Instrument & Controls Engineer

Our Frederick Manufacturing Center (FMC) creates life-changing medicines for people around the world and has been recognized by our local community as being a Top 50’ Business in Frederick and awarded Frederick County’s ‘Best Place to Work’. This distinctive biologic manufacturing facility, with over 800 employees, makes a direct contribution to treating people with cancer, respiratory and autoimmune conditions across the globe. We work hard to deliver life-changing medicines to patients, and we take time to have fun and celebrate our accomplishments. From catered site festivities to competitive events, community outreach activities, environmental and wellness showcases and team-building functions, we take time to recognize our achievements and celebrate our diversity. We are dedicated to creating a culture of inclusion and collaboration and are committed to continuous learning by offering ongoing skill building and training for our staff. Fueled by our aspiration to deliver accelerated growth for our company and to make people’s lives better, there’s never been a more exciting time to join the team and shape the future of AstraZeneca Operations.

The Instrument Engineer is responsible for the lifecycle management, reliability, specification, troubleshooting, configuration, and technical ownership of process control instrumentation used across manufacturing, laboratory, utility, and facility systems. The Instrument Engineer will provides the field-device expertise needed to ensure that instrumentation and its control-system interfaces perform as intended.

The role supports existing DeltaV and Rockwell process control systems, Siemens EMS/BMS, and new projects by applying engineering expertise to field instrumentation, analytical instruments, smart instruments, control-system interfaces, and associated hardware and software. The Instrument Engineer works closely with Automation Engineering, Process Engineering, Facilities Engineering, Reliability Engineering, Maintenance, Manufacturing, Metrology, Quality, and external suppliers to ensure that instrumentation is appropriately selected, installed, configured, maintained, documented, and operated in accordance with design requirements and applicable GMP, safety, quality, and company standards.

The Instrument Engineer serves as the technical owner for assigned instrumentation and is accountable for maintaining the associated engineering documentation, configuration records, approved software and firmware information, and recoverable backups for smart or configurable instruments.

Job Responsibilities

• In this role the Instrument & Controls Engineer will support stand alone instruments and instrumentation integrated with DeltaV or Rockwell platforms associated with Process manufacturing, facility, and central utilities equipment. In addition the role will support instrumentation and provide guidance to associated with the sites EMS/BMS system.
• In this role the Instrument & Controls Engineer will support stand alone instruments and instrumentation integrated with the sites EMS/BMS system and support the EMS/BMS engineer during system design.
• Troubleshoot analog, digital, smart, analytical, and networked instruments and their interfaces with distributed control systems, programmable logic controllers, building management systems, and other automation platforms. Diagnose issues involving field devices, wiring, junction boxes, barriers, signal conditioning, input/output hardware, communication networks, controllers, control logic, software configuration, and process conditions.
• Provide technical leadership during instrument failures, recurring performance issues, communication faults, inaccurate measurements, device alarms, calibration failures, and instrument-related manufacturing or utility events. Partner with Automation Engineers and technical support teams to distinguish instrument, control-system, network, software, and process-related causes.
• Serve as the engineering owner for assigned instruments throughout their lifecycle. Maintain accurate instrument inventories and technical records, including tag numbers, manufacturers, models, serial numbers, ranges, materials of construction, communication protocols, firmware, software, configuration, system location, criticality, and maintenance requirements.
• Specify and select instrumentation for new installations, replacements, upgrades, and improvement projects in collaboration with Automation Engineering, Process Engineering, Facilities Engineering, Manufacturing, Metrology, and other stakeholders. Develop or contribute to user requirements, instrument data sheets, equipment specifications, instrument indexes, functional requirements, and procurement documentation.
• Evaluate instrument suitability based on measurement range, accuracy, repeatability, response time, process compatibility, materials of construction, sanitary and cleanability requirements, environmental conditions, hazardous-area requirements, maintainability, calibration capability, communication protocols, cybersecurity considerations, lifecycle support, and compatibility with site standards.
• Review supplier documentation, technical quotations, drawings, manuals, certificates, and configuration information. Support technical bid evaluations, supplier selection, factory and site acceptance testing, installation verification, loop checks, commissioning, qualification, and project closeout.
• Establish and maintain configuration-management practices for smart instruments and other devices containing configurable software, parameters, firmware, application files, or device-specific settings. Maintain approved configuration records, including device parameters, ranges, alarms, diagnostics, communication settings, security settings, and other applicable configuration attributes.
• Maintain current, controlled, and recoverable backups for smart instruments and instruments containing configurable software or firmware. Define backup requirements, file naming, storage locations, access controls, retention periods, verification activities, and restoration procedures. Update and verify backups following approved configuration changes, firmware upgrades, device replacement, or re-commissioning.
• Maintain records of firmware versions, approved configuration tools, device descriptions, electronic files, licenses, programming interfaces, and other information necessary to restore or replace supported instruments. Coordinate with Automation Engineering and Information Technology, as appropriate, to align instrument backups with site automation backup and disaster-recovery practices.
• Provide engineering support for preventive maintenance, predictive maintenance, calibration, inspection, and repair strategies. Establish or review maintenance and calibration intervals based on instrument criticality, historical performance, process requirements, risk, and regulatory expectations.
• Provide engineering support to Reliability Engineering for instrumentation Asset Lifecycle Management.
• Support Metrology and I&C Technicians with calibration methods, acceptance criteria, device-specific requirements, troubleshooting guidance, recommended spare parts, and return-to-service requirements. Review calibration failures, out-of-tolerance conditions, repeated discrepancies, and adverse performance trends to determine appropriate corrective actions.
• Recommend repairs, replacements, upgrades, preferred devices, spare parts, specialized tools, service agreements, and obsolescence plans to improve reliability, maintainability, standardization, and lifecycle cost.
• Support automation, process, facilities, manufacturing, and capital projects involving instrumentation and control systems. Provide instrumentation input to P&IDs, control narratives, functional specifications, design reviews, equipment specifications, commissioning plans, and qualification documentation.
• Review instrument locations, installation details, accessibility, environmental protection, cleanability, tubing and wiring arrangements, maintainability, and compatibility with process and facility requirements. Ensure project deliverables include complete and accurate instrument documentation, approved configurations, backups, spare-parts information, and maintenance requirements.
• Perform work in compliance with applicable company policies, engineering standards, safety requirements, GMP expectations, data-integrity principles, and validated-system procedures. Support change controls, deviations, investigations, corrective and preventive actions, risk assessments, commissioning, qualification, validation, and requalification activities.
• Assess the potential impact of instrument changes on product quality, process control, data integrity, safety, validated state, and regulatory commitments. Ensure that changes to instrument hardware, software, firmware, parameters, and configurations are reviewed, approved, tested, documented, and traceable.
• Maintain complete, accurate, and current engineering and quality documentation in approved document-management, maintenance-management, and automation systems. Provide technical support during audits, inspections, supplier assessments, investigations, and quality reviews.
• Act as the primary instrumentation liaison between Automation Engineering and Process Engineering, Facilities Engineering, Manufacturing, Maintenance, Metrology, Quality, Validation, Operations, vendors, and contractors. Provide technical direction, knowledge transfer, and training related to instrument selection, troubleshooting, configuration management, backup and restoration, maintenance, calibration, and lifecycle management.
• Identify opportunities to improve instrument reliability, standardization, maintainability, documentation, system performance, and operational efficiency while ensuring that instrumentation remains compliant, supportable, and fit for its intended use.
• kup and restoration, maintenance, calibration, and lifecycle management.
• Conduct activities and interactions consistent with Company values and in compliance with the Code of Conduct and supporting Policies and Standards relevant to your role. Complete all required training on the AZ Code of Conduct and supporting Policies and Standards on time. Report potential issues of non-compliance.

