[Hiring] Principal Manufacturing & Semantic Architect @Hexion Careers

Role Description

The Principal Manufacturing & Semantic Architect is a critical leadership role responsible for defining and governing the canonical data and semantic model that underpins Hexion's industrial digital platform. This role will establish how manufacturing assets, processes, materials, and data are consistently represented across:

• Plant systems (OT)
• Enterprise systems (IT)
• Cloud platforms
• AI/ML models
• Customer-facing applications

The successful candidate will bring deep expertise in industrial standards (ISA-95 / ISA-88) and translate complex manufacturing environments into scalable, structured data models that enable interoperability, analytics, and AI.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and Govern the Canonical Manufacturing Data Model
  • Develop and maintain a standardized semantic model aligned with:
    • ISA-95 (enterprise-control integration)
    • ISA-88 (batch/process control)
    • Emerging industry standards (e.g., CFIHOS where applicable)
  • Define core entities including:
    • Assets, equipment hierarchies, and locations
    • Materials, batches, and process segments
    • Operational states, events, and relationships
  • Ensure consistent representation of manufacturing data across all systems.
• Establish Semantic Standards and Data Contracts
  • Define and enforce:
    • Data schemas
    • API and event contracts
    • Naming conventions and units of measure
  • Partner with engineering teams to ensure adherence across:
    • Edge systems
    • Cloud services
    • Integration layers
  • Prevent semantic drift across teams, platforms, and external partners.
• Define Semantic Meaning and Canonical Structure of AI Features
  • Define the semantic meaning and canonical structure of features used in predictive and optimization models.
  • Establish what each feature represents in the context of manufacturing processes and operational data.
  • Define feature-level semantic definitions grounded in manufacturing domain knowledge.
  • Ensure alignment between the meaning of training data and real-time operational data at the edge.
  • Collaborate with data science teams to ensure models reflect real-world process behavior.
• Provide Semantic Translation Between OT, IT, and Digital Platforms
  • Serve as the authority on semantic and data model translation between:
    • Plant floor systems (PLC, DCS, SCADA, historians)
    • MES and ERP systems
    • Cloud-based data and application platforms
  • Ensure data models are both technically robust and operationally practical.
• Support Platform Productization and External Solutions
  • Design semantic models that ensure the data model scales across tenants, including:
    • Multiple manufacturing sites
    • Multi-tenant environments
    • External customer-facing products
  • Ensure extensibility and long-term maintainability of the data model.
• Lead Governance and Continuous Evolution
  • Establish versioning and lifecycle management for:
    • Data models
    • Schemas
    • Semantic definitions
  • Facilitate cross-functional alignment across engineering, operations, and data teams.
  • Serve as the final authority on semantic architecture decisions.
• Collaborate Across Teams
  • Partner with:
    • Principal Edge & OT Architect (semantic model enforcement at the edge and OT data normalization)
    • Principal Industrial AI Data Architect (feature semantics and data pipeline alignment)
    • Platform Engineering (implementation of semantic standards in cloud services)
    • Plant Operations and Process Engineering teams (domain validation and real-world grounding)
  • Ensure consistent execution across domains.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Industrial Engineering, or related field (Master's preferred)
• 10+ years of experience in manufacturing systems, industrial automation, or process engineering
• 10+ years of experience in data modeling or system architecture in industrial environments
• Demonstrated expertise in ISA-95 and ISA-88 standards and manufacturing data structures and hierarchies
• Strong understanding of OT systems (PLC, DCS, SCADA, historians)
• Strong understanding of MES and ERP integration patterns
• Experience with relational and/or graph-based data modeling

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with ISA or similar industry data standards
• Industrial IoT platforms or edge-to-cloud architectures
• AI/ML applications in manufacturing environments
• Cloud platforms (AWS preferred)
• Familiarity with time-series data and event-driven architectures
• Data governance frameworks

Leadership Expectations

• Operate as a thought leader in industrial data and semantic architecture
• Influence without direct authority across multiple teams and partners
• Drive standards adoption across internal and external stakeholders
• Balance long-term architectural vision with near-term delivery needs

Work Environment & Travel

• Travel to manufacturing sites and partner locations as needed (~10–25%).

Other

We are an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to gender, pregnancy, race, national origin, religion, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran or military status, status as a qualified individual with a disability or any other characteristic protected by law.

To be considered for this position candidates are required to submit an application for employment through our career site and, be at least 18 years of age. Any offer of employment will be conditioned upon successful completion of a drug test and background investigation, as well as authorization for the Company to conduct additional periodic background checks as required by the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) or regulations adopted by the department of Homeland Security or other regulatory agencies. A prior criminal record is not an automatic bar to employment, and the Company will conduct an individualized assessment and reassessment, consistent with applicable law, prior to making any final employment decision.