Director of Automation Engineering - Program Execution

JB Poindexter & Co•Morgantown, PA

112d

About The Position

J.B. Poindexter & Co., Inc. is a privately held, diversified manufacturing company with six operating subsidiaries and 60 locations. The Director of Automation Engineering - Program Execution will help create and execute the automation project portfolio across the company’s business units. This advanced manufacturing leader will build and lead an internal team of engineers to deliver automation projects through production launch, using internal capabilities and/or external automation suppliers. The role works with business units and corporate functions to design, build, install, and launch equipment at company sites. It supports automation roadmap and concept development, evaluates production processes, identifies improvement opportunities, qualifies vendors, and leads system acquisition from vendor evaluation and requests for proposals through system build, acceptance testing, and ramp to rate. The Director also develops organizational automation skills, supports training and production needs, and promotes standardization across business units. Travel expectation is 75% or more.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical or Electrical Engineering from an accredited college or university.
Excellent mechanical engineering skills, with programming and controls capability and knowledge.
Experience with various types of automation, automation vendors, and automation applications.
Successful implementation of automation in a traditionally manual manufacturing environment.
Ability to communicate and build rapport with personnel at all levels in a manufacturing environment.
Experience in a high-volume, complex manufacturing environment.
Understanding of manufacturing design elements, tools, systems, processes, and regulatory requirements.
Understanding of design principles and methods including data analysis, DOE, GD&T, FMEA, and DFM/DFA.
Excellent mechanical aptitude.
Solid understanding of computer programming and software development.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree.

Responsibilities

Build and lead a team of Automation Program Leads and Engineers to deliver the defined automation project portfolio across JBPCO sites.
Collaborate with business units and corporate central functions to design, build, install, and launch new equipment at sites.
Support development of the automation roadmap and concepts with business units.
Develop strategies and initiatives to spread improvements across the enterprise through equipment and procedure design and deployment.
Work cross-functionally and at all organizational levels to gain buy-in and ensure successful implementation at business-unit and corporate levels.
Evaluate production processes and identify opportunities to improve safety, quality, productivity, and cost structure.
Conduct studies to identify production efficiency issues and propose and test solutions while maintaining volume and mix flexibility.
Identify and qualify external automation design and build vendors.
Lead system acquisition from vendor evaluation and request for proposal through system build, acceptance testing, and ramp to rate.
Prepare concept layouts and drawings and document design processes and solutions.
Lead complex system tests and prepare reports.
Improve labor and space efficiency and cost effectiveness while addressing safety, including ergonomics.
Identify opportunities to standardize processes across business units to benefit from economies of scale.
Develop automation organizational skill requirements and gap analyses with business-unit manufacturing sites.
Support skill-gap closure through training and critical production support, leveraging Automation Engineers’ knowledge.