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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Automation Manager

💰 $ - $

EngineeringAutomationManufacturingOperations

🎯 Role Definition

The Automation Manager leads the strategy, design, implementation and lifecycle support for industrial automation systems across manufacturing or process facilities. This role owns the delivery of PLC/SCADA/DCS and robotics projects, creates automation standards and architectures, drives digital transformation initiatives (MES, IIoT, OPC UA), ensures safety and regulatory compliance, manages cross-functional teams and vendors, and measures automation impact through production KPIs and cost metrics. The Automation Manager operates at the intersection of engineering, operations, and IT to increase equipment reliability, throughput, quality, and maintainability while optimizing capital and operating expenditures.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Senior Automation Engineer / Lead Controls Engineer
  • Controls Project Engineer / PLC Developer
  • Electrical Engineer with automation project experience

Advancement To:

  • Director of Engineering
  • Head of Manufacturing Technology / Digitalization
  • VP of Operations or Plant Manager (large enterprise)

Lateral Moves:

  • Manufacturing Engineering Manager
  • MES / Industrial IT Manager
  • Continuous Improvement / Lean Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Lead the end-to-end planning, design, procurement, installation, commissioning and handover of automation projects (PLC, DCS, SCADA, HMI, robotics, motion control) ensuring projects meet technical specifications, safety standards, schedule and budget targets.
  • Define and own the automation architecture and standards for control systems, HMI design, PLC programming conventions, tagging methodology, network segmentation, and cybersecurity best practices for operational technology (OT).
  • Manage and mentor a multidisciplinary team of controls engineers, automation technicians, PLC programmers and integrators; allocate resources, set performance goals, conduct performance reviews and develop technical career paths.
  • Establish and maintain vendor and integrator relationships for controllers, SCADA platforms, robot vendors, drives, IIoT gateways and field instrumentation; lead vendor selection, contract negotiation, scope management and supplier performance reviews.
  • Direct commissioning and FAT/SAT (Factory Acceptance Test / Site Acceptance Test) activities including test plan development, witness testing, issue tracking, root cause analysis and acceptance criteria to validate system readiness for production.
  • Implement and govern functional safety programs (SIL, Safety PLCs, safety relays, safety instrumented systems) and ensure compliance with IEC 61508/61511, NFPA and local safety regulations; lead safety risk assessments and validation.
  • Drive continuous improvement projects using automation solutions: reduce cycle time, increase throughput, improve first-pass quality, reduce downtime and lower OEE losses through root cause analysis and automation upgrades.
  • Own MES and ERP integration requirements for production data collection, synchronization of work orders, traceability, material tracking and recipe management; collaborate with IT to design secure OPC UA / MQTT / REST interfaces.
  • Lead digital transformation and IIoT initiatives: architecture selection, edge computing strategy, data historian design, analytics pipelines and pilot projects for predictive maintenance and anomaly detection.
  • Develop and maintain comprehensive documentation and lifecycle deliverables: control narratives, I/O lists, wiring diagrams, software source code repositories, release notes, test reports and maintenance manuals.
  • Prepare and manage automation program budgets, capital expenditure justifications, total cost of ownership analyses and ROI calculations; report on spend, forecast requirements and identify cost-saving opportunities.
  • Coordinate change management and production cutover plans with operations, maintenance, quality and safety teams to minimize production impact during deployments and upgrades.
  • Establish KPIs and dashboards to measure automation performance (MTBF, MTTR, OEE, throughput, quality yield, downtime events) and present insights to plant leadership to support data-driven decisions.
  • Ensure spare parts strategies, firmware management, and obsolescence planning for controllers, drives, robots and critical field devices to maintain long-term operational availability.
  • Oversee software configuration management and release processes, including version control, secure backups, rollback plans and validation for PLC/SCADA software updates in regulated environments.
  • Troubleshoot complex production interruptions in collaboration with maintenance and operations; lead cross-functional incident response, root cause investigations and permanent corrective actions.
  • Design and execute training programs and standard operating procedures for operations and maintenance teams covering system operation, safe work practices, troubleshooting and preventative maintenance tasks.
  • Drive standardization and modularization of control panels, PLC templates, HMI screens and PLC libraries to reduce engineering hours, accelerate project delivery and improve maintainability across sites.
  • Ensure regulatory compliance and facilitate audits by internal and external stakeholders (quality, environmental, safety) for automation-related processes and record keeping.
  • Collaborate with product engineering and R&D to prototype and industrialize automation solutions for new product lines, pilot plants and scale-up activities.
  • Lead continuous cybersecurity risk assessments for OT systems, implement secure network architecture, endpoint protections for PLC/HMI nodes and coordinate with corporate cybersecurity teams for incident response.
  • Champion a culture of safety, reliability and operational excellence by promoting proactive maintenance, lessons-learned reviews and cross-site best practice sharing.
  • Manage multiple concurrent projects and priorities using formal project management methodologies (Agile, Waterfall, PMI) to ensure timely execution and stakeholder alignment.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
  • Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
  • Assist procurement in scoping BOMs for automation equipment and provide technical evaluation of supplier proposals.
  • Support continuous improvement teams with automation feasibility studies and proof-of-concepts.
  • Participate in capital prioritization and lifecycle planning meetings to align automation initiatives with business objectives.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Advanced PLC programming and ladder/function block/structured text experience (Rockwell/Allen-Bradley, Siemens S7, Schneider, or Mitsubishi) with proven delivery of production systems.
  • SCADA/HMI design and configuration experience (Wonderware, Ignition, FactoryTalk, WinCC) including alarm management and historian integration.
  • Robotics and motion control knowledge (ABB, Fanuc, KUKA, Universal Robots) including safety integration, pick-and-place, palletizing and vision system interfacing.
  • Industrial networking and protocols: Ethernet/IP, Profinet, Modbus TCP, OPC UA, PROFIBUS and experience implementing VLANs and OT network segmentation.
  • MES, ERP and data integration experience (Rockwell MES, Siemens Opcenter, SAP ECC/S4HANA) and hands-on experience with OPC UA, MQTT, SQL and REST APIs.
  • Experience with DCS platforms for process industries (Emerson DeltaV, Honeywell, Yokogawa) is highly desirable.
  • Functional safety and SIL knowledge (IEC 61508/61511), safety PLCs and experience running safety lifecycle activities and assessments.
  • VFD/servo drive configuration and motor control, PID loop tuning and advanced control strategies (model predictive control, batch control).
  • IIoT, edge computing and data historian (OSIsoft PI, InfluxDB) familiarity and experience with predictive maintenance analytics.
  • Test planning and commissioning skills: FAT, SAT, loop checks, system integration and validation procedures.
  • Strong understanding of electrical schematics, control panel design, terminal wiring, and experience working with CAD/E-CAD (EPLAN, AutoCAD Electrical).
  • Software configuration management, version control (Git, SVN) and disciplined backup and deployment procedures for control systems.
  • Project management skills including budgeting, scheduling, risk management and vendor management; PMP or similar certification is a plus.
  • Basic scripting and data manipulation skills (Python, SQL, PowerShell) to support automation analytics and reporting.

