VP of Automation Engineering

• Pay or shift range: $185,000 USD to $250,000 USD
  The estimated range is the budgeted amount for this position. Final offers are based on various factors, including skill set, experience, location, qualifications and other job-related reasons.

At Janicki Industries, we turn complex ideas into real-world solutions through advanced engineering and manufacturing. Our teams design and build innovative structures, tooling, and systems that support industries including aerospace, space, defense, marine, and architecture . Across every role,from engineers and technicians to operations and support teams,ourpeoplehelp solve challenging problems, push the limits of design and manufacturing, and create solutions that make a lasting impact.

The VP of Automation Engineering is a senior executive responsible for defining, leading, and executing the organization's automation strategy across all aerospace manufacturing operations. This role has enterprise-wide accountability for the design, deployment, integration, and continuous improvement of automated production systems — including industrial robotics, automated fiber placement (AFP), automated drilling and fastening, CNC machining cells, vision systems, automated inspection, conveyor and material handling systems, and advanced motion control platforms.

In the precision-driven, safety-critical aerospace manufacturing environment, the VP of Automation Engineering ensures that automation investments deliver measurable improvements in production throughput, dimensional quality, repeatability, labor efficiency, and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) while maintaining full compliance with aerospace quality standards, safety regulations, and ITAR/EAR requirements. This leader serves as the organization's foremost authority on automation technology and serves as a key bridge between engineering, manufacturing operations, IT/OT, and capital finance.

• Develop and own the enterprise automation technology roadmap, identifying opportunities to replace manual operations, reduce cycle time, improve quality, and scale production capacity through targeted automation investments across all facilities and value streams.
• Evaluate emerging automation technologies — collaborative robotics (cobots), autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), AI-powered machine vision, digital twin simulation, adaptive control systems, and additive manufacturing integration — and build business cases for adoption aligned with strategic production goals.
• Establish automation investment prioritization frameworks, ROI thresholds, and portfolio governance processes in partnership with the CFO and VP of Capital Finance.
• Present automation strategy, capital investment proposals, and program performance to COO, CEO, and Board of Directors.
• Benchmark the organization's automation maturity against aerospace industry peers and identify capability gaps that represent competitive risk or opportunity.

• Lead the engineering design, simulation, integration, and commissioning of robotic workcells and automated production systems for aerostructures manufacturing — including carbon fiber layup, automated fiber placement (AFP), automated tape laying (ATL), drilling, fastening, trimming, NDT, and final assembly operations.
• Oversee selection, specification, and integration of industrial robots (6-axis, SCARA, delta, gantry, and collaborative) from leading OEM suppliers (Fanuc, KUKA, ABB, Yaskawa, Universal Robots) with aerospace manufacturing processes.
• Direct end-effector and tooling design for robotic systems, ensuring tooling is optimized for the specific material, geometry, and process requirements of aerospace composite and metallic structures.
• Ensure all robotic and automated systems are designed and validated to meet aerospace dimensional accuracy, repeatability, and surface quality requirements, including compliance with customer-specific tooling and process specifications.
• Oversee Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT)…