Essential/Required Qualifications, Skills and Experience

• High school diploma or equivalent or High school diploma or GED, Bachelors degree, BA/BS degree, Bachelors degree or 4 additional years of work experience in lieu of degree AA or 2 additional years of work experience in lieu of a degree
• Bachelor’s degree in Instrumentation Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Controls Engineering, Automation Engineering, or a related discipline; Associate degree combined with significant directly relevant experience may be considered.
• Comprehensive knowledge of industrial instrumentation, control-system interfaces, measurement principles, installation practices, and failure modes.
• Ability to select practical, reliable, maintainable, and compliant instrumentation for complex process and facility applications.- Familiarity with HART, Foundation Fieldbus, DeviceNet, EtherNet/IP, OPC, Modbus, or comparable communication protocols.
• Understanding of GMP, validated systems, data integrity, change control, deviation management, and good documentation practices.
• Experience developing engineering standards, instrument libraries, preferred-device lists, or maintenance strategies.

Desired Requirements

• Experience troubleshooting field instruments and their interfaces with distributed control systems, programmable logic controllers, building management systems, or other automation platforms.
• Bachelor’s degree in Instrumentation Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Controls Engineering, Automation Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related discipline with 8-10 years experience with process instrumentation and industrial automation
• Experience with DeltaV, Rockwell Automation programmable logic controllers, Allen-Bradley PowerFlex or comparable variable-frequency drives, and industrial automation networks.
• Experience with HART, Foundation Fieldbus, DeviceNet, EtherNet/IP, OPC, Modbus, or comparable communication protocols.
• Experience with computerized maintenance management systems and computerized calibration management systems such as SAP and CMX.
• ISA Certified Control Systems Technician certification or comparable professional certification.
• Experience with instrument access control, configuration governance, or disaster recovery.

Key Relationships to reach solutions

• Ability to work effectively with Automation, Process, Facilities, Manufacturing, Maintenance, Metrology, Quality, vendors, and contractors.
• Ability to explain complex technical issues clearly to both technical and nontechnical stakeholders.
• Provide effective technical partnership to Automation Engineering, Process Engineering, Facilities Engineering, Manufacturing, Maintenance, Metrology, and Quality.
• Demonstrate consistent adherence to AstraZeneca values, applicable policies, safety requirements, and regulatory expectations.

• Ability to work effectively with suppliers, integrators, vendors, and contractors.

The annual base pay (or hourly rate of compensation) for this position ranges from $5101,643 - $152,464. Hourly and salaried non-exempt employees will also be paid overtime pay when working qualifying overtime hours. Base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. In addition, our positions offer a short-term incentive bonus opportunity; eligibility to participate in our equity-based long-term incentive program (salaried roles), to receive a retirement contribution (hourly roles), and commission payment eligibility (sales roles). Benefits offered included a qualified retirement program [401(k) plan]; paid vacation and holidays; paid leaves; and, health benefits including medical, prescription drug, dental, and vision coverage in accordance with the terms and conditions of the applicable plans. Additional details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment. If hired, employee will be in an “at-will position” and the Company reserves the right to modify base pay (as well as any other discretionary payment or compensation program) at any time, including for reasons related to individual performance, Company or individual department/team performance, and market factors.

Date Posted

30-Oct-2026

Closing Date

12-Nov-2026

Our mission is to build an inclusive environment where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and employees. In furtherance of that mission, we welcome and consider applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of their protected characteristics. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please complete the corresponding section in the application form.