The Lead Automation Engineer is responsible for industrializing and sustaining automation and robotic solutions to improve process repeatability, quality, and productivity across the repair facility. This role provides technical leadership in deploying industrial robots, collaborative robots (cobots), and other automation methods to enable consistent and reliable repair processes. The engineer will collaborate with AMRT (Advanced Manufacturing & Repair Technology) and cross-functional teams to standardize applied methods, drive scalability across processes, and build a sustainment program for long-term reliability of automated systems.
Roles and Responsibilities
Define automation architecture, standards, and best practices across PLCs, robotics, motion control, safety, and networking.
Lead design, programming, and commissioning of industrial and collaborative robots (ABB, Fanuc, UR, KUKA) including integration with vision systems, drives, and HMIs.
Translate business and process needs into control strategies, functional design specifications, and acceptance criteria.
Lead automation projects from concept to handover—scope, schedule, budget, risk management, and resource coordination.
Manage vendors, system integrators, and contractors through FAT/SAT planning, execution, and on-time handover.
Use offline programming and simulation tools (e.g., ABB RobotStudio, FANUC ROBOGUIDE) for cell design and cycle-time optimization.
Design, program, and commission Beckhoff TwinCAT 3 systems (IEC 61131-3 ladder, structured text, function block), including motion, EtherCAT I/O, and TwinSAFE.
Conduct system validation and qualification (IQ/OQ/PQ) and ensure documentation accuracy.
Implement process control plans, PFMEA, and risk assessments for new automated systems.
Monitor automation performance using key metrics (OEE, FPY, downtime) and drive root cause analysis and corrective actions.
Develop sustainment programs for preventive maintenance, software version control, and operator competency.
Partner with EHS, Quality, Maintenance, and IT to ensure system safety, cybersecurity, and compliance with Life Saving Rules.
Mentor engineers and technicians in automation and robotics best practices.
Support continuous improvement and Lean initiatives to enhance flow, safety, and process stability.
Required Qualifications
Desired Characteristics
Relocation Assistance Provided: No
GE Vernova is a purpose-built energy technology company on a mission to electrify to thrive and decarbonize the world.
It is made up of three businesses -- Power, Wind, and Electrification -- with focus on accelerating the path to more reliable, affordable, and sustainable energy, while helping our customers power economies and deliver the electricity that is vital to health, safety, security, and improved quality of life.
The world needs more energy, smarter energy. With energy demand expected to grow by more than 50% in the next 20 years, we are continuously innovating to meet the moment…like we have for the past 130 years. The Energy of Change and relentless optimism are what drive us – it’s about never giving up and seeing what’s possible so that we deliver the energy technologies the world needs right now and for generations to come.
GE Vernova’s attitude and edge is embedded in its name. We retain our treasured legacy, “GE,” as an enduring and hard-earned badge of quality and ingenuity. “Ver” / “verde” signal Earth’s verdant and lush ecosystems. “Nova,” from the Latin “novus,” nods to a new, innovative era of lower carbon energy that GE Vernova will help deliver.
Together, we have the energy to change the world.
