VP Automation & Robotics Engineering

Asurion; United States; Remote; USD 250,000 - 350,000; Full time

Job summary

Asurion seeks a Vice President of Automation & Robotics Engineering for SCM to lead the automation, robotics, and AI roadmap across the global production network. You will command the existing automation team and drive integration of hardware and software from R&D through deployment into operations.

This role requires building an industry‑leading automation presence at current sites and new facilities, standing up capabilities, managing vendor relationships, and delivering multi‑year capital

Qualifications

• 10+ years in automation or robotics leadership.
• Experience with multi-site/global manufacturing automation programs.
• Hands-on automation in high-volume operations.
• Vendor contracts and SLA management experience.
• Lifecycle ownership from R&D to steady-state operations.
• Lean discipline prior to automation.
• Leading technical teams across international sites.
• Startup of new technical capability at new sites.
• Capital investment experience for strategic capability.
• AI or ML capability from pilot to production.

Responsibilities

• Own automation roadmap across global sites.
• Grow automation engineering team and footprint.
• Own end-to-end hardware and software for automation.
• Manage vendor contracts, SLAs, and performance.
• Lead escalation for automation issues across IT, Ops, maintenance.
• Stand up automation at new facilities as they come online.
• Ensure process readiness with CI.
• Apply AI-enabled capabilities to remanufacturing lines.
• Partner with operations on reliability and uptime.
• Close loop with data platforms for forecasting and routing.
• Build multi-year automation investment cases.
• Manage vendor relationships across multi-site international.
• Build robotics talent bench.
• Position automation capability for externalization.
• Report progress to senior leadership.

Skills

Automation leadership

Global programs

Hands-on automation

Vendor management

Lifecycle management

Lean principles

Global team leadership

Site startup

Capital planning

AI deployment

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

Tools

Automation controls software

Machine vision systems

Job description

Position Summary

ASURION Vice President, Automation & Robotics Engineering SCM | Reports to: SVP, SCM Travel: Regular travel to Asurion's global operations and other production sites required Position Summary Asurion's Supply Chain is executing a three-year vision: an intelligent, automated device lifecycle in which AI and robotics run as one closed loop for every individual unit. Delivering the robotics and physical-automation half of that loop is what this role exists to do. This newly created Vice President role owns the automation, robotics, and applied-AI roadmap across Asurion's Supply Chain global production network. The role leads Asurion's existing automation engineering team on day one and is accountable for building a real automation presence at every site where production happens today, and at new sites as the network grows. This role owns automation end-to-end — the full hardware and software stack behind every solution — and runs it as an R&D-through-delivery function: researching and solutioning new automation capability, owning its implementation into production, and formally handing off steady-state operation to site Operations once a solution is stable.

Responsibilities

• Own the automation, robotics, and applied-AI roadmap and execution across the global Supply Chain sites.
• Lead and grow the automation engineering team of engineers, technicians, and project managers, expanding its footprint to match where production actually happens.
• Own end-to-end technical accountability for both the hardware and software behind every automation solution, from initial R&D through implementation and handoff to steady-state Operations.
• Own vendor contracts and SLAs for automation solutions — uptime, throughput, and reporting — holding vendors to committed service levels and zero-defect execution.
• Own technical escalation for automation issues beyond standard maintenance and troubleshooting, and coordinate how automation interacts with IT, Operations, Maintenance, and external vendors/integrators.
• Stand up automation capability at new production facilities as they come online, rather than retrofitting it after a site is already running.
• Hold the line on process readiness: partner with Operations and Continuous Improvement to question, delete, simplify, and accelerate a process before automating it, and qualify projects only once that work is complete.
• Apply AI-enabled capability — AI grading at intake, machine-vision quality control, predictive maintenance, robotic sort and repair, robotic process control — to remanufacturing and repair lines, and support maximizing at the unit level.
• Partner with site operations and equipment maintenance teams on reliability and uptime standards for automated systems.
• Partner with Planning, Procurement, Data, and Technology to close the loop — ensuring robotic execution feeds unit-level outcome data back into forecasting, grading, and routing models so the system self-corrects and accuracy compounds.
• Ensure automated systems are built on the shared demand, inventory, and returns data platform, so solutions run in production rather than as standalone pilots.
• Build and defend the multi-year investment case for automation and robotics capital, tied to cost, throughput, quality, and client-commitment outcomes.
• Manage vendor relationships for automation hardware, robotics, and software across a multi-site, international footprint.
• Build the robotics and automation talent bench — including external pipeline partnerships and reskilling floor teams as roles shift from execution to exception handling.
• Position automation capability for eventual externalization, so the solutions built for Asurion's own network can be offered to clients and partners as a service.
• Report roadmap progress, exit-criteria attainment, and site-level performance to senior Asurion leadership.

