First Solar reserves the right to offer you a role most applicable to your experience and skillset.
Basic Job Functions:
- Design and continuous improvement of First Solar’s manufacturing execution systems (MES). This encompasses raw material consumption, work in process inventory tracking, PLC/machine based quality assurance testing, packaging, and transition to shipping. Systems may include client/server .NET applications (mostly C# and some VB6/VB.NET), web applications (asp.NET and Java), PLC-based control systems, and database technologies.
Education/Experience:
- Bachelor’s degree in information technology or related field or equivalent years of work experience.
- Minimum 5 years of related work experience
Required Skills/Competencies:
Technical:
- Capable of designing and writing (C#.NET) software using Microsoft Visual Studio
- Proficient at modeling software for capturing and visualizing requirements
- Understands Manufacturing processes
- Able to create reports using SQL Server Reporting Services or Business Objects/Crystal Reports
- Experience in the following is a plus: Planview, Remedy, MS Project, SharePoint, SAP
- SCRUM, ITIL V3 Certification is a plus
Behavioral:
- Excellent communication and organization skills
- Assertive personality capable of interacting with Software Developers, Engineers, Manufacturing Personnel and Executive Management.
- Willingness to act as mentor/supervisor for entry level analysts and interns.
Essential Responsibilities:
Primary Responsibilities:
- Assist a Project Manager/Program Manager and the rest of the project team in the execution of multiple projects simultaneously in the following capacities:
- Requirements gathering from a technical standpoint
- Write technical specifications, use cases and work instructions
- Designs solutions that are both elegant to the user and easy for software developers to build and maintain.
- Provide project updates using various tools (Remedy, SharePoint and email)
- Give frequent status reports on budgets and resource utilization
- Assisting the Quality Assurance team with test script creation and execution
- Defect and Issue escalation and resolution during the transition period immediately following go-live before the operations team is ramped up for supporting the application.
- Interface Line of business leaders to bring high value MES System change requests forward & peform in-depth analysis/assessment/testing in order to deliver expected results on time.
- Available to support production critical MES system as needed during escalation.
- Interfaces with other departments to provide consultation about ways that software can simplify and automate manufacturing processes.
- Travels to global manufacturing facilities to assist in project rollouts on an as needed basis.
- On some projects, will use an offshore development team for doing the software development. When this is the case, must be able to do the following:
- Meet outside normal working hours to clarify requirements
- Manage scope to ensure that the software is delivered on time and on budget
- Assist in the deployment of the software for testing and production release
- Transacting the support of the application from the offshore team that developed it to a First Solar operations team.
- Assist the Organizational Change department in creating training materials and curriculum for MES applications. May serve as instructor on some classes.
Key Competencies:
- Assesses the integrity of data from various sources (including, for example, from sensors and measurement systems). Applies a variety of analytical and presentational techniques, in consultation with experts if appropriate, and with sensitivity to the limitations of the techniques.
- Takes responsibility for understanding client requirements, collecting data, delivering analysis and problem resolution. Identifies, evaluates and recommends options, implementing if required. Collaborates with, and facilitates stakeholder groups, as part of formal or informal consultancy agreements. Seeks to fully address client needs, enhancing the capabilities and effectiveness of client personnel, by ensuring that proposed solutions are properly understood and appropriately exploited.
- Analyses business processes; identifies alternative solutions, assesses feasibility, and recommends new approaches. Contributes to evaluating the factors which must be addressed in the change program. Helps establish requirements for the implementation of changes in the business process.
- Takes responsibility for investigative work to determine business requirements and specify effective business processes, through improvements in information systems, information management, practices, procedures, and organization change. Applies and monitors the use of required modeling and analysis tools, methods and standards, giving special consideration to business perspectives. Conducts investigations at a high level for strategy studies, business requirements specifications and feasibility studies. Prepares business cases which define potential benefits, options for achieving these benefits through development of new or changed processes, and associated business risks. Identifies stakeholders and their business needs.
- Facilitates scoping and business priority-setting for change initiatives of medium size and complexity. Contributes to selection of the most appropriate means of representing business requirements in the context of a specific change initiative, ensuring traceability back to source. Discovers and analyses requirements for fitness for purpose as well as adherence to business objectives and consistency, challenging positively as appropriate. Obtains formal agreement by stakeholders and recipients to scope and requirements and establishes a base-line on which delivery of a solution can commence. Manages requests for and the application of changes to base-lined requirements. Identifies the impact on business requirements of interim (e.g. migration) scenarios as well as the required end position.
