[Hiring] Solution Architect @First Quality

Role Description

We are seeking a Solution Architect – Manufacturing Systems for our First Quality Enterprises, LLC company. This position will be remote out of Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Georgia or Ohio. The IT Solution Architect - Manufacturing Systems is responsible for the strategic planning, architecture, implementation, and continuous improvement of manufacturing technology solutions supporting production, quality, material handling automation, and related business operations. This role partners closely with business leaders, Centers of Excellence (COEs), Operations, Engineering, and IT teams to ensure technology investments align with business strategy while delivering secure, reliable, scalable, and supportable solutions. The Solution Architect provides technical leadership across the full solution lifecycle—from business requirements through design, implementation, operational support, and future roadmap planning.

• Business Partnership
  • Serve as the primary IT advisor to Manufacturing, Quality, Warehousing, Logistics, and Automation business leaders.
  • Develop trusted relationships with operational stakeholders.
  • Translate business objectives into technology roadmaps and solution architectures.
  • Facilitate strategic planning for 3–5-year technology initiatives.
• People Manager
  • Manage the assigned Solution Architects and their teams to foster cross domain collaboration.
  • Prioritize Skills Development and knowledge sharing across teams.
  • Align individual and team objectives with measurable business outcomes.
  • Complete all administrative tasks associated with people management with consistency and mindfulness.
• Solution Architecture
  • Lead architecture and design for manufacturing applications and integrations.
  • Ensure solutions are scalable, resilient, secure, and maintainable.
  • Develop and maintain architecture standards and reference models.
  • Evaluate new technologies and recommend adoption where appropriate.
• Manufacturing Systems
  • Provide technical leadership for systems including:
    • Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)
    • Quality Management Systems
    • Material Handling Automation
    • Industrial data historians
    • Shop floor data collection
    • Equipment integrations
    • Operational reporting and analytics
• Project Leadership
  • Support project teams during planning, design, implementation, and deployment.
  • Review low level solution designs for compliance with enterprise architecture standards.
  • Identify technical risks and mitigation strategies.
  • Ensure continuity and successful transition across Plan, Build, Run.
• Governance
  • Establish architecture governance for manufacturing technology.
  • Participate in technology standards and design reviews.
  • Maintain documentation, diagrams, and solution roadmaps.
• Vendor Management
  • Work with software vendors, systems integrators, and equipment suppliers.
  • Participate in software selection and proof-of-concept evaluations.
  • Review Statements of Work and technical deliverables.
  • Build depth via staff augmentation in key business areas.
• Operational Excellence
  • Improve system reliability, availability, and performance.
  • Support business continuity and disaster recovery planning.
  • Identify opportunities to reduce technical debt.
• Mentoring
  • Mentor solution architects, analysts, and solution engineers.
  • Share knowledge across IT teams.
  • Encourage architectural best practices and continuous learning.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.
• 10+ years of experience implementing enterprise manufacturing solutions.
• Experience working directly with manufacturing operations.
• Strong solution architecture and systems integration experience.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional initiatives.
• Travel across all First Quality North American sites is required and is anticipated to be 40-50%.

Preferred Experience

• Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) and Data historians
• Quality Management Systems
• Industrial Automation
• SAP integration
• Cloud platforms (Azure preferred)
• Knowledge of Integration Capabilities
• Operational Technology (OT)
• Enterprise architecture frameworks

Benefits

• Competitive base salary and bonus opportunities
• Paid time off (three-week minimum)
• Medical, dental and vision starting day one
• 401(k) with employer match
• Paid parental leave
• Child and family care assistance (dependent care FSA with employer match up to $3750)
• Bundle of joy benefit (years’ worth of free diapers to all team members with a new baby)
• Tuition assistance
• Wellness program with savings of up to $4,000 per year on insurance premiums
• ...and more!