Site Digital & Automation Lead, Sanford
- United States - North Carolina - Sanford
Role Summary
The Site Digital & Automation Lead is a full member of the Site Leadership Team and a key leader within the PGS Network & Automation organization. This role provides strategic direction and leadership for all digital and automation capabilities at site, serving as the primary advisor and partner to Site Leadership and above-site stakeholders. The role is accountable for shaping, owning, and executing the site’s integrated digital and automation portfolio, ensuring full alignment with site business priorities and network strategies.
This role drives long-term value creation, investment prioritization, and portfolio governance across capital and expense initiatives. The Site Digital & Automation Lead leads and develops the site digital and automation team, ensuring the design, deployment, and lifecycle management of critical digital, automation, and infrastructure systems. This includes driving operational efficiency, ensuring Quality/Safety compliance, cybersecurity, business continuity and reliable system support.
Role Description
Core Responsibilities
Leadership and Oversight
Serve as a full member of the Site Leadership Team.
Collaborate with the Site Leadership Team to ensure alignment of site and network strategies with digital and automation capabilities.
Lead teams of colleagues and contract resources to deliver digital and automation capital projects and manage expense portfolios, ensuring customer needs are met; uphold standardized platforms and oversee strategic outsourcing to key integrators.
Act as the primary contact for all digital and automation colleagues located at the site.
Build and maintain relationships with PGS Enabling Teams and Digital Organizations.
Lead and participate in network-wide digital and automation initiatives.
Lead, mentor, and develop a team of digital & automation professionals
Conduct performance reviews and provide growth opportunities
Build a collaborative, innovative environment
Performance Management & Continuous Improvement (CI)
Develop and own the site’s 3–5 year digital and automation strategy
Provide strategic direction and establish business cases for large capital, or product focused programs and technology portfolio plans; continually evaluate and deploy emerging technologies to realize value.
Implement IMEx elements, including Structured Gembas, Visual Management, and the CI Loop, to drive process improvements using digital tools.
Support site continuous improvement initiatives and share best practices and drive business adoption
Provide oversight of the site digital & automation portfolio, championing AI and innovation through integrated planning and reliable project execution.
Maintain a strong awareness of automation and digitization developments in the external environment.
Oversee contract and license management for digital and automation systems, ensuring compliance and effective administration.
Ensure effective implementation and continuous oversight of lifecycle processes for all digital and automated systems and infrastructure.
Operational Services
Deliver dependable digital & automation support services, responding quickly to real-timesystem issues while maintaining stable, high-performing digital and automation systems.
Ensure Automation Engineering support, including hardware, instrumentation, and control systems ownership.
Take responsibility for change management pertaining to digital and automation infrastructure on site, including managing outages and communicating with end users.
Serve as the primary point of contact for all digital and automation operations at the site, including escalating issues to the wider PGS Network and Automation organization.
Collaborate with the PGS Network and Automation organization to maintain service levels for crisis response, digital incident management, and service request processes.
Oversee the provision of technical support to Engineering and Operations partners for automated systems throughout the lifecycle of the equipment.
Cyber Security & Network
Manage and coordinate cybersecurity activities and ensure compliance with digital and automation Infrastructure & Architecture Standards Execution
Own change management for technology infrastructure, including outage management, end-user communications, maintenance and support
Oversee software and hardware lifecycle management and PANS Support
Data Systems & Integration
Manage the development of the Automated System Life Cycle documents.
Ensure deployment of end-to-end data strategy for digital and automation systems.
Leverage data standards to ensure consistency and compliance.
Oversee core system integration to support seamless data flow and connectivity.
Manage the development of local applications to meet site and business needs.
Computer System Assurance
Proactively address business continuity risk for digital and automation assets
Maintain Quality and Safety compliance and continuous audit-readiness
Ensure adherence to system validation requirements and change control processes
Maintain up to date GMP documentation for systems and assets within the remit of the team
Key Attributes, Skills & Competencies
Communication & Stakeholder Management
Clear communicator who can translate complex technical topics to non-technical stakeholders.
Executive presence; capable of influencing across site and enterprise teams.
Visionary Thinking and Technology Strategy
Strong ability to design and govern reliable OT automation and site digital ecosystems (end-to-end lifecycle ownership).
Comfortable making risk-based decisions balancing production continuity, compliance, and security.
Passionate about leveraging technology to enhance operations.
Portfolio and program leadership; disciplined execution, stakeholder management, and vendor oversight.
Anticipates future digital needs and acts proactively
Change and Problem Management
Strong problem-solving and organizational skills
Leader of technical and organizational change
Ability to manage multiple priorities and work effectively in a dynamic environment
Technical Fluency
Understanding of emerging technologies, AI
Foundational digital and automation risk management
Strong grasp of integration patterns between OT systems and data platforms.
Demonstrates strong expertise in digital and automation solutions.