- Designs and manages tests of new/updated processes. Specifies test environment for whole life-cycle testing (e.g. using model office concept). Manages selection/creation of relevant scenarios for testing and ensures that tests reflect realistic operational business conditions. Ensure tests and results are documented, reported to stakeholders and are available for specification of user instructions. Highlights issues and risks identified during testing to business stakeholders. Provides specialist guidance and advice to less experienced colleagues and users to ensure that test is conducted in an appropriate manner.
- Creates the business readiness plan, taking into consideration IT deployment, data migration, capability deployment (training and engagement activities) and any business activities required to integrate new processes or jobs into the "business as usual" environment. Determines the readiness levels of business users with regard to upcoming changes; uncovers readiness gaps and creates and implements action plans to close the gaps prior to going live. Assists the user community in the provision of transition support and change planning, and liaises with the project team. Monitors and reports progress on business readiness targets, business engagement activity, training design and deployment activities, key operational metrics and return to productivity measures. Defines the series and sequence of activities to bring stakeholders to the required level of commitment, prior to going live.
- Applies data analysis, data modeling, and quality assurance techniques, based upon a detailed understanding of business processes, to establish, modify or maintain data structures and associated components (entity descriptions, relationship descriptions, attribute definitions). Advises database designers and other application development team members on the details of data structures and associated components.
- Accepts responsibility for creation of test cases using own in-depth technical analysis of both functional and non-functional specifications (such as reliability, efficiency, usability, maintainability and portability). Creates traceability records, from test cases back to requirements. Produces test scripts, materials and regression test packs to test new and amended software or services. Specifies requirements for environment, data, resources and tools. Interprets, executes and documents complex test scripts using agreed methods and standards. Records and analyses actions and results, and maintains a defect register. Reviews test results and modifies tests if necessary. Provides reports on progress, anomalies, risks and issues associated with the overall project. Reports on system quality and collects metrics on test cases. Provides specialist advice to support others.
- Advises on tools and methods to be used and clarifies and communicates the user experience, users' characteristics and tasks, and the technical, organizational and physical environment in which products or systems will operate.
- Monitors service delivery performance metrics and liaises with managers and customers to ensure that service level agreements are not breached without the stakeholders being given the opportunity of planning for deterioration in service.
- Develops implementation plans for dealing with more complex requests for change, evaluates risks to integrity of infrastructure inherent in proposed implementations, seeks authority for those activities, reviews the effectiveness of change implementation, and suggests improvement to organizational procedures governing change management. Leads the assessment, analysis, development, documentation and implementation of changes based on requests for change.
- Maintains application support processes, and checks that all requests for support are dealt with according to agreed procedures. Uses application management software and tools to investigate issues, collect performance statistics and create reports.
- Other duties as assigned.
- Job description subject to change at any time.
Reporting Relationships:
- This position may have direct reports.
Travel:
Estimated Salary Range:
- $82,100 - $117,000, Annually
US Physical Requirements: .
Manufacturing & Maintenance Physical Requirements:
- Will sit, stand, or walk short distances for up to 12 hours per day.
- Will climb stairs on a frequent basis.
- Will lift up to 58 pounds on an occasional basis, according to work instruction.
- Will lift up to 37 pounds on a frequent basis.
- Will push or pull up to 27 pounds of force on an occasional basis.
- Will push or pull up to 10 pounds of force on a frequent basis.
- Required to use hands to grasp, lift, handle, carry or feel objects repetitively on a frequent basis.
- 20/40 vision in each eye (with or without correction) and the ability to distinguish between red, yellow, and green is required.
- May reach above shoulder heights and below the waist on a frequent basis.
- May stoop, kneel, or bend, on an occasional basis.
- Must be able to comply with all safety standards and procedures.
- Ability to wear personal protective equipment is required (including, but not limited to; steel toed shoes, cut resistant gloves, jackets, aprons &/or arm guards, safety glasses, hearing protection).
Office Physical Requirements:
All positions in our office require interaction with people and technology while either standing or sitting. To best service our customers, internal and external, all associates must be able to communicate face-to-face and on the phone with or without reasonable accommodation. First Solar is committed to compliance with its obligations under all applicable state and federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. In keeping with this commitment, it attempts to reasonably accommodate applicants and employees in accordance with the requirements of the disability discrimination laws. It also invites individuals with disabilities to participate in a good faith, interactive process to identify reasonable accommodations that can be made without imposing an undue hardship.
Potential candidates will meet the education and experience requirements provided on the above job description and excel in completing the listed responsibilities for this role. All candidates receiving an offer of employment must successfully complete a background check and any other tests that may be required.
Equal Opportunity Employer Statement: First Solar is an Equal Opportunity Employer that values and respects the importance of a diverse and inclusive workforce. It is the policy of the company to recruit, hire, train and promote persons in all job titles without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity. We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a driving force in the success of our company.
