The Director, Installation leads the Installation function for the Modifications & Upgrades (M&U) business within Lifecycle Solutions & Services (LSS). This role is responsible for the safe, efficient, and profitable execution of field installation activities across a large portfolio of warehouse automation and material handling projects throughout North America.
The Director provides leadership for a geographically dispersed team of Installation Managers, Site Managers, and installation professionals responsible for delivering customer projects that include equipment upgrades, system expansions, controls modernization, retrofits, capacity enhancements, and complete system replacements. The role ensures projects are executed safely, on schedule, within budget, and in accordance with quality and customer satisfaction objectives.
This position serves as a key member of the LSS leadership team and partners closely with Project Management, Engineering, Procurement, Manufacturing, and Customer Service organizations to deliver successful customer outcomes and achieve business objectives. This role reports directly to the Vice President Mods & Upgrades
Learn More Here: https://www.dematic.com/en-us/about/careers/what-we-offer/
Dematic provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.
This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.
The base pay range for this role is estimated to be $150,400-$188,000 at the time of posting. Final compensation will be determined by various factors such as work location, education, experience, knowledge, and skills.
· Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team of Installation Managers and field leaders.
· Foster a culture of safety, accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
· Establish clear performance expectations and support employee development, succession planning, and talent retention.
· Drive employee engagement initiatives and workforce capability development.
· Provide strategic oversight of installation activities across multiple concurrent customer projects.
· Ensure installation work is completed in accordance with project schedules, budgets, safety requirements, and quality standards.
· Monitor project execution metrics and drive corrective actions when required.
· Lead installation planning, resource allocation, labor forecasting, and subcontractor utilization.
· Champion a safety-first culture throughout all job sites.
· Ensure compliance with company policies, customer requirements, OSHA regulations, and applicable local standards.
· Lead safety performance reviews and continuous improvement initiatives.
· Drive near-miss reporting, corrective actions, and proactive risk mitigation.
· Manage installation labor budgets, productivity targets, and project financial performance.
· Drive effective labor utilization and cost control strategies.
· Partner with Project Management to improve forecasting accuracy, cost-to-complete visibility, and overall project profitability.
· Support annual budgeting, forecasting, and business planning activities.
· Act as the executive escalation point for installation-related customer issues.
· Build strong relationships with customer stakeholders and site leadership teams.
· Ensure successful project cutovers and minimize disruption to customer operations.
· Drive customer satisfaction and operational excellence across all projects.
· Standardize installation processes, tools, reporting, and best practices across the organization.
· Implement continuous improvement initiatives that improve safety, productivity, quality, and customer outcomes.
· Develop and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) for installation operations.
· Leverage lessons learned and field feedback to improve future project execution.
· Partner with Engineering, Project Management, Procurement, Manufacturing, and Service organizations to ensure successful project delivery.
· Support sales and estimating teams during project development and customer pursuits.
· Participate in strategic business planning and organizational initiatives.
· Provide installation expertise for project reviews, risk assessments, and executive decision-making.
· Experience executing complex automation, material handling, warehouse, manufacturing, or industrial installation projects.
· Strong understanding of mechanical systems, controls systems, and industrial installation practices.
· Demonstrated success managing operational budgets and workforce planning.
· Excellent communication, leadership, and customer relationship skills.
· Ability to travel up to 50%.
· Experience with automated warehouse, fulfillment, distribution center, or material handling systems.
· Experience managing subcontractors and union/non-union labor environments.
· 10+ years of experience leading installation, construction, project execution, field operations, or industrial services organizations.
· 5+ years of leadership experience managing managers and geographically dispersed teams.
· Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Construction Management, Operations Management, Business, or related field.
· Advanced degree in Engineering, Business, or Operations Management.
· PMP, OSHA, Lean, Six Sigma, or equivalent certifications.
Are looking to make your move? Then you’ve come to the right place! We are the KION Group, and the world of supply chain solutions is our home. KION is shaping world trade – globally, regionally, locally. We ensure that supply chains reach their full potential: fast, efficient, smart, sustainable and reliable.
Our 42,000 employees make a real difference, helping us to become who we are today: The Supply Chain Solutions Company. Our people’s passion is innovating, automating, and orchestrating solutions for our customers’ supply chains.
Would you like to be part of our international team? We can offer you interesting jobs and exciting career opportunities in an innovative, rapidly-growing, and forward-looking industry.
With us, you benefit from numerous development opportunities in a global group, including the possibility of working at one of our locations abroad on a temporary basis. Regardless of which of our sites you work at, the KION values—integrity, collaboration, courage, and excellence—shape how we act and how we work with colleagues, managers, customers, suppliers, and applicants both at home and abroad.
KION is the architect of global, regional and local supply chains. Our brands are well established:
Dematic is the global leader in intelligent supply chain and automation solutions. The Linde Material Handling and STILL brands serve the premium and higher value segments of the industrial truck market. Baoli focuses on industrial trucks in the lower value and economy segments.
As a provider of comprehensive supply chain solutions with a worldwide service network, KION has a global presence and a regional focus on the needs of its customers. KION brands keep the world moving.
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