AME Material Flow & Intralogistics SME

The Material Flow & Intralogistics SME is Johnson Controls' global technical authority for how material moves through its plants - AGVs and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), conveyor system design, plant layout and manufacturing systems engineering, line balancing, and kitting and warehouse flow. Operating within the newly established global Advanced Manufacturing PPO and reporting to the VP of Advanced Manufacturing, this role sets the enterprise standards, owns the technology roadmap, and defines the best practices that govern how Johnson Controls designs and runs material flow across every region and plant.

This is a hands-on, front-line role: the SME is expected to be at Gemba - on the plant floor, in the warehouse, at the line - not behind a desk, personally driving problem solving and results rather than delegating them. The role sits at the intersection of day-to-day plant operations, manufacturing/industrial engineering, and the global supply base for material-handling equipment - close enough to the shop floor to understand real constraints, close enough to engineering to influence layout and flow design, and close enough to suppliers of AGVs, AMRs, and conveyor systems to guarantee incoming capability.

Success requires deep, hands-on technical mastery of material-flow and intralogistics engineering; the credibility and influence to set direction across a global network without direct line authority; an intense, urgent focus on delivering substantial, measurable improvements in safety, quality, delivery, productivity, and cost rather than incremental activity; and the ability to experiment quickly, prove out solutions at a single line or plant, and then scale what works decisively across locations and regions.

Define, publish, and govern the global standards, specifications, and procedures for AGV/AMR safety and integration, conveyor system design, plant layout, and line-balancing/kitting practices that apply across all Johnson Controls plants. Establish the audit and governance mechanisms that keep every site compliant and consistent.

Own and continuously refresh the multi-year global technology roadmap for material flow and intralogistics. Evaluate and pilot emerging technologies - AGV/AMR fleets, conveyor automation, warehouse-management and MES-integrated flow systems, and plant-layout simulation/digital-twin tools - and drive their adoption where they create the greatest enterprise value.

Identify, codify, and deploy material-flow best practices across the global plant network. Partner with plant, regional, and business-system teams to close performance gaps in line balance, kitting accuracy, warehouse throughput, and material availability - building a common global playbook rather than site-by-site solutions. Favor rapid experimentation over lengthy analysis: pilot new layouts, flows, and technologies quickly at a single line or plant, prove out the result, and then scale successful solutions decisively across other locations and regions.

Serve as the primary technical liaison between manufacturing/industrial engineering and plant operations, ensuring new lines and layouts are designed for efficient material flow from the earliest stages. Qualify, develop, and audit the global supply base for AGVs, AMRs, conveyor systems, and warehouse automation to guarantee that the best available technology and capability reach Johnson Controls' plants.

Build material-flow and intralogistics technical capability across the network through training, certification pathways, and hands-on mentoring of plant and engineering talent. Act as the escalation point and final technical authority for the most complex flow, layout, and logistics-bottleneck problems - leading root-cause investigations and ensuring fixes are sustained, not just applied.

Spend the majority of working time at Gemba - on the plant floor, in the warehouse, at the line - rather than remotely directing work from a desk. Personally lead problem solving on the highest-priority safety, quality, delivery, productivity, and cost issues with a visible sense of urgency, and hold self and others accountable for converting standards and roadmaps into substantial, measurable results, not…