Director of Automation Engineering

Philips Recruiting Services / Philips Automotive Recruiting; Detroit (MI); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Philips Recruiting Services / Philips Automotive Recruiting is seeking a Director of Automation Engineering to lead advanced automation across multi-site manufacturing. You will drive robotics, digital simulation, virtual commissioning, and advanced controls to transform labor-intensive processes.

The role requires deep technical leadership, hands-on engineering capability, and a track record of delivering measurable operational savings through automation.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics or Automation Engineering.
• 10+ years progressive engineering experience in complex/high-volume manufacturing environments.
• 5+ years leading automation, controls, robotics, or related technical teams.
• Automotive manufacturing experience preferred.
• Experience designing and implementing automation systems that replace/manual processes.
• Strong mechanical design knowledge and ability to evaluate concepts, tooling, fixtures, robotics, and automation equipment.
• Working knowledge of robotics, PLC controls, automation architecture, industrial networking, and manufacturing systems integration.
• Experience managing significant automation-related capital expenditures and budgets.
• Ability to lead projects from concept through installation, commissioning, and sustained production.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute an enterprise-wide automation strategy to improve productivity, labor optimization, quality, safety, and efficiency.
• Evaluate manual processes to identify high-value automation opportunities.
• Lead concept development and mechanical design of custom automation equipment and robotic cells.
• Provide technical leadership across automation lifecycle from concept to production validation.
• Introduce and expand industrial robotics, collaborative robots, machine vision, AGVs/AMRs, and advanced PLC controls.
• Build internal engineering capabilities for rapid deployment of ROI-driven automation projects.
• Lead and develop a high-performing automation, controls, mechanical, robotics, and simulation team.
• Create automation standards, methodologies, and best practices for multiple sites.
• Develop detailed capital requests and business cases with ROI analysis.

Skills

Automation leadership

Robotics systems

Digital manufacturing

Simulation & virtual commissioning

Project management

ROI & capital budgeting

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering

Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering

Mechatronics

Automation Engineering

Tools

FANUC

ABB

KUKA

Yaskawa

Rockwell/Allen-Bradley

Siemens

SolidWorks

CATIA

Inventor

Siemens Plant Simulation

DELMIA

Arena

Job description

Director of Automation Engineering – Advanced Manufacturing

Position Overview

We are seeking an accomplished Director of Automation Engineering to lead the development and implementation of advanced automation strategies across a multi-site manufacturing organization.

This position will play a major role in transforming labor-intensive manufacturing processes through robotics, custom automation, digital simulation, virtual commissioning, and advanced controls technologies.

The successful candidate will bring a unique combination of technical depth, hands-on engineering capability, and leadership experience. This is not a position focused solely on managing outside integrators. We are looking for someone who understands how automated manufacturing systems are actually conceived, designed, built, debugged, and successfully launched into production.

A major focus of the role will be identifying manufacturing processes where automation can improve productivity, reduce reliance on manual labor, improve ergonomics, increase throughput, and generate measurable operational savings.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and execute an enterprise-wide automation strategy supporting manufacturing productivity, labor optimization, quality, safety, and operational efficiency.
• Evaluate manual manufacturing processes including assembly, welding, inspection, material handling, packaging, and related operations to identify high-value automation opportunities.
• Lead the concept development and mechanical design of custom automation equipment, robotic cells, fixtures, tooling, end-of-arm tooling, parts-feeding systems, and other production equipment.
• Provide technical leadership throughout the entire automation lifecycle, including concept development, design reviews, prototyping, equipment build, programming, debugging, installation, launch, and production validation.
• Introduce and expand the use of industrial robotics, collaborative robots, automated inspection systems, machine vision, AGVs/AMRs, advanced PLC controls, and other emerging manufacturing technologies.
• Establish internal engineering capabilities that allow high-ROI automation projects to be developed and deployed rapidly.
• Build, develop, and lead a high-performing team of automation, controls, mechanical, robotics, and simulation engineers.
• Create automation standards, engineering methodologies, and best practices that can be replicated across multiple manufacturing locations.
• Develop detailed capital requests and business cases for automation projects, including equipment costs, labor savings, productivity improvements, payback periods, and overall return on investment.
• Partner closely with operations, manufacturing engineering, quality, maintenance, IT, and plant leadership to ensure automation projects support broader business objectives.

