VP Automation & Robotics Engineering

About this role

ASURION
Vice President, Automation & Robotics Engineering
SCM | Reports to: SVP, SCM
Travel: Regular travel to Asurion's global operations and other production sites required
Position Summary

Asurion's Supply Chain is executing a three-year vision: an intelligent, automated device lifecycle in which AI and robotics run as one closed loop for every individual unit. Delivering the robotics and physical-automation half of that loop is what this role exists to do. This newly created Vice President role owns the automation, robotics, and applied-AI roadmap across Asurion's Supply Chain global production network. The role leads Asurion's existing automation engineering team on day one and is accountable for building a real automation presence at every site where production happens today, and at new sites as the network grows. This role owns automation end-to-end — the full hardware and software stack behind every solution — and runs it as an R&D-through-delivery function: researching and solutioning new automation capability, owning its implementation into production, and formally handing off steady-state operation to site Operations once a solution is stable.
Responsibilities

• Own the automation, robotics, and applied-AI roadmap and execution across the global Supply Chain sites.

• Lead and grow the automation engineering team of engineers, technicians, and project managers, expanding its footprint to match where production actually happens.

• Own end-to-end technical accountability for both the hardware and software behind every automation solution, from initial R&D through implementation and handoff to steady-state Operations.

• Own vendor contracts and SLAs for automation solutions — uptime, throughput, and reporting — holding vendors to committed service levels and zero-defect execution.

• Own technical escalation for automation issues beyond standard maintenance and troubleshooting, and coordinate how automation interacts with IT, Operations, Maintenance, and external vendors/integrators.

• Stand up automation capability at new production facilities as they come online, rather than retrofitting it after a site is already running.

• Hold the line on process readiness: partner with Operations and Continuous Improvement to question, delete, simplify, and accelerate a process before automating it, and qualify projects only once that work is complete.

• Apply AI-enabled capability — AI grading at intake, machine-vision quality control, predictive maintenance, robotic sort and repair, robotic process control — to remanufacturing and repair lines, and support maximizing at the unit level.

• Partner with site operations and equipment maintenance teams on reliability and uptime standards for automated systems.

• Partner with Planning, Procurement, Data, and Technology to close the loop — ensuring robotic execution feeds unit-level outcome data back into forecasting, grading, and routing models so the system self-corrects and accuracy compounds.

• Ensure automated systems are built on the shared demand, inventory, and returns data platform, so solutions run in production rather than as standalone pilots.

• Build and defend the multi-year investment case for automation and robotics capital, tied to cost, throughput, quality, and client-commitment outcomes.

• Manage vendor relationships for automation hardware, robotics, and software across a multi-site, international footprint.

• Build the robotics and automation talent bench — including external pipeline partnerships and reskilling floor teams as roles shift from execution to exception handling.

• Position automation capability for eventual externalization, so the solutions built for Asurion's own network can be offered to clients and partners as a service.

• Report roadmap progress, exit-criteria attainment, and site-level performance to senior Asurion leadership.

Skills and Qualifications

Experience

• 10+ years in automation, robotics, or process engineering leadership.

• Experience running or scaling multi-site or global manufacturing/production automation programs.

• Hands-on experience deploying automation and robotics in a high-volume operational environment — manufacturing, electronics repair/refurbishment, or distribution.

• Experience owning vendor contracts, SLAs, and performance management for outsourced or vendor-supported automation solutions.

• Experience running the full lifecycle of a technical solution from R&D through implementation and handoff to a steady-state operations team.

• Experience applying process improvement or Lean discipline ahead of automation — simplifying and stabilizing a process before deploying technology onto it, and turning down or deferring projects that aren't ready.

• Experience leading technical teams across multiple international sites, not just a single location.

• A track record of standing up new technical capability at a new site from the ground up.

• Experience securing and defending capital that is justified on strategic capability and market position, not solely on labor payback.

• Experience taking AI or machine-learning capability from pilot into sustained production operation, including the data foundations it depends on.

Technical Skills

• Robotics and industrial automation controls.

• Computer vision / machine vision inspection systems, including AI-based grading and automated quality verification.

• Working literacy in the data and AI stack automation depends on — demand forecasting, unit-level decisioning and routing logic, and the platforms that host them.

• Predictive maintenance and equipment reliability practices.

• Robotic process control and workflow/conveyance automation.

• Capital equipment planning, hardware/software integration, and vendor management.

• Vendor contract and SLA management, including uptime, throughput, and performance reporting.

Soft Skills

• Strong financial and business-case acumen; able to build and defend multi-year…