Director of Automation & Digital Services

Wabtec Careers; Cedar Rapids (IA); On-site; USD 121,000 - 172,000; Full time

Job summary

Wabtec Corporation in the United States seeks a Director, Services Lead – Automation & Digital Transformation to drive delivery and adoption of automation and digital services for key rail customers. This customer-facing leader guides cross-functional programs that align customer needs with Wabtec’s digital solutions to improve performance and value realization.

The ideal candidate brings extensive program leadership, strong customer engagement, and financial acumen, with fluency in data

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in program management, service delivery, customer-facing technical solutions, or digital transformation roles.
• Proven experience leading complex, cross-functional programs involving software, data, analytics, or connected technologies.
• Strong customer engagement and stakeholder management skills, including experience communicating with operational and technical leaders.
• Demonstrated ability to manage execution across multiple stakeholders in a matrixed environment.
• Financial and commercial awareness, with experience supporting forecasting, margin performance, and value-based discussions.
• Technical fluency in data platforms, cloud technologies, analytics, or automation solutions.
• Experience in rail, transportation, industrial automation, or industrial IoT environments.
• Preferred: Familiarity with Azure or similar cloud platforms.
• Preferred: PMP, Agile, or related project/program management certification.

Responsibilities

• Define and evolve automation service strategy aligned with Digital Intelligence solutions (analytics, telematics, asset performance)
• Serve as a trusted advisor to customer stakeholders (Operations, Maintenance, Engineering, CIO/CTO)
• Build long-term relationships focused on value realization and continuous improvement
• Partner with engineering to ensure scalable, secure, supportable and sustainable solutions
• Lead the delivery and ongoing optimization of automation and digital service programs across the customer lifecycle.
• Manage complex, multi-workflow initiatives involving operations, engineering, data, and product teams to achieve committed customer outcomes.
• Establish and maintain program governance, KPIs, SLAs, and operational reporting to ensure consistent service performance.
• Lead regular business reviews to communicate service performance, adoption progress, and operational impact.
• Monitor program financial performance, including forecasting, margin considerations, and value realization metrics.
• Partner with commercial and services leaders to identify opportunities to strengthen customer outcomes and expand service value where appropriate.
• Apply working knowledge of telematics, predictive analytics, and cloud/data platforms to support effective service delivery.
• Lead through influence in a matrixed environment by aligning stakeholders, clarifying priorities, and driving accountability for results.
• Support customer adoption of automation and analytics solutions through change management and sustained engagement.

Skills

Program leadership

Customer engagement

Cross-functional teamwork

Digital transformation

Analytics

Cloud technologies

Rail experience

Job description

Wabtec Corporation in the United States seeks a Director, Services Lead – Automation & Digital Transformation to drive delivery and adoption of automation and digital services for key rail customers. This customer-facing leader guides cross-functional programs that align customer needs with Wabtec’s digital solutions to improve performance and value realization.

The ideal candidate brings extensive program leadership, strong customer engagement, and financial acumen, with fluency in data