Senior Systems Analyst – Logistics Automation & Platform Services

Job Summary

The Senior Systems Analyst is responsible for the platforms, integrations, and vendor relationships that keep material handling equipment (MHE) and warehouse automation systems running across our distribution network. This role sits on the IT side of the IT/OT boundary and is responsible for the servers, interfaces, monitoring, and support model beneath warehouse control and execution systems, serving as the primary escalation point to MHE vendors when a fault sits below the software line.

Success in this role is measured by the availability of the platforms and integrations beneath our automation systems, and by how quickly automation issues are diagnosed and driven to resolution. When automation degrades, this person determines where the problem lives and mobilizes the right team or vendor to fix it.

This role sits within Platform Services and partners closely with logistics operations, Operations Management (including site engineering and controls teams), application development, infrastructure, security, and external automation vendors.

This role is responsible for the IT platform layer — servers, operating systems, middleware, integrations, monitoring, and vendor support coordination. Physical equipment, PLC programming, and controls hardware remain owned by Operations Management. This role is accountable for driving resolution across that boundary, not for performing hardware or controls work.

• 1) MHE & Warehouse Automation Platform Support Maintain the availability, performance, and lifecycle of the server, OS, database, and middleware layers supporting warehouse control and execution systems (WCS/WES), sortation, conveyance, print-and-apply, scanning, and related automation platforms. Monitor and troubleshoot integrations between WMS, WCS/WES, host applications, and ERP — message flow, order release, wave and cartonization handoffs, label data, and scan-to-sort logic — where the majority of automation incidents originate.
  
  Partner with Operations Management to triage automation issues, isolate fault domains, and determine whether resolution sits with IT, Operations Management, or the vendor. Manage change for automation platforms under production constraints: patching and upgrade planning around shift schedules, peak freeze windows, and site downtime availability. Maintain and validate degraded-mode and fallback procedures so sites can continue operating when automation systems are unavailable.
• 2) MHE Vendor Management & Escalation Serve as the primary technical escalation point to MHE and automation vendors. Drive incidents to resolution rather than relaying tickets. Manage day-to-day vendor support relationships: escalation paths, named contacts, response commitments, and after-hours coverage. Track vendor performance against contracted SLAs, document gaps, and elevate persistent shortfalls to leadership. Track and govern software version currency, support entitlement expiration, end-of-life and end-of-support timelines, and patch/upgrade roadmaps across the automation vendor portfolio.
  
  Coordinate vendor remote access in line with security policy — provisioning, session governance, and audit trail. Supply technical requirements and input to contract renewals, statements of work, and support-model decisions led by leadership and sourcing; identify where vendor scope, our scope, and Operations Management scope have gaps or overlaps. Participate in vendor and site readiness activities for new automation deployments, expansions, and retrofits, including integration testing and cutover support.
• 3) Monitoring, Alerting & Observability Implement and maintain monitoring standards for automation systems that go beyond server…