Soft Skills

  • Strategic leadership with demonstrated ability to build, motivate and scale high-performing technical teams.
  • Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills — able to translate technical concepts to operations, executives and cross-functional partners.
  • Strong problem-solving and root-cause analysis capabilities under production pressure and in fast-paced environments.
  • Change management and facilitation skills to guide operations through automation deployments and process re-design.
  • Prioritization and time-management skills to balance multiple projects, support requests and business critical incidents.
  • Vendor negotiation and contract management aptitude, with a focus on supplier performance and long-term partnerships.
  • Coaching and mentoring skills to develop junior engineers and technicians into trusted automation practitioners.
  • Attention to detail and commitment to safety, quality and regulatory compliance.
  • Data-driven decision making and an analytical mindset to interpret KPIs and improve production outcomes.
  • Collaborative and cross-functional teamwork orientation with a bias for action and continuous improvement.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Control Systems, Mechatronics, Robotics, Industrial Engineering or a related technical discipline.

Preferred Education:

  • Master’s degree in Engineering, Controls, Automation or MBA for senior leadership roles.
  • Professional certifications such as PMP, Certified Automation Professional (CAP), TÜV functional safety, or vendor-specific certifications (Rockwell, Siemens, ABB).

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Electrical Engineering
  • Control Systems / Automation Engineering
  • Mechatronics / Robotics
  • Industrial Engineering
  • Computer Science (with industrial focus)

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 7–15+ years of experience in industrial automation, controls engineering or manufacturing technology with progressive responsibility; at least 3–5 years in supervisory or management roles.

Preferred:

  • Demonstrated track record leading multi-site automation programs, robotics integrations, MES/ERP projects, and delivering measurable production improvements.
  • Experience in regulated industries (pharmaceuticals, food & beverage, chemicals) or high-volume manufacturing is highly advantageous.
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