Digital Core Deployment Lead

Digital Core Deployment Lead
Location: Near Albany, NY
Salary Range: $150,000 – $175,000
Employment Type: Full-Time
Work Arrangement: Hybrid / On-Site Manufacturing Environment
Lead Enterprise Digital Transformation in a Manufacturing Environment
Our well known and established client is seeking an experienced Digital Core Deployment Lead to drive the successful deployment of enterprise digital manufacturing systems within a major U.S.-based manufacturing operation.

This is a highly visible leadership role responsible for delivering a validated Digital Core platform into a live GMP-regulated manufacturing environment. The successful candidate will oversee deployment execution from planning and site readiness through validation, commissioning, cutover, and go-live.

This is not a system design or template development role. The focus is on operational deployment excellence—ensuring a proven global digital template is successfully implemented within a complex manufacturing environment while meeting validation, quality, and capital project requirements.

Reporting to global leadership, this position offers significant autonomy and requires an individual who can independently lead large-scale deployment initiatives while coordinating global, regional, and site-level stakeholders. Position Overview
The Digital Core Deployment Lead will serve as the primary owner of an assigned manufacturing process area deployment. This individual will manage all deployment activities, coordinate cross-functional teams, oversee site readiness, and ensure alignment between global template teams and local manufacturing operations.

The ideal candidate possesses extensive experience delivering digital manufacturing platforms within pharmaceutical, biotech, biologics, or highly regulated industrial environments and understands how to balance technical requirements, validation expectations, operational realities, and project timelines. Key Responsibilities
End-to-End Deployment Leadership

• Own the complete Digital Core deployment lifecycle for an assigned manufacturing process area
• Lead deployment execution from template acceptance through commissioning and production go-live
• Drive successful adoption of validated enterprise digital solutions within operational manufacturing environments
• Ensure deployment activities align with both global program objectives and site operational requirements
• Support deployment governance and major milestone reviews throughout the project lifecycle

Integrated Planning & Program Execution

• Develop, maintain, and manage the Integrated Master Schedule (IMS)
• Align deployment activities with:
  • Capital project timelines
  • Facility readiness milestones
  • Validation schedules
  • Global template release schedules
• Manage critical dependencies and ensure cross-functional alignment across all workstreams
• Monitor schedule performance and proactively address risks impacting delivery

Template Coordination & Release Management

• Partner with global Digital Core teams to coordinate deployment of validated template releases
• Track and manage release readiness milestones
• Facilitate formal release acceptance processes
• Coordinate site-level acceptance testing activities
• Review and approve deployment readiness packages
• Ensure deployment deliverables meet operational and compliance requirements

Site Readiness Leadership

• Lead site readiness activities across multiple technical and operational domains
• Coordinate readiness for:
  • Infrastructure deployment
  • System configuration
  • Master data management
  • Integration testing
  • User readiness
  • Deployment preparation
• Ensure all technical and operational prerequisites are completed before deployment milestones

Enterprise Systems & Manufacturing Technology Integration
Provide leadership across both IT and Operational Technology (OT) environments, including:
Digital Manufacturing Platforms

• ERP systems
• Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)
• Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS)
• Enterprise Asset Management Systems (EAM)

Manufacturing & Automation Technologies

• Process automation platforms
• Shop-floor systems
• Industrial data integration environments
• Manufacturing control systems
• Production reporting and monitoring solutions

Stakeholder Management

• Serve as the primary liaison between:
  • Global deployment teams
  • Site leadership
  • Operations
  • Engineering
  • Quality Assurance
  • Automation teams
  • Capital project stakeholders
• Facilitate cross-functional decision-making and issue resolution
• Build strong relationships across technical and business functions

Validation, Quality & Compliance

• Ensure deployment activities comply with:
  • GMP requirements
  • Computer Software Assurance (CSA)
  • GAMP 5 principles
  • Computer System Validation (CSV) expectations
• Coordinate validation planning and execution activities
• Support quality reviews and compliance audits
• Ensure deployment documentation meets regulatory standards

Governance, Risk & Reporting

• Maintain comprehensive program governance documentation, including:
  • RAID logs
  • RAG status reporting
  • Decision logs
  • Dependency tracking
• Escalate risks and resource conflicts proactively
• Deliver executive-level reporting and deployment status updates
• Support go-live readiness assessments and go/no-go decision processes

Continuous Improvement & Playbook Development

• Capture lessons learned throughout deployment activities
• Recommend improvements to deployment methodologies
• Enhance deployment playbooks and implementation frameworks
• Document reusable assets, best practices, validation approaches, and integration patterns for future deployments
• Contribute to global deployment excellence initiatives

Qualifications
Required Experience

• 10+ years of experience leading enterprise digital system deployments within:
  • Pharmaceutical manufacturing
  • Biotechnology
  • Biologics manufacturing
  • Highly regulated life sciences environments
• Proven success managing end-to-end deployment initiatives including:
  • Planning
  • Testing
  • Validation
  • Site readiness
  • Cutover
  • Go-live execution
• Experience supporting manufacturing expansion, greenfield, brownfield, or major capital project environments

Enterprise Systems Experience
Strong experience with digital manufacturing ecosystems including:

• ERP platforms
• MES systems
• LIMS solutions
• EAM systems
• Enterprise integration environments
• Manufacturing data platforms

Operational Technology Experience
Working knowledge of manufacturing automation and shop-floor technologies, including:

• DeltaV
• Ignition
• Plant Bus environments
• Automation integration architectures
• Manufacturing control systems

Regulatory & Validation Knowledge
Strong understanding of:

• GMP regulations
• GAMP 5
• Computer System Validation (CSV)
• Computer Software Assurance (CSA)
• Change control processes
• Quality management systems

Program Management Expertise
Demonstrated experience with:

• Integrated Master Schedule ownership
• RAID management
• RAG reporting
• Governance frameworks
• Dependency management
• Resource coordination
• Executive stakeholder communications
• Go-live readiness assessments

Leadership Skills

• Exceptional stakeholder management abilities
• Experience influencing global and local teams without direct authority
• Strong communication and presentation skills
• Ability to lead highly complex initiatives independently
• Proven ability to drive accountability across matrixed organizations

 
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