MES Application Architect

About Abbott

Abbott is a global healthcare leader that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. Our portfolio of life‑changing technologies spans diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic medicines. Our 115,000 colleagues serve people in more than 160 countries.

Working at Abbott

• Career development with an international company where you can grow the career you dream of.
• Free medical coverage for employees* via the Health Investment Plan (HIP) PPO.
• An excellent retirement savings plan with high employer contribution.
• Tuition reimbursement, the Freedom 2 Save student debt program and FreeU education benefit – an affordable and convenient path to getting a bachelor's degree.
• Recognized as a great place to work in dozens of countries and named one of the most admired companies in the world by Fortune.
• Recognized as one of the best big companies to work for, as well as a best place to work for diversity, working mothers, female executives, and scientists.

The Opportunity

This position works out of our Lake County location in the Business Solutions & Services Plan/Build organization. As the MES Application Architect, you will drive full manufacturing site transformations through software and automation solutions in the IT/OT environment for global manufacturing facilities. The role blends manufacturing knowledge, technical consulting expertise, and hands‑on implementation skills. You will design and develop POMS software, collaboratively develop, troubleshoot, and maintain standard MES and automation architecture, and build reusable, scalable solutions.

What You'll Work On

• Act as subject‑matter expert with MES and industrial automation.
• Work with business units, engineering, and infrastructure teams to design and build recipes and application integrations aligned with business objectives.
• Implement robust manufacturing systems and processes.
• Apply strong knowledge of supply chain management or manufacturing processes to improve efficiency.
• Understand integration between MES, PLM, and ERP.
• Perform equipment integration and shop‑floor system integration.
• Work with POMSnet recipe and base data update/creation.
• Demonstrate end‑to‑end understanding of process flow; gather requirements, design, develop, and build recipes.
• Support site‑critical MES enhancement projects, including hardware upgrades, process streamlining, architecture upgrades, recipe delivery, and testing coordination.
• Follow the Computerized Systems Validation process and Software Lifecycle (SLC) methodology to build and qualify/validate systems.
• Assess near‑term needs and develop technical solutions; advise on options, risks, costs versus benefits, and impact on other business processes and system priorities.
• Partner with functional groups within IT to communicate and clarify business needs, contribute to long‑range system plans, and ensure alignment with business needs.
• Serve as technical expert and lead technical staff to develop, test, and implement significant new products or operational improvements.
• Review, validate, and enhance design; conduct performance monitoring and capacity planning; install, test, and upgrade releases and associated products.
• Ensure compliance with applicable corporate and divisional policies and procedures.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree preferred; 9+ years of experience.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• At least 7 years of experience with C# or Java software development & design.
• Experience with global‑scale manufacturing systems (POMSNet) development, integration, and support.
• Strong skills in methods and technologies to support manufacturing data integrations (SQL, Web Services, data mapping, etc.).
• Experience with Oracle PL/SQL, label printers, scanner configuration and support.
• Ability to apply knowledge and expertise to solve complex technical problems.
• Proven ability to translate business requirements into technical solutions.
• Knowledge and experience with all phases of Software Lifecycle (SLC) in a GxP environment.
• Experience with IQ/OQ/PQ, authoring validation documents and execution.
• Willingness to travel up to 20 % of the time.