Global Manufacturing SME, Welding, Brazing & Surface Finishing

Role Overview The Joining & Surface Finishing Technologies SME is Johnson Controls' global technical authority for the joining and surface finishing processes that hold its products together and protect them for the field — robotic and automated welding (arc/resistance), automated brazing and leak-proof joint validation, and protective coatings and finishing (e-coat/powder coat, corrosion protection for outdoor-rated equipment). 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 joins and finishes its key products 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, at the weld cell, at the coating line — not behind a desk, personally driving problem solving and results rather than delegating them. The role is deliberately positioned at the intersection of day-to-day plant operations, product engineering, and the global supply base — close enough to the shop floor to understand real constraints, close enough to engineering to influence design for manufacturability and durability, and close enough to suppliers of welding, brazing, and coating equipment to guarantee incoming capability.

Success requires deep, hands-on technical mastery across joining and finishing disciplines; 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.

Key Accountabilities

A) Global Standards & Governance Define, publish, and govern the global standards, specifications, and procedures that apply across all Johnson Controls plants for: robotic and automated welding (arc/resistance) and brazing, including welding/brazing procedure specifications and leak-proof joint validation for refrigerant and pressure-bearing joints; and protective coatings and finishing (e-coat/powder coat, corrosion protection for outdoor-rated equipment). Ensure alignment with applicable codes and international standards, and establish the audit and governance mechanisms that keep every site compliant and consistent.

B) Technology Roadmap & Innovation Own and continuously refresh the multi-year global technology roadmap spanning joining and surface finishing. Evaluate and pilot emerging technologies — automated/robotic welding and brazing, leak-proof joint validation methods, adaptive process control, digital/Industry 4.0 weld and coating-line monitoring, and next-generation e-coat/powder coat and corrosion-protection systems — and drive their adoption where they create the greatest enterprise value.

C) Best Practice Deployment & Manufacturing Excellence Identify, codify, and deploy joining and finishing best practices across the global plant network. Partner with plant, regional, and business-system teams to close performance gaps in weld/braze quality, leak integrity, coating durability and corrosion performance, cost, throughput, and first-time-right execution — building a common global playbook rather than site-by-site solutions. Favor rapid experimentation over lengthy analysis: pilot new standards, technologies, and practices quickly at a single line or plant, prove out the result, and then scale successful solutions decisively across other locations and regions rather than re-solving the same…