Basic Qualifications, Experience & Certifications
Bachelor’s degree in engineering, Computer Science, Information Systems, business, or related technical field (Controls, Electrical, Chemical, IT/CS)
8+ years’ experience in information technology systems/infrastructure or specialist knowledge of process automation/process control systems
3–5 years in a regulated manufacturing environment (pharma or similar preferred)
Experience with Lean/Operational Excellence
Project/program management (PMI, Agile, SDLC) and continuous improvement (e.g., Six Sigma)
IT infrastructure management (e.g., ITIL) and GMP regulatory requirements experience preferred
Candidate demonstrates a breadth of diverse leadership experiences and capabilities including: the ability to influence and collaborate with peers, develop and coach others, oversee and guide the work of other colleagues to achieve meaningful outcomes and create business impact.
Work Location Assignment: On Premise
Last day to apply : May 29th 2026
Relocation assistance may be available based on business needs and/or eligibility.

Candidates must be authorized to be employed in the U.S. by any employer.
U.S. work visa sponsorship (such as TN, O-1, H-1B, etc.) is not available for this role now or in the future.

Sunshine Act
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EEO & Employment Eligibility
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Breakthroughs that change patients’ lives
Research confirms what intuition tells us: that purpose-driven companies perform better, are more innovative, attract and retain the best people, and know how to unleash the power of those people. Pfizer’s purpose—Breakthroughs that change patients' lives—fuels everything we do and reflects our passion for building on our legacy as one of the greatest contributors of good to the world.
Each word in our purpose has meaning and reflects the value we strive to bring to patients and society:
“Breakthroughs” - These are the innovations, scientific and commercial, that we seek to deliver every day. All colleagues, regardless of role, level or location, strive for breakthroughs every day.
“Change” - We want to do more than simply improve patients’ medical conditions; we want to dramatically change their lives for the better.
“Patients’ lives” - We consider not only patients, but everyone they touch—including their families, caregivers, and friends—and everything they love to do. It’s an intentionally holistic view.
Our purpose ensures that patients remain at the center of all we do. We live our purpose by sourcing the best science in the world; partnering with others in the healthcare system to improve access to our medicines; using digital technologies to enhance our drug discovery and development, as well as patient outcomes; and leading the conversation to advocate for pro-innovation/pro-patient policies.
Every decision we make and every action we take is done with the patient in mind—and to nurture an environment where breakthroughs can thrive.
Our Values
To fully realize Pfizer’s purpose, we have established a clear set of expectations regarding “what” we need to achieve for patients and “how” we will go about achieving those goals.
The “how” is represented by four simple, powerful values—courage, excellence, equity, and joy—that define our company and our culture.
Courage: Breakthroughs start by challenging convention, especially in the face of uncertainty or adversity. This happens when we think big, speak up, and are decisive.
Excellence: We can only change patients’ lives when we perform at our best together. This happens when we focus on what matters, agree who does what, and measure our outcomes.
Equity: We believe that every person deserves to be seen, heard, and cared for. This happens when we are inclusive, act with integrity, and reduce healthcare disparities.
Joy: We give ourselves to our work, but it also gives to us. We find joy when we take pride, recognize one another, and have fun.
Pfizer Digital
Pfizer Digital takes immense pride in being at the forefront of innovation, harnessing cutting-edge smart technology that profoundly impacts the lives of our patients.
With the transformative potential of digital solutions, we revolutionize how we discover, develop, and deliver medicines, enabling us to achieve breakthroughs faster and more efficiently.
By streamlining and automating transactional processes, we create valuable time and resources, empowering our talented team to focus on meaningful work that truly makes a difference in healthcare and beyond.
Benefits at Pfizer
Pfizer offers competitive compensation and benefits programs designed to meet the diverse needs of our colleagues. Our Pay for Performance Philosophy and Practices reward colleagues based on the contributions they make to our business.
Our Competitive Benefits Programs help our colleagues by:
- Promoting Health and Wellness to help colleagues maintain and improve their physical and mental wellbeing. Pfizer offerings include health and disability insurance, preventative health programs, medical screenings, free or reduced-cost vaccinations, discounts on Pfizer products, mental health support, nutrition and fitness counseling and more.
- Strengthening Colleagues’ Financial Security by providing company contributions to retirement plans, life insurance and financial planning education to help colleagues achieve their financial goals.
- Providing Benefits and Time off for the Moments that Matter to ensure Pfizer colleagues have the time away from the office to recharge, recover and return to work as the best version of themselves. Vacation, Holiday time and Sick time are just the beginning, with a 12 week parental leave policy for both parents of a new born, 10 day of caregiver leave for those times when your family needs you whether it’s a child, spouse or parent, bereavement leave, and additional country-specific programs.
- And so much more, depending on your country and site, Pfizer offers childcare facilities or discount programs, on-site health and/or fitness centers, movement and mindfulness solutions, “Log in for your Day” work flexibility and so much more.
For U.S. based jobs, view an overview of Pfizer’s U.S. benefits program (opens in a new window)