Jobs / United States / Astrazeneca Pharmaceuticals Lp
Lead Automation Engineer
Astrazeneca Pharmaceuticals Lp · 🇺🇸 US - Frederick - MD
Sponsorship verdict
Sponsorship possible
One solid signal, not two — worth applying, and worth asking about sponsorship early.
- Employer is on a government sponsor recordThe US Department of Labor certified 99 H-1B/E-3 labor condition applications for this employer between Oct 2025 and Jun 2026 (latest Jun 2026) — the step every H-1B hire needs first. USCIS also records 31 H-1B approvals in FY2023. Source: LCA disclosure data (US Department of Labor (OFLC)).
- The posting doesn’t mention sponsorshipSilence isn’t a refusal — ask the recruiter before investing much time.
- No salary bar for this routeH-1B has no fixed salary bar: the employer must pay at least the prevailing wage for the role and area. Cap-subject employers enter a lottery weighted by wage level. Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/12/29/2025-23853/weighted-selection-process-for-registrants-and-petitioners-seeking-to-file-cap-subject-h-1b, rules effective 2026-02-27.
- What Astrazeneca Pharmaceuticals Lp paid sponsored hires in similar roles2 certified filings for “Senior Platform Engineer - CRM Applications” (Information Technology Project Managers) in DE: $149k–$176k, median $163k. Most were filed at wage level III (50%) — 3 lottery entries, ≈46% projected selection odds for cap-subject employers. Source: US Department of Labor LCA disclosure data (Oct 2025 – Jun 2026).
- Confirmed live todayWhen a source last listed this job as open.
US H-1B: cap-subject employers enter a lottery weighted by wage level — Level I gets 1 entry, Level IV gets 4 (DHS projected selection odds ≈15% at Level I to ≈61% at Level IV). Universities and non-profit research employers are cap-exempt. The $100,000 fee for new petitions from abroad is currently blocked by a court order (appeal pending).
A verdict summarises public evidence; it is not legal advice and never a guarantee — the employer and the immigration authority decide. Sign in to factor in where you can already work.
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Sponsor Radar — Astrazeneca Pharmaceuticals Lp
The US Department of Labor certified 99 H-1B/E-3 labor condition applications for this employer between Oct 2025 and Jun 2026 (latest Jun 2026) — the step every H-1B hire needs first. USCIS also records 31 H-1B approvals in FY2023. Source: LCA disclosure data (US Department of Labor (OFLC)).
Past sponsorship or register membership never guarantees sponsorship for this vacancy or for you. Full Sponsor Radar for Astrazeneca Pharmaceuticals Lp →
About the role
Our Frederick Manufacturing Center (FMC) creates life-changing medicines for people around the world and has been recognized by our local community as being a Top 50’ Business in Frederick and awarded Frederick County’s ‘Best Place to Work’. This distinctive biologic manufacturing facility, with over 800 employees, makes a direct contribution to treating people with cancer, respiratory and autoimmune conditions across the globe. We work hard to deliver life-changing medicines to patients, and we take time to have fun and celebrate our accomplishments. From catered site festivities to competitive events, community outreach activities, environmental and wellness showcases and team-building functions, we take time to recognize our achievements and celebrate our diversity. We are dedicated to creating a culture of inclusion and collaboration and are committed to continuous learning by offering ongoing skill building and training for our staff. Fueled by our aspiration to deliver accelerated growth for our company and to make people’s lives better, there’s never been a more exciting time to join the team and shape the future of AstraZeneca Operations. The Lead Automation Engineer provides technical leadership for automation engineering activities supporting capital projects, technology transfers, lifecycle management, continuous improvement, and small-to-medium control system upgrades at a biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility. The role is accountable for the design, integration, implementation, commissioning, validation, and ongoing technical support of process control and automation systems, with primary responsibility for Emerson DeltaV DCS and Rockwell Automation PLC/FactoryTalk systems. The Lead Automation Engineer serves as a automation technical authority across Engineering, Manufacturing, Quality, Process Development, Facilities, IT/OT, Validation, and external engineering partners. The role ensures that automation solutions are safe, reliable, maintainable, scalable, compliant with cGMP requirements, and aligned with site and enterprise automation standards. The position will lead automation scope for capital projects and provide hands-on engineering support for smaller system modifications, including troubleshooting, software and hardware changes, system upgrades, control strategy improvements, alarm management, data integration, and obsolescence-related activities. The role also provides technical direction, coaching, and mentoring to Automation Engineers, contractors, system integrators, and project teams. This position may participate in an on-call or escalation rotation to support continuous manufacturing operations. Responsibilities • Technical ownership: Serve as the automation technical lead for assigned capital projects, process improvements, technology transfers, equipment installations, and control system lifecycle initiatives. • Control system design: Develop, review, and approve automation concepts, system architectures, control narratives, functional specifications, software design specifications, instrument indexes, I/O assignments, network diagrams, alarm philosophies, and control strategies. • DeltaV systems: Lead the design, configuration, programming, testing, commissioning, troubleshooting, and lifecycle management of Emerson DeltaV DCS applications, including control modules, equipment modules, phases, unit procedures, recipes, graphics, alarms, historian interfaces, batch functionality, and system infrastructure. • Rockwell and FactoryTalk systems: Lead or provide technical oversight for Rockwell PLC and FactoryTalk applications, including ControlLogix and CompactLogix platforms, FactoryTalk View, FactoryTalk Batch where applicable, HMI applications, communication networks, safety systems, VF