineering, Engineering Technology, or related discipline.
• 10+ years of experience in industrial automation, controls engineering, OT, manufacturing engineering, or capital project management.
• Experience working within an FDA regulated manufacturing environment.
• Experience delivering automation and controls projects from concept through startup and commissioning.
• Strong knowledge of: PLCs (Rockwell, Siemens, etc.)
• HMI/SCADA systems
• Industrial networking and communications
• Process instrumentation and control systems
• Manufacturing systems integration
• Proven project management, vendor management, and leadership experience.
• Approximately 25% travel to support manufacturing facilities and project execution activities.

Nice To Haves

• PMP certification.
• Knowledge of OT cybersecurity frameworks (ISA/IEC 62443, NIST).
• A hands-on automation and OT leader with strong capital project experience, capable of delivering manufacturing modernization, digital transformation, controls standardization, and OT cybersecurity initiatives across multiple sites.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.

Responsibilities

• Leads comprehensive capital upgrades to modernize OT infrastructures within a manufacturing environment across multiple North America sites.
• Develop project charters, scopes, budgets, schedules, risk assessments, and execution plans aligned with business objectives.
• Manage projects from concept through commissioning, startup, validation, and closeout.
• Coordinate internal stakeholders, contractors, OEMs, system integrators, and suppliers to ensure successful project delivery.
• Utilize established PM tools and techniques (FEP, Cash Flow Projections, Scope / Schedule Control, etc.) to stay within authorized budget limits and achieve the overall project and organizational objectives.
• Develops project plan documenting the actions necessary to define, prepare, integrate and coordinate all subsidiary plans.
• Project plan ensures vertical startups and sustained operations by assessing change impact of OT and automation changes through process equipment.
• Supports development of project strategy to align and achieve key customer business objectives.
• Contributes to the development of long-term business and organizational strategies.
• Leads cross functional collaboration or integration of muti-technical disciplines.
• Coordinates with corporate or divisional purchasing for procurement of equipment and / or services and contracting.
• Effectively leverages and manages services and suppliers.
• Anticipates and identifies areas of risk and mitigates risks through early risk assessments and implementation of fallback / mitigation strategies.
• Develop capital requests, cost estimates, cash flow projections, and project justification documentation.
• Effectively delegates work based on team capabilities and project priorities, empowering others to execute technical deliverables while maintaining ownership of project outcomes.
• Monitors progress, removes barriers, and provides coaching to ensure successful execution of OT and automation capital projects.
• Balances oversight with autonomy, enabling efficient project execution while developing team capabilities and ensuring compliance with site and corporate standards.
• Simplifies complex technical details into concise and understandable narratives for business leaders.
• Develop and review automation specifications, control narratives, network architectures, and system integration requirements.
• Support control system design, programming, testing, commissioning, troubleshooting, and optimization.
• Drive standardization of controls and OT architectures across manufacturing facilities.
• Lead implementation and upgrades of manufacturing technologies including PLC, HMI, OT Servers and historians.
• Partner with IT and Cybersecurity teams to design, implement, and maintain secure OT environments.
• Support OT network architecture, system lifecycle management, backup and recovery strategies, and cybersecurity compliance.
• Identify and mitigate operational and cybersecurity risks associated with industrial control systems.
• Lead root cause investigations and identify opportunities to improve reliability, OEE, quality, and productivity.
• Evaluate emerging automation and digital manufacturing technologies to support modernization initiatives.
• Build strong relationships with operations, maintenance, engineering, and leadership teams while promoting standardization and best practices.
• Ensure compliance with Quality, EHS, cybersecurity, and engineering standards.
• Support validation activities and maintain awareness of operational, quality, and safety impacts of control system changes.
• Ensure engineering solutions are robust, maintainable, and aligned with business requirements.

Benefits

• Free medical coverage for employees via the Health Investment Plan (HIP) PPO
• An excellent retirement savings plan with high employer contribution
• Tuition reimbursement, the Freedom 2 Save student debt program and FreeU education benefit - an affordable and convenient path to getting a bachelor’s degree.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior