(USA) Senior Manager, Automation Engineering - Strategy

Position Summary...

What you'll do...

Senior Manager, Automation Engineering – Automation Strategy

About the Role

Join Walmart’s Accelerated Pickup & Delivery (APD) team to transform back-of-Store fulfillment through automation. This role focuses on scaling and optimizing our 30K automation initiative, where robots deliver products for digital orders, supporting the future of retail. You’ll turn network insights into where/when/how we automate, define reference designs and performance specs, and drive the decisions that move pilots to scale to solve one of retail’s most critical challenges: efficient Store fulfillment.

What You’ll Do

• Set vision & roadmap for APD over 5 years with clear milestones and value targets.
• Architect reference designs & standards for store-based automation (MHE, controls, software, data), including performance specs (throughput, cycle time, cost/order).
• Own the solution portfolio: evaluate options, run pilots, define scale criteria, and map tech maturity to site archetypes.
• Lead competitive/vendor benchmarking and technical/commercial diligence with TCO/ROI models and trade studies.
• Build future-site insights: volume/labor forecasts, capacity/flow models, and scenarios to recommend automation vs. manual/hybrid and timing.
• Translate strategy into engineering plans with Design/Operations/Tech—layouts, interfaces, integration plans, and acceptance/V&V criteria for trials and launches.
• Run decision & prioritization forums (intake, scoring, funding recommendations) and maintain a single source-of-truth roadmap.
• Drive leadership & team communication—exec updates, decision memos, design notes, and simple templates/cadence for alignment.
• Travel ~25% to stores, vendor sites, and events.

Must Haves

• Bachelor’s in Engineering (Industrial/Mechanical/Systems or related), Management or Supply Chain; Master’s/MBA a plus.
• 5–7 years in automation systems, fulfillment design, or product/portfolio strategy.
• Systems-engineering depth: requirements, architectures, experiments/prototypes.
• Strong quantitative skills: forecasting, capacity modeling, simulation/digital twin; TCO/ROI.
• Experience taking technology pilot → scale and running vendor evaluations.
• Clear, concise communicator for Executive, In-team and cross-functional audiences including Strategy Whitepapers and Presentations
• Familiarity with Automation Systems, Scaling of Automation Initiatives and Automation analytics tooling.

Nice to Have

• Background with intralogistics tech (AS/RS, AMRs, shuttles, sortation, picking).
• Experience creating/consulting on E2E solutions, Design standards, and Governance mechanisms.
• SQL/Python or other modeling tools.
• Retail/e-commerce fulfillment experience.

At Walmart, we offer competitive pay as well as performance-based bonus awards and other great benefits for a happier mind, body, and wallet. Health benefits include medical, vision and dental coverage. Financial benefits include 401(k), stock purchase and company-paid life insurance. Paid time off benefits include PTO (including sick leave), parental leave, family care leave, bereavement, jury duty, and voting. Other benefits include short-term and long-term disability, company discounts, Military Leave Pay, adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, and more.

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You will also receive PTO and/or PPTO that can be used for vacation, sick leave, holidays, or other purposes. The amount you receive depends on your job classification and length of employment. It will meet or exceed the requirements of paid sick leave laws, where applicable.

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For information about PTO, see https://one.walmart.com/notices.

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Live Better U is a Walmart-paid education benefit program for full-time and part-time associates in Walmart and Sam's Club facilities. Programs range from high school completion to bachelor's degrees, including English Language Learning and short-form certificates. Tuition, boo