AI Innovation Engineer

ELLWOOD•New Castle, PA

18h•Onsite

About The Position

The AI Innovation Engineer identifies, evaluates, develops, and implements technology solutions, processes, and products that support organizational goals and improve efficiency, quality, and competitiveness in a manufacturing environment. The role monitors emerging trends, supports pilot projects, and collaborates across the business to advance digital transformation. The position is located in New Castle, Pennsylvania, and requires occasional travel to manufacturing sites for on-site support (10%). The engineer leads innovation projects from concept through implementation, builds and maintains an IT innovation roadmap and pipeline of ideas, and works with business and technical stakeholders to assess challenges and propose scalable solutions. The role also supports automation, robotics, IoT integration, and data-driven manufacturing initiatives; evaluates vendors and buy-versus-build options; measures outcomes; and helps communicate and support adoption of new technologies. Solutions must meet enterprise feasibility, compliance, security, and scalability standards.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Business, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
Strong understanding of IT systems, digital tools, and project lifecycles.
Familiarity with governance, privacy, and security practices.
Excellent communication, presentation, and stakeholder engagement skills.
Ability to evaluate technical designs, vendor proposals, and solution architectures for risks, gaps, feasibility issues, and unrealistic assumptions.
Ability to translate business needs into technical concepts, high-level requirements, or prototype workflows.
Ability to investigate technical details and diagnose issues across applications, integrations, data flows, and automation platforms, and propose pragmatic solutions.
Strong analytical thinking and ability to evaluate ROI, scalability, long-term maintainability, and operational impact.
Willingness to travel occasionally to manufacturing sites for on-site support (10%).

Nice To Haves

Exposure to data analysis, automation tools, or continuous improvement concepts.
Experience with AI/ML platforms.
Exposure to programming or scripting languages such as Python, C#/.NET, or SQL for automation and integrations.
Familiarity with Azure services and Microsoft Power Platform, including Power Apps, Power Automate, Power BI, and Dataverse.
Knowledge of AI agent frameworks.
Understanding of REST APIs and JSON structures.
Experience with OCR, Intelligent Document Processing, or AI-assisted workflow automation.

Responsibilities

Research and evaluate emerging technology trends and manufacturing methods to identify opportunities that improve productivity, reduce costs, or enhance product quality.
Evaluate tools, methodologies, and practices for their potential to improve operational efficiency and business outcomes.
Lead innovation projects from concept to implementation.
Collaborate with engineering, production, quality, finance, and other teams to identify inefficiencies and develop solutions.
Support digital transformation initiatives, including automation, robotics, IoT integration, and data-driven manufacturing.
Generate and manage a cross-functional pipeline of innovation ideas.
Scout vendors and recommend buy-versus-build approaches.
Develop and maintain documentation for innovation projects, prototypes, and intellectual property considerations.
Build and maintain an IT innovation roadmap.
Understand business challenges and propose technology-driven solutions with internal stakeholders.
Facilitate brainstorming sessions, workshops, and innovation labs.
Collect and analyze data to measure the effectiveness of technologies and solutions, including mapping current processes and baselining KPIs.
Support the planning, execution, and evaluation of pilot projects, proof-of-concepts, and innovation initiatives.
Work with development, infrastructure, and security teams to ensure solutions are feasible, compliant, and scalable.
Prepare presentations, reports, and business cases for leadership.
Assist with change management and communications to support adoption of new technologies.
Maintain confidentiality and comply with company compliance and IT security standards.
Perform other duties as assigned.
Travel occasionally to manufacturing sites to provide on-site support (10%).