Director of Advanced Automation Solutions

Midwest Valve Services, LLC • Mosinee, WI

13d • $155,000 - $185,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

Novaspect, Inc., an Emerson Impact Partner and provider of automation systems and solutions, is seeking a Director to join the Systems Solutions Business Unit and report to the Senior Vice President of Systems Solutions. This role is responsible for managing our advanced automation solutions team, ensuring growth, market presence, and technical & executional excellence to deliver safe, high-quality customer outcomes. This role sets direction, creates accountability, aligns resources, develops business plans, and drives growth. This position requires an agile leader who can manage a dynamic portfolio of offerings while maintaining customer commitments, employee-owner development, execution performance, and long-term business goals.

Requirements

• Executive-level communication and leadership skills with the ability to set direction, align teams, create accountability, and effectively communicate priorities, risks, and recommendations to senior leaders, customers, and cross-functional stakeholders.
• Strong business judgment and strategic thinking, with the ability to translate business goals into actionable plans, make sound decisions with incomplete information, and balance customer needs, employee impact, operational constraints, and long-term business outcomes.
• Proven ability to influence across functions and organizations, including business units, customers, suppliers, and Emerson Impact Partner relationships, while driving alignment and execution.
• Strong financial acumen, including the ability to understand and act on revenue, operating income, utilization, forecasting, margin, pricing, and resource capacity data.
• Demonstrated ability to coach and develop leaders, build organizational capability, support succession planning, and drive employee-owner development through managers and supervisors.
• Working knowledge of advanced automation technologies and services, including alarm management, advanced process control (APC), simulation, cybersecurity, etc.
• Proficiency with business systems, analytics tools, and data-driven decision-making practices, with the ability to leverage data, analytics, and automation to support internal efficiency, planning, communication, and decision-making.
• Commitment to supporting customer needs and business priorities, including flexibility to address critical issues, customer commitments, and leadership responsibilities as required.
• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Business, Operations Management, or a related technical field preferred; equivalent leadership experience in an industrial automation, systems integration, or technical services environment may be considered.
• 10+ years of experience in sales, business development, engineering, operations, or a related technical services business preferred.
• 5+ years of leadership experience managing technical teams or service delivery organizations required.
• Demonstrated experience owning or influencing business performance, including revenue, operating income, utilization, forecasting, resource planning, customer satisfaction, quality, and safety outcomes.
• Agile change leadership approach that helps managers and employees understand priorities, adopt new technologies & offerings, and stay focused on business outcomes.
• Builds trust across teams by communicating clearly, following through on commitments, addressing issues directly, and creating a culture of accountability.
• Demonstrates a customer-focused mindset while balancing employee owner development, safety, quality, financial performance, and long-term business needs.
• Models the leadership behaviors expected of managers, including ownership, professionalism, disciplined execution, and respect for others.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Advanced Automation Solutions team, setting clear direction, expectations, priorities, and accountability for safe, high-quality, profitable execution.
• Own advanced automation team business performance levels, including utilization, operating income, resource capacity, delivery quality, and customer satisfaction.
• Ensure service execution aligns with approved scope, proposal commitments, budgets, schedules, and customer expectations while proactively managing deviations, risks, and change impacts.
• Serve as a member of the Systems Solutions Leadership Team (SLT) in business planning, business reviews, customer escalations, and cross-functional initiatives.
• Ensure in-house staffing levels, subcontracted resources, technical capabilities development, and investment priorities meet business unit expectations.
• Serve as the operational liaison to advanced automation business principals & partners.
• Establish Technical Advisor roles for each growth area portfolio offering with expectations to define solution strategy and growth plans, influence and supporting sales pursuits, serve as the recognized subject matter expert internally and externally, provide thought leadership on emerging technologies, customer needs, and industry trends, and help shape service offerings and go-to-market approaches.
• Translate business unit strategy into actionable plans supporting strategic trusted advisor and premier industrial automation solutions provider objectives.
• Hold team members accountable for execution, quality, safety, financial performance, and employee owner development.
• Develop and govern implementation methodologies and service execution quality standards.
• Review performance metrics, identify trends, remove barriers, and drive actions that improve execution, profitability, quality, and team effectiveness.
• Develop team members through coaching, succession planning, and consistent performance and employee-owner development practices.
• Partner with sales leadership to drive advanced automation solutions growth program success.

Benefits

• Generous paid time off; starting at 15 vacation days, 10 holidays, and 10 days of Paid Sick & Safety Time (PSST)
• 401K with 6% company match
• Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)
• Excellent health & wellness benefits
• Student debt & tuition reimbursement
• Referral bonus

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director