Simulation & Digital Manufacturing

• Develop the organization's strategy for digital manufacturing, virtual commissioning, digital twins, and advanced simulation.
• Utilize discrete-event, robotic, and kinematic simulation technologies to validate manufacturing concepts before equipment is physically built.
• Analyze cycle times, equipment utilization, operator interaction, material flow, bottlenecks, and production capacity through simulation.
• Lead virtual commissioning activities to validate PLC logic, robotic motion, HMI functionality, and system interaction prior to installation.
• Use simulation and digital validation to reduce equipment launch risk, shorten installation timelines, and improve production readiness.
• Support the design and optimization of complex automated assembly systems, robotic work cells, and material-handling systems.

Technology & Engineering Expertise

The successful candidate should have extensive experience with several of the following technologies:

• Industrial robotics including FANUC, ABB, KUKA, Yaskawa, or similar platforms
• PLC and controls systems including Rockwell / Allen-Bradley and Siemens
• Machine vision and automated inspection technologies
• Automated material handling systems including AGVs and AMRs
• Mechanical automation design and custom machine development
• End-of-arm tooling, fixturing, parts feeding, and robotic applications
• Industrial networks and integrated controls architectures
• 3D CAD platforms such as SolidWorks, CATIA, Inventor, or comparable systems
• Manufacturing simulation platforms such as Siemens Process Simulate, Siemens Plant Simulation, DELMIA, Visual Components, Arena, or similar technologies

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, Automation Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• Minimum of approximately 10 years of progressive engineering experience within complex or high-volume manufacturing environments.
• At least 5 years of experience leading automation, controls, robotics, manufacturing engineering, or related technical teams.
• Automotive, Tier 1 automotive supplier, or similarly demanding high-volume manufacturing experience is strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience designing, developing, and implementing automation systems that successfully replaced or significantly reduced manual manufacturing processes.
• Strong mechanical design knowledge with the ability to understand and evaluate machine concepts, tooling, fixtures, mechanisms, robotics, and automation equipment.
• Working knowledge of robotics, PLC controls, automation architecture, industrial networking, and manufacturing systems integration.
• Experience developing and managing significant automation-related capital expenditures and equipment budgets.
• Strong understanding of automation project economics, including labor savings, productivity improvements, equipment utilization, ROI, and payback analysis.
• Ability to successfully lead projects from early concept through equipment installation, commissioning, and sustained production.

Manufacturing & Automotive Requirements

Experience operating within highly structured manufacturing environments is important for this position. Automotive manufacturing experience is strongly preferred, including familiarity with:

• IATF 16949 requirements
• OEM and Tier 1 customer expectations
• High-volume manufacturing environments
• Launch and production-readiness processes
• Continuous improvement and operational excellence methodologies
• Equipment validation and manufacturing quality systems

Ideal Candidate Profile

The strongest candidate will have progressed through their career as a true automation engineer and technical problem solver before moving into leadership.

We are particularly interested in candidates who can point to specific manufacturing automation projects they personally helped conceptualize, engineer, and implement.

Candidates should be prepared to discuss examples of projects involving:

• Automation of previously manual manufacturing processes
• Robotic work-cell development
• Custom machine or mechanism design
• Controls and robotics integration
• Simulation or virtual commissioning
• Cycle-time improvements
• Labor reduction or redeployment
• Throughput improvements
• Capital investment and ROI

The ability to clearly explain the technical challenge, engineered solution, implementation process, and measurable business impact of previous automation projects will be an important part of the evaluation process.