Senior Specialist, Central Utilities I&C Engineering

Job Description

Our Company is a global biopharmaceutical leader with a portfolio of prescription medicines, oncology, vaccines, and animal health products. We are driven by our purpose to develop and deliver innovative products that save and improve lives. With employees operating in more than 140 countries, we offer state of the art laboratories, plants and offices that are designed to Inspire our employees as we learn, develop, and grow in our careers. We are proud of our 125 years of service to humanity and continue to be one of the world’s biggest investors in Research & Development.

This position is within the Utilities & Energy Operations (UEO) group responsible for safe, compliant reliable, and cost-effective operation of Powerhouse, Central Plants and Water Facilities. The UEO department is responsible for operations of two combined cycle heat and power plants, five balance of plant boilers, and seven distributed campus chiller plant. The power plant has a generating capacity of 60MW. The boilers have a total steam generating capacity just over 1,00,000 lbs. per hour. Campus chiller plants have a combined capacity of 40,000 tons consisting of combination of steam and electric chillers. Utility & Energy Operations is responsible for providing West Point campus utilities 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. UEO also serves as the afterhours campus emergency response to maintenance issues.

Position Description:

As a member of the Central Utilities Department, the I&C Engineer’s primary role focuses on supporting the department as a technical resource, for the maintenance, troubleshooting, and continuous improvement of instrumentation, control systems, and data systems owned and operated by the department.  This role will be working with system owners, maintenance staff, reliability engineers, and EHS staff to ensure that equipment and systems are maintained or updated to be within corporate requirements and industry best practices. This role will manage expense and capital project portfolio and budget for I&C related projects in the department and ensure robust management of change.  Will be responsible for conducting incident investigations and RCA for control system related issues.  Work with partners in Utilities, Facility Management, Strategy, our Research & Development division, our Manufacturing division, GWES Reliability COE and GES to solve problems and share best practices.

The primary activities include and are not limited to the following:

• Primary owner of Chiller Plant Control Systems and supporting process instrumentation.

• Collaborates and supports other automation systems within Utility & Energy Operations.

• Provide technical engineering insight for the maintenance and troubleshooting of Central Utilities instrumentation and control systems.

• Owns and champions alarm management and cyber security programs, and high-performance HMI development.

• Own and maintain active instrument list.

• Advises and interfaces with union technicians to achieve maintenance and repairs.

• Supports the development and maintenance of engineering and control systems, which may include the following items: drawings, performance parameters, equipment manuals, vendor information and PMs, safe operating limits / standard operating conditions, functional requirement specifications, configuration specifications, and design specifications.

• Manages expense and capital projects related to chiller automation.

• Manages Central Utilities I&C budget and master planning.

• Supports owners in reviewing and making recommendations to operating procedures for utilities and facility systems.

• Participate in/conduct Incident investigations/ Root Cause Analysis and provide timely follow-up of corrective actions.

• Interfaces with internal and external groups (including OEM’s and vendors), gains consensus and contributes to reliable and effective teamwork.

• Leverages vendor support contracts to achieve automation initiatives and goals.

• Leads a sustainable culture of excellence by fostering commitment and engaging employees.

• Support operations and maintenance supervisors in ensuring that system equipment is maintained in compliance with all safety, environmental, and quality requirements.

• Provide backup support to site operations management, Unit 12.

Position Qualifications:

Education Minimum Requirement:

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering (Mechanical, Electrical or related engineering discipline)

Required Experience and Skills :

• Minimum 5 years of control systems / I&C/ automation design and operations experience in power, utilities, chemical, facilities, pharmaceutical or similar industries.

• Experience in automation and technical troubleshooting.

• Ability to handle and prioritize a large number of simultaneous assignments and quickly adapt to changes in business priorities.

• Ability to quickly address issues and develop solutions to minimize compliance risk and improve utility and facility reliability.

• Applied professional work experience which demonstrates knowledge of environmental issues, safety, and regulatory and code compliance (OSHA PSM, EPA RMP, NFPA, ASME, ANSI, ISA, ISO, etc.).

• Experience creating, documenting, and adhering to Business Procedures / Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for purpose of standardization & sustainability.

Preferred Experience and Skills:

• Professional Designation: PE (Professional Engineer), Engineer in Training (EIT) or Certified Automation Professional (CAP).

