Advanced Manufacturing Engineering Manager
Blacksburg, VA

Job Description:

Our Advanced Manufacturing Engineering Manager role is responsible for leading a team of multi-disciplinary engineers to evaluate, recommend, and help implement new and emerging technologies on the plant floor.

These technologies will support a path to enabling Industry 4.0, by leveraging the following:

• Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)
• Closed-loop control strategies using AI/ML
• Industrial Automation (programmable and fixed)
• Autonomous Material Handling
• Plant Floor Layouts
• Process improvement tools & methods

Your team works directly with multi-disciplinary project teams across our partner companies to understand key manufacturing challenges and determine how advanced manufacturing technologies can be used to solve them.

The team you hire and lead will perform the following:

• Assessment & Technology Evaluation
• Solutions development and testing
• Automation, integration, and prototyping if necessary.

You will be vital part of our innovation and research eco-system, contributing to a dynamic environment of multiple projects. You will collaborate with colleagues from various partner companies and with Virginia Tech faculty & students, suppliers, and other applied research centers.

Education:

   M.S. Degree in Mechanical, Electrical, or similar engineering discipline; PhD preferred

Experience:

   15 years

Expertise

• Guidance through your leadership in the research in the design, development, and implementation of software and hardware solutions which enable and enhance manufacturing operations.
• Development of applicable methods and selection of new manufacturing equipment and software to improve manufacturing operations.
• Strategically contribute to the automation roadmap for operations transformation from manual processes to automated processes.
• Create solutions to improve safety, quality, delivery, and costs for existing manufacturing processes.
• Possess a Holistic approach to advanced manufacturing systems design & implementation, including mechanism design, system analysis, inspection requirements, and control strategies
• Experience with manufacturing automation systems, utilizing vision, robotics, sensors, and data analysis.
• Experience (or knowledge of) statistical process control, model predictive control, artificial intelligence, machine learning, or precision motion control of mechanisms
• Experience (or knowledge of) implementing Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT) related technologies.
• Experience with Hiring, Growing, and Leading a systems automation team.
• Effective communications with diverse teams and stakeholders.
• Excels at problem definition; able to work effectively with open ended or ambiguous problem statements and/or applications and be comfortable in adapting strategies according to results
• Approaches work with a collaborative, team-first mentality; proactive, with a positive, can-do attitude.
• Contribute through leadership and mentorship