Senior Director, Material Handling Equipment Controls (MHE)

Walmart • Bentonville, AR

1d • Onsite

About The Position

Supply Chain Acceleration Support enables faster, more reliable fulfillment by scaling automation capabilities and standardizing how we deploy, operate, and continuously improve them. We partner across Engineering, Technology, Operations, Security, and integrators to translate strategy into execution—building repeatable platforms, governance, and performance disciplines. The Senior Director, MHE Controls is the enterprise leader accountable for the controls strategy that powers Walmart’s automated material handling network. This role sets the long-range vision, architecture direction, and governance model for controls/communication platforms (PLC/IPC/SCADA and adjacent industrial software) across fulfillment and distribution facilities. You will define how controls capabilities are standardized, secured, measured, and evolved—ensuring controls systems are resilient, scalable, and interoperable as Walmart expands automation. Success is measured through enterprise outcomes: availability, throughput, recovery speed, and the ability to deploy new automation capabilities faster and more consistently across the network.

Requirements

• Enterprise leadership in industrial controls: Senior leadership experience setting direction for controls engineering in large-scale automation environments (material handling, logistics, manufacturing, or similar).
• Controls platform and architecture expertise: Deep knowledge of PLC/SCADA ecosystems, controls integration patterns, and how to standardize platforms across heterogeneous sites and vendors.
• Reliability and performance discipline: Demonstrated ability to improve availability and throughput through KPI-driven operating rhythms, structured problem management, and scalable corrective action programs.
• Ecosystem and vendor governance: Proven ability to lead complex integrator/OEM landscapes with clear standards, accountability, and measurable outcomes.
• Executive influence and cross-functional leadership: Ability to align Engineering, Technology, Operations, Security, and Legal around enterprise guardrails and shared outcomes.
• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, computer science, or related area and 7 years’ experience in controls engineering, automation, or MHE systems.
• OR 9 years’ experience in controls engineering, automation, or large-scale MHE environments.

Nice To Haves

• Demonstrated experience establishing enterprise controls standards and governance frameworks.
• Experience leading enterprise-wide automation programs with direct capital accountability.
• Master’s degree in a technical or engineering discipline.
• Proven leadership of cross-functional engineering and analytics teams at scale.

Responsibilities

• Set enterprise controls strategy and roadmap: Establish the multi-year controls platform strategy aligned to Supply Chain automation priorities, including resource needs, standardization, modernization, and lifecycle management.
• Define architecture and operating model: Create and govern reference architectures, integration patterns, and platform guardrails for controls ecosystems across sites—balancing reliability, flexibility, and speed to deploy.
• Build governance and standards at scale: Own enterprise standards for controls engineering, documentation, change management, commissioning, and sustainment; ensure consistent adoption across programs and facilities.
• Drive performance management and reliability outcomes: Establish the enterprise KPI framework (availability, throughput, MTTR/MTTRS/MTBI, fault recurrence) and the mechanisms to improve performance through disciplined problem management and continuous improvement.
• Enable observability and data-driven optimization: Sponsor telemetry and diagnostics strategy for controls systems to improve detection, prediction, and prevention of failures; ensure performance insights translate into repeatable improvements.
• Lead enterprise incident and risk management: Direct cross-site response and remediation for high-severity controls events; institutionalize root cause learning, corrective actions, and systemic prevention.
• Shape the ecosystem and partnerships: Set the enterprise approach to integrators, OEMs, and technology partners—defining selection criteria, performance expectations, and scalable delivery models.
• Influence investment and portfolio decisions: Guide capital and operating investment priorities for controls platforms and modernization, ensuring ROI, resilience, and long-term maintainability.
• Develop enterprise talent and capability: Build a high-performing controls engineering leadership bench; define capability standards, training pathways, and succession for a multi-site organization.

Benefits

• Competitive pay
• Performance-based bonus awards
• Medical coverage
• Vision coverage
• Dental coverage
• 401(k)
• Stock purchase
• Company-paid life insurance
• PTO (including sick leave)
• Parental leave
• Family care leave
• Bereavement
• Jury duty
• Voting leave
• Short-term disability
• Long-term disability
• Company discounts
• Military Leave Pay
• Adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement
• Live Better U (Walmart-paid education benefit program for full-time and part-time associates)

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Number of Employees: 1-10 employees