Automation Manager

Automation Manager

Location: Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin
Permanent On-site manufacturing environment

We are currently recruiting for an Automation Leader to lead the automation function at a major, highly automated medical device manufacturing site in Dublin.

This is a senior engineering leadership position, responsible for setting the site's automation strategy while remaining closely connected to day-to-day manufacturing operations. You will lead an experienced team of Automation Engineers and Technicians, oversee plant-wide automation projects and act as the senior escalation point for complex automation and equipment issues.

The Opportunity

The site is a large-scale, high-volume manufacturing operation employing approximately 450 people and operating 24/7, 365 days a year. Automation and equipment reliability are fundamental to maintaining production performance, making this a genuinely operational leadership role rather than a traditional office-based engineering position.

You will lead a team of 8 automation professionals, comprising Automation Engineers and Automation Technicians, with responsibility for developing the team and ensuring the right balance between immediate production support and longer-term automation projects.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and execute the site's long-term automation strategy
• Lead, mentor and develop a team of Automation Engineers and Technicians
• Oversee plant-wide automation projects from design through equipment acceptance
• Manage automation vendors and external technology partners
• Drive equipment reliability, continuous improvement and operational excellence
• Allocate engineering resources across 24/7 production support and project delivery
• Act as the senior escalation point for complex automation and equipment failures
• Lead root-cause investigations alongside Engineering, Operations, Quality and Validation
• Own and support automation change control and software revision control
• Support equipment upgrades, validation and NPI activities
• Drive machine safety and risk reduction initiatives
• Contribute to engineering budgets and wider site improvement programmes

The role combines people leadership, strategic automation ownership and hands-on technical problem solving.

Technical Environment

The site has a broad industrial automation environment including:

• Allen-Bradley / Rockwell PLCs and programming
• Cognex high-speed vision systems
• ControlNet, DeviceNet and Ethernet industrial communications
• VFD and servo motion systems
• SCADA / HMI systems
• EtherNet/IP, Profinet, Modbus and OPC UA
• SQL Server / database technologies

Strong Rockwell / Allen-Bradley experience and hands-on PLC programming capability are particularly important for the position.

What We're Looking For

• Degree in Electrical, Software, Manufacturing Engineering or a related discipline
• 8+ years' experience within automation, equipment software or a related engineering environment
• Strong Rockwell / Allen-Bradley expertise with hands-on PLC programming experience
• Previous experience leading and developing engineering/automation teams
• Strong troubleshooting and root-cause analysis capability
• Experience delivering automation projects within a fast-paced manufacturing environment
• Strong continuous improvement mindset
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills
• Ability to translate complex automation issues into clear operational and commercial outcomes
• A calm, ownership-driven approach when dealing with high-priority production issues