Engineering Technical Leader - Systems

Wabtec Corporation; Erie (Erie County); On-site; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Wabtec Corporation seeks a highly motivated Senior Systems Engineer to lead architecture, integration, validation, and productization of next‑gen automation and robotics for rail yard operations. You will own system decisions, guide cross‑functional teams, and drive the product from early R&D to scalable commercialization.

You will manage safety, cybersecurity, and performance trade‑offs, align engineering efforts across disciplines, and collaborate with PMs, GTM, and business units to deliver a

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Systems Engineering, Electrical, Mechanical, Robotics, Computer Engineering, CS, or related field.
• Minimum 10 years of experience delivering complex integrated technical systems.
• Experience as systems engineer, technical lead, chief engineer, or system integration owner with schedule management for multidisciplinary products.
• Experience transitioning industrial automation, robotics, autonomous systems, or related tech from development to production.
• Strong expertise in systems architecture, requirements engineering, interface management, design reviews, risk management, and verification and validation.
• Understanding of electromechanical systems and their integration with embedded software, controls, sensors, and cloud applications.
• Foundational knowledge of AI and computer vision solution architectures, including perception pipelines and sensor fusion.
• Experience leading cross-functional teams and driving technical execution without direct reporting lines.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the overall technical owner and system integration engineer for a new industrial robotics and automation product.
• Lead the transition from R&D through prototype, MVP, pilot deployment, production release, to scalable commercialization.
• Define and execute the product maturity plan, including readiness criteria and lifecycle support.
• Own system-level technical decisions, trade studies, and escalation of issues impacting product readiness.
• Ensure product meets safety, cybersecurity, reliability, and scalability objectives.
• Support PM and GTM in translating customer needs into technical requirements and execution plans.

Skills

Systems engineering

Technical leadership

Architecture

Requirements engineering

Safety

Cybersecurity

AI/Computer vision

Embedded software

Edge computing

Cloud applications

Education

Bachelor's degree in a related technical field

Master's degree in Systems Engineering/Robotics/EE/CS

Tools

AWS

Azure

Docker

Kubernetes

ROS/ROS 2

MQTT

Job description

Job Description

Who will you be working with?

The mission of the Fleet Innovation & Transformation team is to accelerate fleet transformation by consistently providing compelling solutions and innovative technologies that improve reliability, sustainability, and performance.

How will you make a difference?

Wabtec's Wabtec Freight Services is seeking a highly motivated and technically versatile Senior Systems Engineer to lead the architecture, integration, validation, and productization of next-generation industrial automation and robotics solutions for rail yard operations.

This role will serve as the overall engineering program manager, technical owner and lead systems integrator for a new Go-To-Market product platform that combines robotics, autonomy, computer vision, artificial intelligence, software, edge computing, cloud connectivity, controls, sensors, networking, and electromechanical systems. The individual will be accountable for system architecture, integration, design reviews, safety, cybersecurity compliance, validation, and technical readiness as the solution transitions from early-stage research and development into scalable production and commercial deployment.

The successful candidate will work across the full product lifecycle, from early-stage concept and prototype development through pilot deployment, production release, customer implementation, and lifecycle support. This position requires strong systems engineering depth, hands‑on technical leadership, and the ability to align cross‑functional teams within Wabtec Freight Services and across Wabtec business units around a complete, production‑ready system solution.

What do we want to know about you?

Qualifications/Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Systems Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Robotics Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field.

• Minimum 10 years of experience developing and delivering complex integrated technical systems.

• Demonstrated experience serving as systems engineer, technical lead, chief engineer, or system integration owner with experience in schedule management for multidisciplinary products involving hardware and software.

• Proven experience transitioning industrial automation, robotics, autonomous systems, intelligent machines, transportation systems, or similar technologies from development into production or operational deployment.

• Strong expertise in systems architecture, requirements engineering, interface management, technical trade studies, design reviews, risk management, integration, and verification and validation.

• Strong understanding of electromechanical systems and their integration with embedded software, controls, sensors, networks, edge computing, and enterprise or cloud applications.

• Foundational knowledge of AI and computer vision solution architectures, including perception pipelines, sensor fusion, edge inference, data flows, and model integration within a physical system.

• Experience leading technical execution across multidisciplinary and cross‑functional teams without relying solely on direct reporting authority.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical issues and align engineering, business, and customer stakeholders.

