Global tech firm with facility in Cork to create 320 jobs in Ireland
Rohit Manufacturing And Of And Mc Sweeney/provision Uk Vice Cognizant Jim Of Picture: Lehane, Cognizant’s Assistant At Life President Gupta Ireland, Daragh Head Science
A global firm that is transforming how medicines are made has announced plans to create 320 jobs in Ireland over the next three years.
Professional services company Cognizant, which employs around 1,500 people here, most of them at its facility in Cork, said the new roles will be mostly in life sciences manufacturing but also in other areas.
The first phase of the recruitment drive to fill just over 100 positions within its life science manufacturing team starts immediately, with vacancies from graduate roles to experienced engineers, project managers, business and data science analysts to be filled.
Recruitment for the other roles will take place over the following two years.
Cognizant’s head of UK and Ireland, Rohit Gupta, made the announcement during a visit to their Cork plant on Thursday where he stressed the company’s commitment to Ireland.
He said Ireland is an incredibly important market for Cognizant having established itself as an international hub for life science manufacturing.
“In this tough economic climate, I am excited that we are continuing our investment in Ireland with the creation of 320 jobs,” he said.
“We have recently won several large contracts in Ireland, the US and central Europe and to enable us to deliver these contracts and continue to service our Irish clients, we are growing our workforce in the country.
“The life science manufacturing industry has seen exponential growth in recent years and Cognizant is committed to improving patient health.
He is also due to have a series of meetings with key clients, IDA executives and representatives of the region’s universities this week.
Cognizant was founded 29-years ago and employs over 350,000 people around the world. It works with leading industries in life sciences, healthcare, automotive, consumer goods, banking and insurance along with communications, media and technology.
But is also provides key software services to some of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies — in the research and development, manufacturing, supply chain and commercial operations areas.
Cognizant’s assistant vice president of life science manufacturing Jim Lehane said they write manufacturing software for some of the world’s biggest pharma companies to help them make a wide portfolio of medicines.
And despite the difficulties in the global IT sector, he said it is a very exciting time to work within the life sciences industry.
“Companies are looking to transform the way they launch and make medicine and both information technologies and operational technologies will be the driving force of that transformation,” he said.
“Cognizant is the place to work if you want to be at the forefront of the advances in digital technologies and want to develop and further your career within a progressive, large, and expanding multinational, servicing most of the top companies in the world.”
Mr Lehane said the company wants to hire diverse people with diverse skillsets in engineering, IT and project management.
Cognizant also runs a graduate programme, in partnership with some of its clients, that allows graduates to work on manufacturing sites and Cognizant offices.