• Experience with Allen Bradley, Inductive Automation Ignition, ABB Symphony Plus, Infi90, GE MarkVIe, PI, Wonderware.

• Experience with networking systems and communication protocols such as TCIPIP, modbus and bacnet.

• Experience with BAS/HVAC control systems.

• Experience with fault detection software tools and advanced analytics/AI tools.

• Experience developing Job Plans, Preventative Maintenance and Predictive Maintenance Plans utilizing CMMS.

• Experience in coordinating work with bargaining unit personnel and operators.

• Experience in non-destructive testing i.e. Thermography, Ultrasonic and vibration analysis.

• Experience in facilitating alarm rationalization.

• Experience managing budgets, contracts and service agreements.

• Experience with campus wide utility systems and equipment optimization programs.

• Working knowledge of high performance HMI methodology.

• Working knowledge of NFPA 70, 70E, 85. ISA18.2.

• Relevant professional experience supporting pharmaceutical industry, including manufacturing, research labs, pilot plant and utilities operations.

• Minimum of 2 years of experience in executing Capital Projects.

Required Skills:

Adaptability, Adaptability, Capital Project Management, Change Management, Controls Integration, Corrective Maintenance, Data Analysis, Deviation Management, Electrical Engineering, Electromechanical Engineering, Equipment Maintenance, Equipment Monitoring, Equipment Qualification, Equipment Set Up, Facility Maintenance, Facility Management, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), Industrial Machinery Repair, Maintenance Management Systems, Maintenance Services, Maintenance Supervision, NFPA Codes, Occupational Safety and Health, Operational Safety, Operation Maintenance {+ 7 more}

Preferred Skills:

Current Employees apply HERE

Current Contingent Workers apply HERE

US and Puerto Rico Residents Only:

Our company is committed to inclusion, ensuring that candidates can engage in a hiring process that exhibits their true capabilities. Please click here if you need an accommodation during the application or hiring process.

As an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer, we provide equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.  As a federal contractor, we comply with all affirmative action requirements for protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.  For more information about personal rights under the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment laws, visit:

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We are proud to be a company that embraces the value of bringing together, talented, and committed people with diverse experiences, perspectives, skills and backgrounds. The fastest way to breakthrough innovation is when people with diverse ideas, broad experiences, backgrounds, and skills come together in an inclusive environment. We encourage our colleagues to respectfully challenge one another’s thinking and approach problems collectively.

Learn more about your rights, including under California, Colorado and other US State Acts

The salary range for this role is

$117,000.00 - $184,200.00

This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. An employee’s position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, government requirements, and business or organizational needs.

The successful candidate will be eligible for annual bonus and long-term incentive, if applicable.

We offer a comprehensive package of benefits.  Available benefits include medical, dental, vision healthcare and other insurance benefits (for employee and family), retirement benefits, including 401(k), paid holidays, vacation, and compassionate and sick days. More information about benefits is available at https://jobs.merck.com/us/en/compensation-and-benefits.

You can apply for this role through https://jobs.merck.com/us/en (or via the Workday Jobs Hub if you are a current employee). The application deadline for this position is stated on this posting.

San Francisco Residents Only: We will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records for employment in compliance with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance

Los Angeles Residents Only: We will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable state and local laws, including the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance

Search Firm Representatives Please Read Carefully 
Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA, also known as Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, Rahway, NJ, USA, does not accept unsolicited assistance from search firms for employment opportunities. All CVs / resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at our company without a valid written search agreement in place for this position will be deemed the sole property of our company.  No fee will be paid in the event a candidate is hired by our company as a result of an agency referral where no pre-existing agreement is in place. Where agency agreements are in place, introductions are position specific. Please, no phone calls or emails. 

Employee Status:

Regular

Relocation:

No relocation

VISA Sponsorship:

No

Travel Requirements:

10%

Flexible Work Arrangements:

Not Applicable

Shift:

1st - Day

Valid Driving License:

No

Hazardous Material(s):

n/a

Job Posting End Date:

10/1/2026

*A job posting is effective until 11:59:59PM on the day BEFORE the listed job posting end date. Please ensure you apply to a job posting no later than the day BEFORE the job posting end date.