Desired Characteristics:

• Master's degree in Systems Engineering, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, or a related field.

• Experience developing autonomous mobile robots, industrial robotic systems, automated vehicles, intelligent inspection systems, or other Physical AI platforms.

• Experience in rail, logistics, mining, manufacturing, heavy equipment, industrial automation, defense, or other safety‑and‑reliability‑sensitive industries.

• Working knowledge of cloud‑native applications, distributed systems, APIs, data platforms, and edge‑to‑cloud architectures.

• Familiarity with AWS, Azure, Docker, Kubernetes, ROS or ROS 2, MQTT, or comparable technologies.

• Experience with AI deployment, machine learning operations, computer vision, perception systems, localization, navigation, path planning, or sensor fusion.

• Experience with requirements and system modeling tools such as DOORS, Jama, Polarion, Cameo, or equivalent.

• Familiarity with relevant functional safety, machinery safety, industrial cybersecurity, or rail assurance standards and processes.

• Experience supporting manufacturing transfer, supplier integration, production ramp‑up, field commissioning, and product lifecycle management.

• Systems thinking across robotics, software, AI, controls, cloud, networking, electrical, and mechanical engineering disciplines.

• Technical ownership with a strong bias toward maintaining schedule, execution, integration, validation, and field deployment.

• Ability to bring structure and engineering discipline to ambiguous, early‑stage product development environments.

• Sound judgment in maintaining safety as a priority while balancing cybersecurity, reliability, performance, cost, schedule, scalability, and customer value.

• Cross‑functional leadership and the ability to influence teams across early‑stage R&D, Go-To-Market, and business unit organizations.

• Customer and operator focus, with an understanding of the practical demands of deploying technology in industrial environments.

What will your typical day look like?

Technical Ownership and Productization

• Serve as the overall technical owner and system integration engineer for a new industrial robotics and automation product.

• Lead the transition of the system from early‑stage R&D through prototype, MVP, pilot deployment, production release, and scalable commercialization.

• Define and execute the product maturity plan, including technical readiness criteria, design maturity, manufacturing readiness, deployment readiness, serviceability, and lifecycle support.

• Own system‑level technical decisions, integration priorities, trade studies, technical risks, and escalation of issues affecting product readiness.

• Ensure the product meets customer, operational, safety, reliability, cybersecurity, maintainability, cost, and scalability objectives.

• Support product management and Go-To-Market leaders in translating customer and business needs into clear technical requirements, product capabilities, and executable development plans.

Systems Architecture and Engineering

• Own the end‑to‑end system architecture, requirements, functional decomposition, interfaces, and technical roadmap across physical and digital subsystems.

• Lead engineering trade studies and architecture decisions involving robotics, controls, AI, computer vision, embedded software, edge computing, cloud services, communications, sensors, electrical systems, and mechanical systems.

• Establish and maintain system requirements, interface control documents, traceability, configuration baselines, and technical documentation throughout the product lifecycle.

• Define system performance, reliability, availability, maintainability, environmental, and operational requirements for deployment in demanding industrial environments.

Cross‑Functional System Integration & Schedule Management

• Support product development and release plan and a complete system perspective necessary to resolve technical gaps or conflicts across disciplines and organizational boundaries to avoid delays in the project.

• Lead integration across robotics hardware, electromechanical systems, embedded software, controls, AI perception, edge platforms, cloud applications, networking, and customer operational systems.

• Work closely with early‑stage R&D teams and business unit engineering, product, manufacturing, quality, supply chain, cybersecurity, services, operations, and customer‑facing organizations.

• Create and manage subsystem interface definitions, integration sequences, dependency plans, and technical issue‑resolution processes.

• Coordinate internal engineering teams, external development partners, suppliers, and technology vendors to deliver an integrated solution.

• Act as the primary system‑level technical interface during customer pilots, field deployments, and production implementation.

Design Reviews, Safety and Cybersecurity

• Own and execute system architecture reviews, preliminary and critical design reviews, technical readiness reviews, safety reviews, cybersecurity reviews, and production release reviews to maintain overall program schedule.

• Lead system‑level safety analyses and hazard assessments for robotics and automation systems operating around people, vehicles, equipment, and active rail yard operations.

• Develop and maintain hazard logs, risk mitigation plans, DFMEA, SFMEA, fault tree analyses,