- Career Center Home
- Search Jobs
- Senior Automation Engineer
Description
Job descriptionSite Name: UK - County Durham - Barnard Castle
Posted Date: Sep 24 2025
GSK Barnard Castle is a key secondary manufacturing site and has invested heavily in industry 4.0 state of the art, bespoke equipment to support sustained new product introductions and volume increases, and as a key supplier of some of GSK's blockbuster products, the site contributes revenues of ~$2Bn annually.
We create a place where people can grow, be their best, be safe, and feel welcome, valued and included. We offer a competitive salary, an annual bonus based on company performance, healthcare and wellbeing programmes, pension plan membership, and shares and savings programme.
We embrace modern work practises; our Performance with Choice programme.
Discover more about our company wide benefits and life at GSK on our webpage Life at GSK | GSK
As a Senior Automation Engineer you will give technical leadership to your assigned area (Building Services or Assembly/Inspection/Packaging) and lead other aligned automation engineers in supporting the business with all automation topics.
You will be an advocate of the OT Security Standards, respond to OT Alerts, drive adoption and awareness of best practices in the local production area.
In this role you will…
- Act as an automation subject matter expert in your assigned area, evaluating and developing technological solutions and working with the wider GSK network to align the sites processes to global standards.
- Participate in Continuous Improvement activities, including DMAIC, RCA, and CAPA processes and input into deviations as automation SME.
- Front audit topics to internal and external regulators for automation elements within your area of ownership.
- Act as first contact for production automation support, focusing on equipment breakdowns and co-ordinate the activities of the other aligned team members.
- Provide technical expertise on advanced automated manufacturing/packaging processes, inputting into user requirement specifications and signing off automation elements of capital projects as system owner.
- improve the local area engineering team's automation ability through an area-specific training programme.
- Work as a flexible and motivated team member who is willing to drive equipment performance and reliability.
- Follow SOPs/SWs, comply with GMP, report quality issues, and ensure safety compliance.
- Stay updated with all training requirements via 'My Learning' platform.
Why you?
Basic Qualifications & Skills:
- Recognised Apprenticeship in Electrical, Instrumentation/Controls Engineering or Computer Science discipline (or similar)
- Bachelor of Engineering (or working towards)
- Experience working in a Pharmaceutical or highly regulated industry including Manufacturing Environments.
- Knowledge of Process Automation, Data Management Systems and Higher-Level Interface Systems (e.g. OPC).
Preferred Qualifications & Skills:
- Registered with a professional body and recognised at IEng or CEng (or working towards)
- Experience of Siemens equipment including S5, S7, PCS&, TIA portal and WinCC.
- Experience of site automation systems in either Building Services (Clen & Black Utilities, HVAC, Warehouse and Lab systems) or Inspection, Assembly and Packaging.
Closing Date for Applications: 8th October (COB)
Please take a copy of the Job Description, as this will not be available post closure of the advert.
When applying for this role, please use the 'cover letter' of the online application or your CV to describe how you meet the competencies for this role, as outlined in the job requirements above. The information that you have provided in your cover letter and CV will be used to assess your application.
Why GSK?
Uniting science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together.
GSK is a global biopharma company with a purpose to unite science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together. We aim to positively impact the health of 2.5 billion people by the end of the decade, as a successful, growing company where people can thrive. We get ahead of disease by preventing and treating it with innovation in specialty medicines and vaccines. We focus on four therapeutic areas: respiratory, immunology and inflammation; oncology; HIV; and infectious diseases to impact health at scale.
People and patients around the world count on the medicines and vaccines we make, so we're committed to creating an environment where our people can thrive and focus on what matters most. Our culture of being ambitious for patients, accountable for impact and doing the right thing is the foundation for how, together, we deliver for patients, shareholders and our people.
GSK is an Equal Opportunity Employer. This ensures that all qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), parental status, national origin, age, disability, genetic information (including family medical history), military service or any basis prohibited under federal, state or local law.
We believe in an agile working culture for all our roles. If flexibility is important to you, we encourage you to explore with our hiring team what the opportunities are.
Should you require any adjustments to our process to assist you in demonstrating your strengths and capabilities contact us on [email protected] or 0808 234 4391. The helpline is available from 8.30am to 12.00 noon Monday to Friday, during bank holidays these times and days may vary.
Please note should your enquiry not relate to adjustments, we will not be able to support you through these channels. However, we have created a UK Recruitment FAQ guide. Click the link and scroll to the Careers Section where you will find answers to multiple questions we receive
Important notice to Employment businesses/ Agencies
GSK does not accept referrals from employment businesses and/or employment agencies in respect of the vacancies posted on this site. All employment businesses/agencies are required to contact GSK's commercial and general procurement/human resources department to obtain prior written authorization before referring any candidates to GSK. The obtaining of prior written authorization is a condition precedent to any agreement (verbal or written) between the employment business/ agency and GSK. In the absence of such written authorization being obtained any actions undertaken by the employment business/agency shall be deemed to have been performed without the consent or contractual agreement of GSK. GSK shall therefore not be liable for any fees arising from such actions or any fees arising from any referrals by employment businesses/agencies in respect of the vacancies posted on this site.
Please note that if you are a US Licensed Healthcare Professional or Healthcare Professional as defined by the laws of the state issuing your license, GSK may be required to capture and report expenses GSK incurs, on your behalf, in the event you are afforded an interview for employment. This capture of applicable transfers of value is necessary to ensure GSK's compliance to all federal and state US Transparency requirements. For more information, please visit the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) website at https://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov/
