Senior Director, Material Handling Equipment Controls (MHE)
About the role
The Senior Director, MHE Controls is the enterprise leader accountable for the controls strategy that powers Walmart’s automated material handling network. This role sets the long-range vision, architecture direction, and governance model for controls/communication platforms (PLC/IPC/SCADA and adjacent industrial software) across fulfillment and distribution facilities.
Responsibilities
Set enterprise controls strategy and roadmap: Establish the multi-year controls platform strategy aligned to Supply Chain automation priorities, including resource needs, standardization, modernization, and lifecycle management.
Define architecture and operating model: Create and govern reference architectures, integration patterns, and platform guardrails for controls ecosystems across sites—balancing reliability, flexibility, and speed to deploy.
Build governance and standards at scale: Own enterprise standards for controls engineering, documentation, change management, commissioning, and sustainment; ensure consistent adoption across programs and facilities.
Drive performance management and reliability outcomes: Establish the enterprise KPI framework (availability, throughput, MTTR/MTTRS/MTBI, fault recurrence) and the mechanisms to improve performance through disciplined problem management and continuous improvement.
Enable observability and data-driven optimization: Sponsor telemetry and diagnostics strategy for controls systems to improve detection, prediction, and prevention of failures; ensure performance insights translate into repeatable improvements.
Lead enterprise incident and risk management: Direct cross-site response and remediation for high-severity controls events; institutionalize root cause learning, corrective actions, and systemic prevention.
Shape the ecosystem and partnerships: Set the enterprise approach to integrators, OEMs, and technology partners—defining selection criteria, performance expectations, and scalable delivery models.
Influence investment and portfolio decisions: Guide capital and operating investment priorities for controls platforms and modernization, ensuring ROI, resilience, and long-term maintainability.
Develop enterprise talent and capability: Build a high-performing controls engineering leadership bench; define capability standards, training pathways, and succession for a multi-site organization.
Requirements
Enterprise leadership in industrial controls: Senior leadership experience setting direction for controls engineering in large-scale automation environments (material handling, logistics, manufacturing, or similar).
Controls platform and architecture expertise: Deep knowledge of PLC/SCADA ecosystems, controls integration patterns, and how to standardize platforms across heterogeneous sites and vendors.
Reliability and performance discipline: Demonstrated ability to improve availability and throughput through KPI-driven operating rhythms, structured problem management, and scalable corrective action programs.
Ecosystem and vendor governance: Proven ability to lead complex integrator/OEM landscapes with clear standards, accountability, and measurable outcomes.
Executive influence and cross-functional leadership: Ability to align Engineering, Technology, Operations, Security, and Legal around enterprise guardrails and shared outcomes.
Qualifications
Option 1: Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, computer science, or related area and 7 years’ experience in controls engineering, automation, or MHE systems.
Option 2: 9 years’ experience in controls engineering, automation, or large-scale MHE environments.
Demonstrated experience establishing enterprise controls standards and governance frameworks.
Experience leading enterprise-wide automation programs with direct capital accountability.
Master’s degree in a technical or engineering discipline.
Proven leadership of cross-functional engineering and analytics teams at scale.
Benefits
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. 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. For information about PTO, see here.
The annual salary range for this position is $130,000.00 - $260,000.00. Additional compensation includes annual or quarterly performance bonuses. Additional compensation for certain positions may also include: Stock.