Skills and Qualifications

• Experience 10+ years in automation, robotics, or process engineering leadership.
• Experience running or scaling multi-site or global manufacturing/production automation programs.
• Hands-on experience deploying automation and robotics in a high-volume operational environment — manufacturing, electronics repair/refurbishment, or distribution.
• Experience owning vendor contracts, SLAs, and performance management for outsourced or vendor-supported automation solutions.
• Experience running the full lifecycle of a technical solution from R&D through implementation and handoff to a steady-state operations team.
• Experience applying process improvement or Lean discipline ahead of automation — simplifying and stabilizing a process before deploying technology onto it, and turning down or deferring projects that aren't ready.
• Experience leading technical teams across multiple international sites, not just a single location.
• A track record of standing up new technical capability at a new site from the ground up.
• Experience securing and defending capital that is justified on strategic capability and market position, not solely on labor payback.
• Experience taking AI or machine-learning capability from pilot into sustained production operation, including the data foundations it depends on.

Technical Skills

• Robotics and industrial automation controls.
• Computer vision / machine vision inspection systems, including AI-based grading and automated quality verification.
• Working literacy in the data and AI stack automation depends on — demand forecasting, unit-level decisioning and routing logic, and the platforms that host them.
• Predictive maintenance and equipment reliability practices.
• Robotic process control and workflow/conveyance automation.
• Capital equipment planning, hardware/software integration, and vendor management.
• Vendor contract and SLA management, including uptime, throughput, and performance reporting.

Soft Skills

• Strong financial and business-case acumen; able to build and defend multi-year capital investment cases — including cases where the return is capability and competitive position rather than near-term labor payback.
• Cross-site, cross-cultural leadership; comfortable operating across geographies and time zones.
• Stakeholder management across operations, quality, engineering, IT, and external vendor/integrator partners.
• Comfortable building capability from the ground up in ambiguous, fast-scaling environments.
• Clear, credible communicator who can translate complex technical and automation concepts for executive, operational, and site-level audiences alike.
• Proven people leadership — able to hire, coach, and retain a technical team through a period of rapid growth and organizational change.
• Skilled at leading organizational and process change, including standing up new reporting lines, new sites, and new ways of working, with minimal disruption to ongoing operations.
• Executive presence; comfortable presenting roadmap, investment cases, and performance results directly to senior leadership.
• Able to influence and align peer leaders and cross-functional partners without direct authority over them.

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.

Company Culture

• Asurionisa global tech solutions industry leader that creates a work culture where employees are valued, regardless of their level or position.
• Our products and services help nearly 300 million customers worldwide.
• The Asurion Way informs our values as colleagues and emphasizes that how we work matters just as much as the work itself.

Asurion Way

• Customer First: We provide our customers with excellent service through empathetic, helpful, and simple interactions. Our first step? To listen.
• One Team: We believe that our success depends on collaborating, staying humble, and embracing diverse viewpoints.
• Divine Discontent: We’re not afraid to roll up our sleeves and do more. We start small, scale with success, and tap into our full potential to deliver the best products and services.
• Act with Integrity: We take ownership and pride in the work we do. We build trust-based relationships and do what's right‑even when no one is looking.

Equal Opportunity

Asurion is an equal opportunity employer. We hire the best available person for the job regardless of marital status, sex, gender orientation, age, religious belief, race, nationality and ethnic origin, color, or disability.