Senior Manager, Digital Manufacturing Systems (MES, AI & Industry 4.0)

Global leader responsible for MES, smart manufacturing, digital factory transformation, and AI-enabled manufacturing operations. Define and execute the enterprise MES strategy across our global manufacturing network. Own the vision, architecture, roadmap, and end-to-end delivery of modern MES capabilities in a deliberately hybrid landscape - where COTS, custom-built, and legacy systems each play a role chosen on the merits of the problem. Champion a fit-for-purpose philosophy: leverage COTS where it accelerates time-to-value, and invest in custom or in-house solutions where differentiated process know-how, speed of iteration, or unique manufacturing physics demand it. Enable manufacturing operations with AI by embedding intelligence into MES workflows, decisions, and the operator experience., Strategy & Architecture

• Define and evolve the multi-year MES strategy and ISA-95-aligned reference architecture supporting Industry 4.0 and the digital-thread vision.
• Establish a fit-for-purpose sourcing framework guiding COTS-vs-custom-vs-configure decisions case by case - weighing differentiation, TCO, change agility, supplier viability, and the value of internal IP.
• Preserve and modernize strategic in-house assets that encode proprietary process expertise; pursue standardization where it pays (data models, integration contracts, identity, observability, security, DevOps) without forcing convergence onto a single MES product.
• Architect for composable MES: stable cores plus best-fit specialized modules and custom extensions.

Solution Delivery

• Own end-to-end delivery (discovery ? hypercare ? run & maintain) using DevOps and product-team operating models, with distinct playbooks for COTS, custom builds, and legacy modernization (strangler-fig).
• Manage scope, schedule, budget, risk, and benefits realization across concurrent global rollouts; establish engineering standards, DevOps/CI-CD, and OT-grade change control for both COTS configuration and custom code.

AI Enablement of Manufacturing Operations

• Define and execute the AI-for-Manufacturing roadmap integrated with MES - yield, throughput, quality, maintenance, scheduling, and energy.
• Embed AI/ML and generative-AI directly into MES workflows: intelligent dispatching, anomaly detection, virtual metrology, run-to-run control, recipe optimization, and automated root-cause analysis.
• Enable agentic and copilot experiences for operators, engineers, and supervisors; champion closed-loop AI with explainability and human-in-the-loop controls.
• Establish responsible-AI practices for the shop floor (validation, drift monitoring, change control, traceability) and ensure MES is a first-class producer/consumer of the manufacturing data fabric.

Integration, Data, Team & Stakeholders

• Architect integrations across MES ? ERP (SAP S/4HANA), PLM, QMS, LIMS, WMS, SCADA/DCS/PLC, Historians (PI), APC/FDC, and EDA; drive SEMI standards adoption (SECS/GEM, GEM300, EDA, E10/E30/E40/E90/E94/E142).
• Build and lead a globally distributed team (architects, engineers, BAs, product owners) and a multi-vendor ecosystem of MES vendors, SIs, AI/ML partners, and managed-service providers.
• Partner with Manufacturing, Quality, Supply Chain, IT/OT Security, and Data & AI; communicate strategy, progress, and value to executive leadership and lead change management for AI-assisted operations.
• Ensure OT cybersecurity (IEC 62443, NIST CSF, Purdue), AI governance, BCDR, and 24×7 resilience for shop-floor-critical systems.

• 10+ years in manufacturing IT/OT with significant experience delivering MES in semiconductor, electronics, or comparably complex industries; as well as leading globally distributed teams and multi-vendor programs.
• Track record deploying or modernizing MES at multiple sites - combining COTS implementations with custom or in-house engineering, including at least one greenfield and one legacy-modernization effort.
• Hands-on experience with leading MES platforms (e.g., Critical Manufacturing, AVEVA, TrackSys, Rockwell FactoryTalk, GE Proficy, iBASEt, Tulip) and with custom-application (Microsoft Power Automate, Visio, microservices, event-driven, modern web/UX).
• Tangible experience bringing AI/ML or GenAI into manufacturing operations beyond pilots; familiarity with MLOps, agentic workflows, RAG, and human-in-the-loop design.
• ISA-95 / ISA-88 knowledge; SECS/GEM, OPC UA, APC/FDC, R2R, recipe management, dispatching/RTD, and genealogy/traceability; SAP integration patterns; modern cloud (Azure / AWS / GCP), containers, Kafka, MQTT Sparkplug B.
• Proven Agile/SAFe leadership at scale; strong commercial acumen (RFx, contracts, vendor governance, build-vs-buy analysis); excellent executive communication.
• Bachelor's in Computer Science or Engineering discipline required; Master's or MBA preferred.
• Fluent English required.

Preferred

• Direct experience with semiconductor, advanced packaging, or specialty-materials flows; PMP / SAFe / TOGAF / ISA-95 / ISA/IEC 62443 certifications; AI/ML or cloud-AI certifications.
• Operator copilots or agentic-AI assistants in production; digital-thread / digital-twin programs; low-code platforms (Tulip, Mendix); GxP / ISO 9001 / IATF 16949 / AS9100 environments; participation in SEMI, MESA, or OPC Foundation.

At Qnity , we're more than a global leader in materials and solutions for advanced electronics and high-tech industries - we're a tight-knit team that is motivated by new possibilities, and always up for a challenge. All our dedicated teams contribute to making cutting-edge technology possible. We value forward-thinking challengers, boundary-pushers, and diverse perspectives across all our departments, because we know we play a critical role in the world enabling faster progress for all. Learn how you can start or jumpstart your career with us.