Automation Engineer - 12-month Secondment / Fixed Term Contract (FTC)

At GSK’s Barnard Castle site, we are looking to recruit an Automat Engineer to join our team.

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.

The automation engineering team provide technical expertise to support the manufacturing automation and control systems for all production operations at across the manufacturing site.  This role would predominantly be site-based (although there are flexible working policies in place).  We provide external training where required and support personal development and progression alongside opportunities for further education and professional registration.

Job Purpose

As an Automation Engineer you will provide technical expertise for all automation and control system activities on new and existing equipment and facilities across the site.  This will include provide support to members of the team, and to making strategic decisions on situations within areas of expertise.
 

Key responsibilities (include.,):

• 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.

• Work alongside cross-functional groups through complex technical challenges and improvement initiatives, ensuring alignment with engineering standards and guides

• Ensure compliance of owned areas with internal and external standards, including OT Security Standards, and build cybersecurity awareness within engineering/production teams

• Review and assess obsolescence risks for the allocated Production Business Unit, collaborating with the Capital Projects team to drive facility improvements

• Maintain and manage the site asset register for automation equipment within the allocated Production Business Unit

• Liaise with central teams to develop new automation technologies and standards, and review supplier performance on costs, compliance, and milestone delivery

• Provide technical expertise to engineering technicians, including assisting with complex equipment failures, CAPA implementation and improvement activities

• Act as the point of contact for production automation support, focusing on equipment performance, with flexibility in working hours as required

• Participate in Continuous Improvement activities, including DMAIC, RCA, and CAPA processes and input into deviations as automation SME.

Please Note:  This secondment / Fixed Term Contract (FTC) is expected to last circa 12-months in duration.  Please ensure you have spoken with your line-manager to ensure they are supportive of your application (this includes a timely-release from your current responsibilities should you be offered the Secondment).

About You

This role is suited to a motivated person with good influencing, communication, and teamworking skills. A successful candidate will have a passion for understanding and mastering a variety of complex automation systems and must have a keen interest in the development and deployment of emerging technologies into beneficial use.

CLOSING DATE for applications:   Friday 15th of May 2026 (COB).

Basic Qualifications / Skills:

• Relevant engineering qualification (eg; Recognised Apprenticeship in Electrical, Instrumentation/Controls Engineering or Computer Science discipline (or similar) or Engineering degree.

• Experience working in a Pharmaceutical or highly regulated industry including Manufacturing Environments.

• Technical and operational knowledge of Automation systems (SCADA, PLC, HMI, Servo, Vision, Field Instrumentation) for off the shelf and bespoke process and production equipment

Preferred Qualifications / Skills:

• Knowledge / experience of Siemens equipment including S5, S7, PCS7, TIA portal and WinCC.

• Appreciation of Operational Technology Cyber Security

If you would like to learn more about our company wide benefits and life at GSK we would suggest looking at our webpage Life at GSK | GSK.

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 at UKRecruitment.Adjustments@gsk.com where you can also request a call.

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  Recruitment FAQ guide. Click the link 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/