Sr Principal Program Manager, Manufacturing Solutions

We are seeking a highly motivated, results-driven, and team-oriented professional to oversee the strategic priorities and operational programs for our Milford Manufacturing Operations. This pivotal leadership role is responsible for managing and executing the site’s overall portfolio—including strategic insourcing and outsourcing, technology transfers, manufacturing redesign initiatives, and automation integration projects.

The successful candidate will operate with a high level of autonomy, exercising sound judgment and strategic thinking to drive complex initiatives forward with minimal oversight. As a key orchestrator, the successful candidate will align cross-functional teams and external partners to ensure seamless collaboration and successful delivery of high-impact initiatives. This position works closely with stakeholders from manufacturing engineering, supply chain, procurement, quality, and operations leadership to ensure alignment with strategic business goals and operational excellence. They will leverage expertise in process optimization, lean manufacturing, and systems integration to identify opportunities for automation, insourcing, outsourcing, new technology application etc. and design cost-effective solutions, and oversee implementation from concept to completion.

The right candidate will possess budget management experience, strong leadership abilities, program management and process excellence background, have demonstrated experience leading large, complex initiatives involving multiple technologies, teams and cross-functional processes. This hands-on position requires dynamic leadership, excellent interpersonal skills, problem solving, critical thinking, risk management as well as a compelling development of business cases to see the organization succeed.

• Ensure all initiatives carried out with Zero injury, through effective risk assessment, management of change and risk mitigation. Champion a mentally safe environment for all employees and coworkers.
• Establish and maintain project management standards, tools, and best practices in MIL, while creating project culture and mindset across the functions and project owners.
• Works directly with all project business sponsors to articulate expected outcome, establishing metrics for measuring success ensuring that projects deliver value.
• Key inputs to define digitalization / automation 3-5 years roadmap aimed to improve safety, quality and/or productivity. Define capital requirements, gain approvals based on robust business cases and execute initiatives to achieve project success criteria.
• Work with IT, Business Partners, R&D, and Global Operations functions to develop and deploy appropriate technological advancements (automation/alternative processing technologies etc.) and digital solutions to drive our efficient use of resources (capital, human and working capital).
• Own capital investment cadence and ensuring cash flow is in consistency with project execution.
• Provide cadence and control of Milford Operations’ Capital Expenditure, Ensuring discipline around appropriation and spending.
• Establish long-range capacity (space, resources, capital) planning / modeling for Milford Operations.
• Lead cross-functional teams and generate project plans to ensure that activities and deliverables are executed in a timely manner and to budget. Work planning and time estimation expected across all phases of the project.
• Prioritize needs and effectively schedule projects and resources to support multiple projects in parallel.
• Report to Operations Management on a regular basis regarding program status, barriers, actions, and requests.
• Enable and accelerate deployment of Lean Operating System and support a CI mindset to improve processes and behaviors.
• Identify risks that could become a barrier and address those risks accordingly to make sure execution. Mitigation plans around critical path shall be defined with the cross-functional team. Identify project interdependencies to ensure proper execution and planning.
• Experience with estimating costs for capital equipment (materials, labor, and engineering) for processing automation.
• Identify opportunities for automation and scope out projects and develop comprehensive specifications to build custom automated machines and tools. Manage projects from concept through completion.
• Perform research, review and develop manufacturing equipment and automation systems maximizing efficiencies, analyzing layout of equipment, workflow, assembly methods and work force utilization.
• Develop documentation related to automation and systems for standard operation, validation FAT, SAT, preventive maintenance, and troubleshooting.
• Ability to handle large scale automation projects for various departments, and comfortable managing multiple concurrent projects.

• Bachelor of Science, Mechanical, Electrical, Industrial or Manufacturing Engineering degree required; Advanced degree preferred.
• Comprehensive Knowledge of process automation and control components, motion and logic controls and equipment design.
• Machine safety implementation across semi, fully automated equipment.
• Experience with Allen-Bradley (Control Logix, Compact Logix, PanelView), equivalent Siemens products and industrial communication networks (Ethernet IP, Modbus TCP, Profibus), Vision systems, steppers, servo, robotics pneumatics, and electronics.
• 12+ years of dynamic experience in program and project management with a consistent record of successfully completing large-scale programs delivering technological introduction and/or manufacturing evolution changes producing expected results.
• Project Management experience: PMP certification preferred. Scrum Master certifications a plus.
• Ability to analyze sophisticated situations, identify challenges, and propose actionable solutions.
• Change management experience required.
• Strong leadership skills, self-directed and the ability to make independent decisions and influence change
• Excellent organizational, interpersonal, verbal, written and presentation skills to communicate consistently and effectively.
• Proficiency with SAP and Microsoft applications required
• Passion for continuous improvement and operational excellence
• Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts and drive corrective actions
• Familiarity with cGMP, ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 13485:2016 is highly desired

Waters Corporation (NYSE:WAT) is a global leader in analytical instruments, separations technologies, and software, serving the life, materials, food, and environmental sciences for over 65 years. Our Company helps ensure the efficacy of medicines, the safety of food and the purity of water, and the quality and sustainability of products used every day. In over 100 countries, our 7,600+ passionate employees collaborate with customers in laboratories, manufacturing sites, and hospitals to accelerate the benefits of pioneering science. 

Diversity and inclusion are fundamental to our core values at Waters Corporation. It benefits our employees, our products, our customers and our community. Waters complies with all applicable federal, state, and local laws. Qualified applicants are considered without regard to sex, race, color, ancestry, national origin, citizenship status, religion, age, marital status (including civil unions), military service, veteran status, pregnancy (including childbirth and related medical conditions), genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, legally recognized disability, domestic violence victim status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Waters is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. All hiring decisions are based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs at the time.