Process Automation Principal Engineer

At Elanco (NYSE: ELAN) – it all starts with animals!

As a global leader in animal health, we are dedicated to innovation and delivering products and services to prevent and treat disease in farm animals and pets. At Elanco, we are driven by our vision of Food and Companionship Enriching Life and our purpose – all to Go Beyond for Animals, Customers, Society and Our People.

At Elanco, we pride ourselves on fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment. We believe that diversity is the driving force behind innovation, creativity, and overall business success. Here, you’ll be part of a company that values and champions new ways of thinking, work with dynamic individuals, and acquire new skills and experiences that will propel your career to new heights.

Making animals’ lives better makes life better – join our team today!

Driven by the quickening pace of innovation, Animal Health is on the verge of a revolution, powered by digital business models, technology and data.

Elanco IT is a catalyst for change, partnering to identify and deliver transformative solutions to solve our biggest business problems .

This includes four strategic priorities :

Pipeline Acceleration: Optimise the search and approval of high impact medicines with a focus on speed, cost and precision.

Manufacturing Excellence: Improve the efficiency, quality and consistency of core manufacturing processes, specifically execution and equipment effectiveness.

Sales Effectiveness: Simplify the process to find, trust and consume relevant customer insights that drive sales growth and improved engagement.

Productivity: Expand operating margin through efficiency by systematically reducing our operating expenses across the company, improving profitability.

Your role:

As a Process Automation Principal Engineer, you will be the lead technical expert and a hands-on mentor within our engineering team.

You will be responsible for tackling our most complex automation challenges, setting the standard for quality, and guiding other engineers in building sophisticated solutions.

This role is for a seasoned, pragmatic leader who excels at both high-level design and expert-level implementation, acting as the crucial link between architectural vision and engineering execution.

Your Responsibilities:

• Lead Complex Implementations: Personally design, develop, and deliver the most challenging and high-impact automation projects, setting a benchmark for technical excellence.

• Mentor and Guide Engineers: Act as a technical leader and mentor for other automation engineers, providing guidance through code reviews, pair programming, and sharing expert knowledge.

• Champion Best Practices: Drive the adoption and refinement of development standards, design patterns, and best practices within the team, ensuring consistency and quality in all solutions.

• Act as a Final Escalation Point: Serve as the ultimate technical authority for troubleshooting and resolving the most difficult production issues and system-wide challenges.

• Technical Design and Review: Lead technical design sessions and peer reviews for complex automation workflows, ensuring solutions are scalable, resilient, and maintainable.

• Contribute to Strategy: Provide critical, hands-on feedback to the Process Automation Architect on tooling, platform capabilities, and potential new technologies to influence the long-term strategy.

• Optimise the Ecosystem: Proactively identify and lead initiatives to refactor, optimize , and improve the overall health and performance of the existing automation portfolio.

What You Need to Succeed (minimum qualifications):

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related field preferred.

• Hands-On Experience: Proven track record in developing, deploying, and maintaining complex automation solutions at enterprise scale.

• Tooling Expertise: Deep experience building automation with bots, workflows, and integrations using modern programmatic methods (e.g., APIs).

• Programming Skills: Proficient in scripting/programming languages like JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, PowerShell, or Bash.

• Cloud Proficiency: Practical experience with Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, and their automation services (e.g., Azure Logic Apps).

• DevSecOps: Knowledge of CI/CD, Git SCM, containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), and Infrastructure-as-Code (Terraform).

• System-Level Thinking: Skilled at designing solutions with complex integrations across multiple systems using APIs and other methods.

• Model Context Protocol: Leadership in frameworks enabling AI integration with external tools and data sources.

• Technical Leadership: Experienced in mentoring engineers, leading projects, and serving as a technical expert.

• Architectural Acumen: Ability to translate architectural designs into detailed technical plans and code.

• Advanced Troubleshooting: Strong diagnostic skills for resolving complex, multi-system issues.

• Problem-Solving: Proven ability to deliver practical, effective solutions to complex business challenges.

• Industry Knowledge: Solid understanding of life sciences, regulatory compliance, and machine learning applications.

• Communication: Effective verbal and written skills for collaboration within technical teams.

Additional Information:

• Travel: 0-10%

• Location: Hook, UK – Hybrid Work Environment

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown underrepresented groups are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Elanco we are dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive work environment. If you think you might be a good fit for a role but don\’t necessarily meet every requirement, we encourage you to apply. You may be the right candidate for this role or other roles!

Elanco is an EEO/Affirmative Action Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, protected veteran status, disability or any other legally protected status