Automation Manager
$80,000–$130,000 year
On-siteRedding, California, United States
Job Summary
Manage, coach, and develop a team of automation programmers through one-on-one meetings, performance reviews, and individual development plans. Assign programming tickets and project work based on skill and capacity while maintaining a clear view of the team's ticket queue in ClickUp. Run recurring stand-ups and work-review meetings to identify stalled tickets and clear blockers, then track project milestones and communicate status to stakeholders. Review and approve timesheets, expenses, and PTO requests while building and managing team scheduling, including site travel and on-call rotation. Participate in troubleshooting sessions to contribute practical judgment, translating between technical staff and non-technical stakeholders. Forecast capacity against the project pipeline and escalate resource conflicts or schedule risks to the Director.
Required Qualifications
- 3+ years managing or supervising technical staff - engineers, programmers, controls technicians, or a comparable team
- Demonstrated record of developing people: coaching, performance conversations, career growth, and retention
- Working technical background in industrial automation, controls, engineering, IT, or a closely related technical field - enough to follow the work, size it, and contribute in a troubleshooting discussion
- Experience managing a work queue or project portfolio and driving it to completion
- Strong organizational skills with the ability to track many parallel workstreams
- Excellent written and verbal communication; can adapt the message for a programmer, an operations manager, and a dairy owner
- Comfortable with task and project tracking systems (ClickUp or equivalent)
- Sound judgment on when to decide, when to delegate, and when to escalate
- Must be proficient in English
Desired Qualifications
- Hands-on experience with PLC programming (Allen-Bradley, Studio 5000) or SCADA/HMI platforms (Ignition, Aveva, Wonderware, C-more, Automation Direct)
- Familiarity with industrial networking, VFDs, instrumentation, 4-20mA and 24V control, Modbus485, and Modbus TCP
- Experience in renewable energy, agriculture, manufacturing, utilities, or another field-service environment
- Background supporting geographically distributed sites and remote team members
- Working knowledge of electrical systems and safe work practices
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