Senior Automation Engineer, Optical Inspection/Device Assembly

Location: Wilson, North Carolina, United States; full-time on-site support required. Frequent travel of more than 25% is required during facility design until the project shifts to the Wilson plant site.

Company

Johnson & Johnson MedTech develops healthcare and pharmaceutical solutions across Innovative Medicine and MedTech.

What you will do

• Own automation and controls engineering for drug product optical and visual inspection and device assembly operations.
• Deliver automation systems from concept and detailed design through controls development, FAT/SAT, commissioning, qualification, start-up, handover, and lifecycle support.
• Oversee PLC/HMI, machine controls, servo and motion control, robotics, machine vision, SCADA, industrial networks, and site-system interfaces.
• Review OEM and system-integrator designs, specifications, architectures, alarms, interlocks, inspection requirements, and test documentation.
• Integrate automation with MES, historians, recipe and data platforms to support reliable data flow and traceability.
• Lead troubleshooting, validation documentation, investigations, change controls, operational readiness, and continuous-improvement activities.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Science, or a related technical discipline.
• At least 6 years of progressive industrial automation and controls engineering experience in pharmaceutical or biopharmaceutical manufacturing.
• Hands-on experience with ISA-95 Level 1 and Level 2 systems, including PLC or DCS, SCADA/HMI, batch or sequence control, industrial networks, OT infrastructure, and hardware interfaces.
• Experience with automation software and configuration, technical specifications, control narratives, system architectures, FAT/SAT, commissioning, qualification, start-up, troubleshooting, and change control.
• Knowledge of ISA-88, ISA-95, cGMP, GAMP 5, 21 CFR Part 11, EU GMP Annex 11, data integrity, and risk-based validation.
• Direct drug product automation experience in optical inspection, device assembly, packaging, filling/finish, or closely related sterile manufacturing operations.

Nice to have

• Experience with Rockwell Automation, Siemens, Emerson DeltaV, OSI PI, Werum PAS-X, or comparable automation, historian, and MES platforms.
• Experience integrating vision and machine-control systems with MES, historians, data platforms, and electronic traceability solutions.
• Experience delivering automation scope for large pharmaceutical capital projects and developing reliability, lifecycle-management, and maintenance strategies.
• Knowledge of Industry 4.0, industrial IoT, advanced analytics, and digital biopharmaceutical manufacturing capabilities.

Culture & Benefits

• Work with Manufacturing, Process Engineering, Quality, CSV, OT Infrastructure, MES, Digital, OEMs, system integrators, and project teams.
• Operate within a structured cGMP, data-integrity, cybersecurity, and automation-lifecycle framework.
• Support training, documentation, maintenance models, spare-parts planning, disaster recovery, and knowledge transfer to the site organization.
• Work in an inclusive environment guided by Johnson & Johnson’s Credo and commitment to employee health and well-being.