Automation Engineer – Packaging & Process Automation

The Role Joining Moderna means advancing mRNA science to transform medicine. Work with exceptional global teams on a broad pipeline and build a career that makes a real difference for patients. Moderna is establishing a leading research, development, and manufacturing facility at Harwell to support onshore mRNA vaccine production for respiratory diseases in the UK. This long term investment will create skilled jobs and strengthen collaboration with academic, NHS, and government partners. We welcome experts ready to help expand access to life saving vaccines. At Moderna's Harwell manufacturing facility, you will play a pivotal hands-on engineering role in introducing, commissioning, and optimising sophisticated automation systems supporting drug product packaging and drug substance manufacturing. You will help establish new automated labelling and secondary packaging capabilities while ensuring the reliability, compliance, and continuous improvement of existing Emerson DeltaV and Allen-Bradley/Rockwell PLC-based process control systems. Working independently as a technical specialist and collaborating across manufacturing, engineering, quality, validation, and digital teams, you will help translate advanced automation technology into safe, efficient, validated manufacturing operations, with opportunities to explore emerging digital and Generative AI-enabled solutions. Here’s What You’ll Do Drive packaging automation and manufacturing performance: Provide hands-on, day-to-day automation engineering support across drug product packaging and existing Drug Substance (DS) manufacturing operations. Troubleshoot and optimise PLCs, Emerson DeltaV distributed control systems, HMIs, instrumentation, industrial networks, machine controls, servo and motion systems, vision technologies, and equipment interfaces to maintain reliable manufacturing operations. Become a technical expert in automated packaging technologies: Support the introduction, operation, and continuous improvement of automated labelling and secondary packaging equipment, including labelers, cartoners, case packers, serialization and aggregation systems, vision inspection equipment, printers, scanners, conveyors, robotics, and material-handling systems. Develop a detailed understanding of equipment functionality, control architectures, and interfaces with wider manufacturing systems. Support packaging line configuration and operational readiness: Partner with manufacturing teams to manage equipment setup, format changes, line clearance, recipe management, and changeovers across different products and packaging configurations. Identify opportunities to simplify operations, reduce changeover times, and improve packaging-line consistency, flexibility, and throughput. Deliver automation projects from design through manufacturing start-up: Support new and modified automation systems throughout their complete engineering lifecycle, including design, Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT), Site Acceptance Testing (SAT), commissioning, qualification, validation, start-up, and handover to routine manufacturing. Contribute to new-equipment introduction, technology transfer, scale-up, and commercial manufacturing readiness. Strengthen process automation and control systems: Provide technical support for existing drug substance manufacturing automation, with particular emphasis on Emerson DeltaV and Allen-Bradley/Rockwell PLC-based systems. Diagnose complex control-system issues spanning instrumentation, electrical systems, industrial communications, automation logic, and mechanical equipment interfaces. Develop robust automation engineering documentation: Create, review, and maintain automation lifecycle documentation, including User Requirement Specification (URS) inputs, functional and design specifications, control strategies, configuration records, engineering drawings, risk assessments, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), troubleshooting guides, and engineering standards. Ensure documentation supports effective system operation, maintainability, and regulatory compliance. Collaborate with equipment manufacturers and system integrators: Work directly with Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), automation suppliers, and system integrators to support equipment design, technical troubleshooting, upgrades, modifications, and performance improvements. Help ensure vendor-delivered solutions meet Moderna's operational, technical, safety, and quality expectations. Lead technical investigations and sustainable problem resolution: Independently investigate automation failures, recurring equipment downtime, quality events, and manufacturing process deviations. Apply structured root cause analysis to complex multidisciplinary problems, developing and implementing effective corrective and preventive actions (CAPAs) that address underlying causes and prevent recurrence. Use manufacturing data to improve equipment performance: Analyse equipment and process data to identify recurring failures, performance trends, and opportunities to improve equipment reliability, throughput, Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), changeover performance, and operational robustness. Leverage manufacturing historians, MES, CMMS, and available analytics capabilities to support evidence-based engineering decisions. Maintain validated and compliant automation systems: Support GxP activities, including formal change controls, deviations, CAPAs, risk assessments, qualification, and validation. Partner closely with Quality and Validation to ensure packaging and process automation systems remain in a controlled and validated state throughout their operational lifecycle, with appropriate consideration of electronic records, data integrity, and computerized system requirements. Optimise equipment and systems integration: Troubleshoot interactions between packaging equipment, automation platforms, industrial networks, and plant-level digital systems. Contribute to robust communication and data exchange across operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) environments, supporting equipment connectivity, serialization, and manufacturing-system integration. Drive reliability and lifecycle improvements: Contribute to equipment lifecycle management, preventive maintenance strategies, spare-parts planning, and technology obsolescence management. Apply reliability engineering principles to improve equipment availability, reduce unplanned downtime, and strengthen long-term manufacturing performance. Explore digital innovation and emerging technologies: Identify opportunities to leverage digital manufacturing tools, advanced analytics, and approved Generative AI-enabled solutions to support troubleshooting, technical knowledge management, engineering documentation, and equipment performance optimisation while maintaining appropriate GxP and data integrity controls. Collaborate across a multidisciplinary manufacturing environment: Work closely with Engineering, Manufacturing, Maintenance, Quality, Validation, Supply Chain, Automation, Digital, and external technical partners to deliver integrated packaging and process automation solutions that meet operational requirements, business objectives, and patient needs. Communicate complex technical findings clearly to manufacturing colleagues, technical stakeholders, leadership, and equipment vendors. Provide flexible manufacturing support: Take ownership of technical issues through resolution in a fast-paced manufacturing environment, balancing competing priorities and working independently. Provide occasional off-hours, weekend, and holiday support as manufacturing operations require. The key Moderna Mindsets you’ll need to succeed in the role: “We behave l