Vice President of Information Technology

Hitachi•Holland, MI

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

JR Automation, a Hitachi Group Company, is driven to deliver customer success worldwide. We provide intelligent automated manufacturing and distribution technology solutions that transform how the world's leading manufacturers make and distribute products. Our strength is our people and we’re always looking to get stronger across North America, Europe, and Asia. Join us as Vice President of Information Technology as we work together to bring innovative automation solutions to life. Location Type: This position is hybrid in Holland, MI or Lake Orion, MI. Travel: This position may require up to 25% domestic and international travel to support global business initiatives and stakeholder engagement. The Vice President of Information Technology is a strategic and operational leader responsible for defining and executing the enterprise technology vision that enables business growth, operational resilience, IT modernization, AI-first transformation, data-driven decision-making, and superior employee/customer experiences. This role oversees enterprise architecture, applications, infrastructure, cybersecurity, data/AI, collaboration platforms, and vendor/partner ecosystems—delivering secure, reliable, scalable, and business-aligned technology services across the organization.

Requirements

15+ years of progressive enterprise IT leadership, including 5+ years at Senior Director/VP level, with demonstrated execution experience in IT modernization, cybersecurity, enterprise applications, data platforms, and AI/digital transformation.
Bachelor's Degree in Information Technology, Business Administration, or a related discipline required.
Demonstrated success leading large-scale programs across applications, infrastructure/cloud, security, and data/analytics.
Certifications: TOGAF, ITIL, PMP/Agile (PMI-ACP, SAFe), cloud (Azure/AWS/GCP), security (CISSP/CISM), data (Azure DP, Databricks).
Global Leadership & Strategy: Experience managing international, multicultural teams across different time zones.
Negotiation and Contract Management: Strong financial management (multi-million OPEX/CAPEX), vendor management, and contract negotiation.
Financial & Budget Management: Proven competence in cost control, budgeting, and financial reporting.
Communication & Stakeholder Management: Strong negotiation, persuasion, and interpersonal skills to manage relationships with senior leadership and external stakeholders.
Candidates must successfully complete a 10-panel drug screen, physical examination, and background check.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree or other advanced degree strongly preferred.
Prior experience within the automation industry or a Hitachi Group company is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute a 3–5-year ICT strategy aligned to business objectives and budget, with a clear roadmap, investment plan, and measurable outcomes.
Translate strategy into annually prioritized portfolios (run/grow/transform), balancing innovation with risk and cost.
Lead and coach multi-disciplinary teams; build succession pipelines and a high-performance culture focused on outcomes, accountability, and continuous improvement.
Serve as a trusted advisor to executive leadership on technology trends, modernization priorities, AI opportunities, risk posture, and measurable business value.
Own enterprise architecture standards (application, data, integration, infrastructure) and govern adherence.
Oversee the lifecycle and modernization of core platforms (ERP, CRM, MES/PLM, HCM, Finance, Collaboration, M365, data platforms) including selection, implementation, integration, simplification and adoption.
Drive API first, cloud-smart patterns, master data quality, and reusability across the portfolio.
Act as security owner and lead security team to maintain a risk-based cybersecurity program covering identity, endpoint, network, cloud, application, and data/AI security.
Ensure compliance with applicable regulations/standards (e.g., ISO 27001, SOC 2, NIST, GDPR/CCPA, PCI, HIPAA—tailored to the business).
Establish incident response readiness, disaster recovery (DR), business continuity (BCP), and tabletop exercises.
Ensure resilient, performant, and cost-efficient operations across networks, data centers/cloud (IaaS/PaaS/SaaS), endpoints, and unified communications/collaboration (Teams, SharePoint, Exchange).
Optimize observability, automation, asset management, and lifecycle management (patching, backup, endpoint compliance).
Govern data strategy, platforms (data lake/warehouse), BI self-service, and data quality.
Define and execute the enterprise AI roadmap including secure use of AI/ML co-pilots automation, guardrails, use cases, model risk, adoption and value measurement.
Partner with business leaders to identify and scale high-value AI, automation, analytics, and digital workflow opportunities that improve productivity, quality, speed, and decision-making.
Advance literacy and adoption through enablement programs and a federated operating model (central standards, local ownership).
Mature ITSM/ESM practices (incident, request, change, problem, CMDB) with strong SLAs/XLAs and continuous improvement.
Implement clear service catalogs, intake, and prioritization, drive adoption via training, comms, and change management.
Own ICT budgets, forecasts, and value realization (TCO/ROI), ensuring transparency and financial discipline.
Lead contract negotiations, partner strategy, and vendor performance (scorecards, QBRs, risk management).
Identify and retire technical debt; standardize where appropriate to reduce cost and complexity.
Lead technology due diligence, separation/integration plans, and synergy realization.
Partner on major business transformations (e.g., ERP modernization, global network upgrades, cybersecurity uplift, data platform buildouts, AI enablement, and enterprise process automation).
Provides strategic and operational leadership for the Information & Communications Technology (ICT) organization, fostering a high-performance, customer-focused culture aligned with business objectives.
Leads, develops, and mentors IT leaders and team members across multiple technology disciplines, ensuring organizational capability, succession readiness, and employee engagement.
Responsible for setting the vision and direction for the ICT function, establishing clear goals, performance expectations, and accountability measures.
Drives talent management activities including workforce planning, recruitment, coaching, performance management, career development, and succession planning.
Promotes collaboration across business and technology teams, enabling effective partnership, innovation, and continuous improvement.
Champions a culture of inclusion, transparency, and continuous learning while building organizational capabilities to support evolving business needs.
Leads through organizational change, helping teams adapt to new technologies, processes, and strategic priorities.
Ensures leadership practices reflect company values and support employee engagement, retention, and professional growth.
Oversees a team of technology leaders and professionals, managing resources and organizational structure to deliver reliable, secure, and scalable technology solutions while maintaining operational excellence and business alignment.