MES Business Consultant

Position: MES Business Consultant

Location: Cleveland, OH

Duration: 6+ months contract

Job Description:   

Role Summary:

• We are seeking an experienced MES Business Consultant with strong hands‑on knowledge of Inductive Automation Ignition to support the design, enhancement, and deployment of MES solutions across manufacturing sites.
• This role serves as a critical bridge between operations, IT/OT, and technical delivery teams, translating manufacturing needs into scalable, standardized MES capabilities.
• The ideal candidate has a strong understanding of shopfloor processes, MES concepts, and Ignition‑based architectures, and is comfortable working across multiple plants and stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities:

• Business Analysis & Requirements
• Partner with manufacturing, operations, quality, and IT stakeholders to understand current‑state processes and future‑state MES needs.
• Elicit, document, and manage business and functional requirements for Ignition‑based MES solutions.
• Translate operational use cases into clear user stories, functional specifications, and acceptance criteria.
• Identify opportunities for standardization and reuse across plants, while balancing site‑specific needs.

MES & Ignition Solution Support:

• Support the configuration and deployment of Ignition MES modules, including:

• Production Dispatch & Execution
• Production Tracking
• Performance Analytics
• Data Collection
• Product Definition
• Resource Mgmt
• Quality Execution
• Inventory Execution

• Collaborate with technical teams on:

• Ignition Perspective / Vision UI requirements Data modeling and tag structures Integration with PLCs, historians, ERP, and other systems Validate that solutions align with product strategy, architecture standards, and cybersecurity requirements

Required Qualifications:

• 5+ years of experience as a Business Analyst in manufacturing.
• 5+ industrial IT, or MES environments
• Strong understanding of manufacturing operations, such as:

• Production execution
• OEE and performance metrics
• Downtime tracking
• Quality processes

• Experience working in IT/OT integrated environments.
• Proven ability to translate complex shopfloor processes into clear requirements.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.

Preferred / Nice‑to‑Have Qualifications:

• Experience with Ignition MES modules.
• Hands‑on experience with Ignition (Perspective and/or Vision).
• Familiarity with Kepware / OPC UA connectivity.
• Experience integrating MES with ERP systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle).
• Exposure to cloud or hybrid architectures.
• Experience working in multi‑site or global manufacturing programs Background in continuous improvement or Lean manufacturing.

Education: At least a bachelor’s degree (or equivalent experience) in Computer Science, Software/Electronics Engineering, Information Systems, or closely related field is required.