OpEx - Automation Engineer- Advanced Manufacturing

Wabtec•Washington, WA

About The Position

As part of Wabtec’s Automation & Advanced Manufacturing organization, the Automation Engineer serves as a technical leader focused on machining and fabrication processes, including welding and joining automation. The role supports multiple manufacturing sites and business units across the global supply chain, partnering with operations, engineering, maintenance, quality, procurement, IT, OT, EHS, business leadership, suppliers, and system integrators. The position leads and supports the development, justification, design, implementation, and optimization of manufacturing automation systems. It combines hands-on project execution with enterprise capability development, including evaluating opportunities and emerging technologies, developing technical concepts and business cases, supporting capital project delivery, and standardizing and replicating effective solutions across manufacturing facilities. The engineer also serves as an enterprise technical resource for robotics, controls, advanced manufacturing systems, and automated joining technologies.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical, Mechanical, Manufacturing, Mechatronics, Automation/Controls, Robotics Engineering, or a related discipline.
Strong background in welding automation, robotic welding, or automated machining and fabrication processes.
At least 7 years of industrial automation, manufacturing engineering, robotics, controls, or advanced manufacturing experience.
Demonstrated leadership of significant automation and capital projects.
Strong understanding of robotics, controls, safety, machine integration, and manufacturing processes.
Experience developing automation concepts, specifications, scopes, and business cases.
Project leadership and cross-functional collaboration skills.
Ability to travel as required to support enterprise manufacturing sites.

Nice To Haves

Experience with robotic welding and automated joining systems.
Experience with industrial robots, including FANUC, ABB, KUKA, or Yaskawa/Motoman.
Experience with PLCs, HMIs, industrial networking, and controls integration.
Experience with machine vision and inspection systems.
Certified welding experience.
Experience with automated material handling.
Experience with MES, SCADA, OEE, and data collection systems.
Experience with FAT, SAT, commissioning, and production launch.
Lean Green Belt Certification.

Responsibilities

Lead automation projects from concept through production launch.
Evaluate manufacturing processes and identify automation opportunities.
Develop technical concepts, capital estimates, and return-on-investment business cases.
Serve as the enterprise technical capability owner for welding and joining automation.
Develop automation standards, specifications, and preferred technologies.
Support multiple manufacturing sites and business units based on business priorities.
Lead or support vendor selection, RFQs, design reviews, FAT, SAT, commissioning, and startup.
Troubleshoot and optimize existing automation systems.
Identify successful solutions and replicate them across sites.
Support the Automation & Advanced Manufacturing roadmap and technology strategy.
Evaluate emerging technologies, including robotics, vision, simulation, and AI-enabled manufacturing.
Mentor site engineering resources and provide technical leadership.