Operations Research Engineer

Applied Materials, Inc.; Warrington; Remote; GBP 40,000 - 80,000

Job description

General

APG Pharma, a division of Applied Materials focused on building analytics for Pharmaceutical Manufacturing, is looking for a Operations Research Engineer. The engineer provides Operations Research or Data Science expertise as well as experience with informatics systems commonly found in the Pharma and Biopharma Industries. In this client focused role, you will support the team to innovate and improve pharma manufacturing through scheduling using optimization and simulation approaches.

You will be required to work closely with our sales and engineering teams as well as with external process engineers and manufacturing scientists. You should have process knowledge of pharmaceutical processes and be able to convey a technical message to a business audience. You will be expected to support both pre- and post- sales engagements performing a range of tasks from supporting a technical sales strategy for a new client, communicating the value of our software towards industry challenge, software installs, process model design, workflow design, data manipulation, and problem solving. Technical teaching and consulting are also part of the job.

Logistics:
The job posting is located in the UK with the candidate working from home and reporting to the closest regional office as needed. Applicants from Ireland are also encouraged to apply, provided they are within commuting distance to our offices in Co. Kildare.

Travel up to 20% across Europe and USA should be expected.

Key Responsibilities

1. Work with subject experts from operations, manufacturing and business teams to develop process understanding and knowledge of available data sources.
2. Leverage optimization approaches in combination with discrete-event based simulation to develop data-driven applications that support key business and operations processes.
3. Collaborate with experts from the data science, operations, manufacturing, supply chain and business units to validate and deploy models to improve business processes.
4. Work interactively with the customer based on technical requirements, to build scheduling models that will be used to schedule manufacturing operations.
5. Implement technical solutions using our tools, and train the customer in using those tools to manage their facilities.

Qualifications:
We are looking for a person who can work on their own, communicates well, and who is passionate about supporting our pharmaceutical clients in delivering medicines on-time, to patients who need it.

We require a combination of hands-on experience in the pharma/biopharma industry with planning and scheduling expertise. The successful candidate must have:

1. At least 3 years of experience in the pharma/biopharma industry or as a process engineer working with chemical or similar processes with a demonstrated ability in supply chain planning and production scheduling.
2. A proven ability to interact with clients, and explain technical details in laymen's terms.
3. Experience in three or more of the following areas:
   • Processing (importing, cleaning, filtering) large data sets.
   • Developing and/or applying optimization and operations research methodologies.
   • Experience with optimization tools and frameworks (Pyomo, GAMS, Gurobi, etc.).
   • Experience with discrete-event based simulation.
   • Developing and/or applying data modeling and machine learning methodologies.
   • Experience with statistical and mathematical modeling environments (R, Python, MATLAB, etc.).
   • Experience with programming languages such as Python, Java, C#, C++.
4. A working knowledge of systems, software packages and languages is preferred, including experience with products such as:
   • Databases (PI System, Oracle, SQL, or similar).
   • Data communication, interfacing (OPC DA/HDA/UA, relational database calls, etc.).
   • Data visualization (knowledge of various common platforms is preferred: TIBCO Spotfire, PI System visualization tools, custom UI development skills).
   • MES, SAP, ELN, LIMS, SCADA, PLC, DCS, BES, PI Historian, AspenTech IP21, GE Proficy, etc.
5. Strong written and verbal communication skills in English.

Leadership

1. Acts as a resource for colleagues with less experience; may lead small projects with manageable risks and resource requirements.

Interpersonal Skills

1. Explains difficult or sensitive information; works to build consensus.

Education:
A Bachelor or Master's degree in a relevant science or engineering discipline with 5 or more years of industry experience. (note: that a PhD in a relevant area could be considered equivalent to 3 years industry experience)

Qualifications

Education:
Bachelor's Degree

Skills:

Certifications:

Languages:

Years of Experience:
2 - 4 Years

Work Experience:

Additional Information

Time Type:
Full time

Employee Type:
Assignee / Regular

Travel:
Yes, 20% of the Time

Relocation Eligible:
No

Applied Materials is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to diversity in the workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, citizenship, ancestry, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, veteran or military status, or any other basis prohibited by law.