Automation Engineering Lead

NOX METALS•Detroit, MI

1d•Onsite

About The Position

Nox Metals is a technology company in Detroit supplying aluminum plate, bar, and rounds to aerospace and defense manufacturers. We use software and automation to supply metal to American factories faster than the industry thought possible. We need an Automation Engineer to design, build, and tune the robotics that make our cells run lights-out. We are not buying turnkey solutions and waiting for an integrator. We are building custom robotics, tweaking what we already have, and pushing every cell closer to full automation. Vision, sensors, ML in the loop, all of it. Nox Metals is an employer with real opportunity for long term career growth, this is a place to build a career, not just hold a job.

Requirements

3 to 5+ years of automation and robotics engineering experience in manufacturing, metals, machining, or comparable industrial environments
Strong in industrial robotics, FANUC, ABB, KUKA, Universal Robots, or comparable platforms
Hands-on with custom robotics, gantry systems, linear motion, end-of-arm tooling, and mechanical integration
Fluent in machine vision, Cognex, Keyence, Halcon, OpenCV, or comparable, you can build a vision pipeline from camera to decision
Comfortable applying ML to real automation problems, vision models, anomaly detection, adaptive control, you do not just use ML buzzwords, you ship it
Strong in PLC, motion control, and controls integration, you can talk to the controls team in their language and write the code yourself when it is faster
Comfortable on the software side, you can write a script, hit an API, structure a payload, and reason about a model in production
Tightly partnered with software, ML, and controls teams in past roles, comfortable writing specs, filing tickets, and shaping the tools you use
Cracked with AI tools, modern software, and data, you build automation systems that talk to the rest of the company
A builder at heart, you would rather ship a working v1 today than ship a perfect v3 next month
High attention to quality, every motion path, every fixture, every cycle, every model
Always thinking about how to make systems better, you do not accept "this is how we have always done it"
Absolutely customer obsessed, every cell you build ships parts on a customer's dock
User obsessed, you sit with the operator, you watch them work with the cell, and you build automation they actually trust
A team player with a good attitude, you make the floor better for everyone around you
Someone who takes ownership, if it moves, sees, or thinks, it is your responsibility
Precise under pressure and reliable, when a cell is down, the company is watching you fix it
Organized and detail oriented
Committed to safety, you follow every protocol, wear your PPE, lock out tag out, and never cut corners that put people at risk
High agency, you handle big items alone and ask for help when needed
Low ego, you walk the floor, you crawl into cells, you do the unglamorous work because it needs to get done
Able to lift up to 50 lbs and operate heavy equipment on your feet for a full shift
Not afraid to work outside normal hours when America demands it
Never says "that's not my job"

Nice To Haves

Experience automating saws, CNC equipment, or material handling cells in metals environments
Hands-on with full lights-out cell deployments
Background in mechanical design, CAD, and fixture or end-of-arm tool design
Experience deploying ML models on edge or industrial hardware
Functional safety background, ISO 13849, IEC 62061, or comparable
Comfortable using AI tools to work faster and smarter

Responsibilities

Design, build, and deploy custom robotic systems for material handling, loading, unloading, and downstream operations
Tune, retrofit, and continuously improve our existing robotics and automated cells, every cycle faster, every motion smoother, every fault rarer
Integrate machine vision into the cell, part identification, dimensional verification, defect detection, pick-and-place guidance
Integrate sensors of every kind, force, proximity, laser, encoder, vision, and turn signals into actionable controls
Apply ML in the loop, vision models, anomaly detection, cycle prediction, adaptive control, models that make the cell smarter every shift
Build end-to-end automation, from mechanical design to PLC and motion code to vision and ML to integration with NOX NEST
Work hands-on with end-of-arm tooling, fixtures, conveyors, grippers, and the mechanical side of the cell
Own commissioning, ramp, and tuning, you do not hand the cell off, you make it run
Partner tightly with the software, ML, and controls teams, you sit at the seam where mechanical, electrical, and software all meet
Build the data pipelines that capture every cycle, every fault, every vision frame, the data that powers our ML and operational intelligence
Own automation safety, e-stops, light curtains, area scanners, interlocks, audited and verified
Lead troubleshooting when a robot goes down, root cause it, fix it, and prevent it from happening again
Always ask questions, never guess when something is unclear
Look at every motion, every cycle, every algorithm and figure out how to make it better
Work safely every shift and hold your teammates to the same standard