Devices Support Specialist - (Pharma Operations)

Title: Application & Devices Support Specialist - (Pharma Operations)
Location: 1st: Philadelphia, PA
2nd: Wilson, NC 27893
Type: Long Term Contract role

Summary
We are seeking an experienced Application & Specialty Device Support Specialist to manage green field manufacturing site implementation capital project, with responsibilities spanning across multiple common pharmaceutical applications across lab, production, and warehouse environments. This role owns day-to-day application manages activities, coordinates vendor relationships, drives application lifecycle activities (onboarding, change, retirement), ensures applications meet security and compliance requirements, and documents a clear CMDB-backed support model and runbooks. The specialist will collaborate closely with global teams, business teams, Lab SMEs, OT, Automation, and other facility stakeholders and may act as first-line support depending on the application. This role will also interface with hand held specialty devices (RF GUNS, Handheld devices) and require coordinating with SME''''s on support and deploy.

Key Responsibilities
Manage application infrastructure enablement for  lab, production, and warehouse areas, including troubleshooting incidents, triage, and remediation.
Serve as primary liaison to application vendors: manage tickets, coordinate escalations, track SLAs and validate vendor deliverables.
Maintain and enforce a documented support model for each application, including roles/responsibilities, escalation paths, and contact lists.
Ensure all applications are recorded and maintained in the CMDB (Configuration Management Database) as configuration items with up-to-date attributes, owners, and dependencies.
Create and maintain runbooks, SOPs, knowledge articles, and standard operating procedures for supportable applications and common failure modes.
Own application lifecycle activities: requirements intake, deployment coordination, change control participation, validation testing (where applicable), decommissioning planning.
Lead or participate in security and compliance reviews for applications (access control, patching, vulnerability remediation, and security approval workflows).
Provide first-line support for assigned applications when applicable; escalate to global or vendor teams per documented processes.
Coordinate with global application teams, lab operations, OT/Automation engineers, QA, and IT infrastructure teams to ensure smooth operation and integration.
Monitor application health, logs, and alerts; recommend and implement improvements to stability and performance.
Support releases and scheduled maintenance windows; verify post-deployment success and rollback plans.
Contribute to incident and problem management processes, including RCA documentation and corrective/preventive actions.
Participate in audits and readiness activities, support evidence collection and remediation tracking.
Hands on support of specialty devices (RF Guns, handheld scanners)

Required Qualifications
3+ years of hands-on experience supporting enterprise applications in regulated manufacturing or laboratory environments (pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device preferred).
Practical experience working onsite in lab, production or warehouse environments and comfortable following safety and PPE procedures.
Familiarity with CMDB and ITSM processes and tools; experience maintaining application records and mapping dependencies.
Experience managing and deploying RF Guns, Scanners and other specialty devices at large scale.
Strong troubleshooting skills across application, OS, and network layers; experience reading logs and using monitoring tools.
Experience coordinating with third-party vendors and managing vendor support processes.
Working knowledge of application lifecycle concepts: deployments, change control, validation/qualification practices in regulated environments.
Good interpersonal and communication skills for cross-functional collaboration and escalation management.
Ability to create clear documentation: runbooks, knowledge base articles, support matrices.

Preferred Qualifications
Experience with laboratory informatics, MES, LIMS, SCADA/OT systems, or automation control software.
Knowledge of regulatory and security practices relevant to pharma: GxP
Familiarity with ITIL-based incident/change/problem management processes.
Scripting or basic development skills (PowerShell, Python, SQL) for automation and diagnostics.
Certifications: ITIL Foundation, CompTIA Security+, or equivalent.
Prior experience working with global application teams and cross-site coordination.

Skills & Competencies
Analytical problem-solving and root cause analysis.
Clear documentation and knowledge-transfer capability.
Strong stakeholder management and vendor negotiation skills.
Ability to prioritize incidents versus projects under constrained timelines.
Comfortable working independently onsite and as part of virtual/global teams.

Environment & Working Conditions
Onsite presence required at manufacturing/lab facility; regular access to controlled areas with required PPE and training.
Work may involve exposure to manufacturing/chemical/lab environments — must follow all site safety, hygiene, and compliance procedures.

Reporting & Relationships
Reports to the Site IT/Application Manager
Regularly interfaces with: Global Application Centers of Excellence, Lab Operations, OT/Automation, QA/Compliance, Infrastructure, and external vendors.

Success Metrics
On time delivery of all application deployment to meet business deadlines
Mean time to resolution (MTTR) for assigned application incidents.
CMDB completeness and accuracy for supported applications.
Timely completion of runbooks, validation evidence, and security approval tasks.
Vendor SLA compliance and effective escalation handling.
Reduction in repeat incidents through effective RCA and preventive actions.