Automation - Director of Technology at The ESCO Group in Altoona, IA

Automation - Director of Technology

Location: Altoona, Iowa

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR – AUTOMATION

Title: Director of Technology — Automation
Division: ESCO Automation
Reports To: President of Automation/Senior Automation Leadership
Location: Marion, IA, or Altoona, IA
Status: Full-Time, Exempt

Typical Working Hours: 7:30am to 4:30pm

May be required to work extended hours including holidays and weekends due to the 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year type of service ESCO provides its clients.

While this opportunity is based in Marion or Altoona, Iowa - we are seeking talent nationwide and offer relocation assistance to support the right candidate.

Role Mission

Mission: Build the technology organization that enables sustainable growth.

The Director of Technology is responsible for developing the people, standards, systems, capabilities, and leadership structure required for ESCO Automation to scale technical execution.

Synopsis:

The Director of Technology is a senior leadership role accountable for building and leading ESCO Automation’s technology organization. This role provides leadership for engineering, specialist, and software teams while establishing the systems, standards, capabilities, technical leadership structure, and talent development programs required to support sustainable growth.

The Director of Technology is accountable for technical excellence, workforce development, capability maturity, standards adoption, and the consistent execution of world-class automation solutions across the organization.

The Director will work closely with PMO, Sales, and Manufacturing to align technical strategy, resource capacity, delivery standards, and capability development into one scalable delivery engine. This role is critical to ESCO Automation’s long-term ability to grow, improve delivery consistency, retain and develop top engineering talent, and strengthen client confidence.

Why This Role Exists

ESCO Automation's continued growth depends on more than adding engineers. It depends on building a technology organization capable of consistently delivering world-class solutions regardless of project, office, industry, or individual assignment.

As the business scales, technical excellence must evolve from tribal knowledge and individual expertise into organizational knowledge, standardized practices, mature capabilities, and strong technical leadership. The systems that develop engineers, govern best practices, and ensure delivery consistency must become as scalable as the business itself.

This role exists to lead that transformation. The Director of Technology is accountable for building the organizational capabilities, technical leadership structure, engineering standards, workforce development systems, and governance required to create a scalable, high-performing technology organization that supports sustainable growth and exceptional client outcomes. Rather than creating something new, this leader will grow ESCO Automation from the inside, building on the strong team and foundation already in place.

Core Accountabilities

Technology Strategy & Organizational Development

• The Director of Technology owns the long-term technology organization strategy for ESCO Automation. This includes the organizational structure, leadership model, capability priorities, standards governance, workforce planning, and operating rhythms required to support sustainable growth.

Technical Excellence & Delivery Standards

• The Director is accountable for standardizing technical execution and governing industry best practices across ESCO Automation. The Director owns the system that defines, governs, and improves how technical excellence is delivered.

Capability Development & Governance

• The Director is accountable for ensuring ESCO Automation has the technical capabilities required to support current and future business growth. The Director owns the governance system that ensures those roadmaps are aligned, mature, measured, and connected to business strategy.

Talent Development & Retention

• The Director is accountable for the strategy that develops, retains, and scales ESCO Automation’s engineering talent.

Resource Strategy & Capacity Planning

• The Director owns the technology capacity planning process and partners with PMO, Sales, and technical leaders to align technical capacity with business demand.

Leadership of Solution Architects, Principal Engineers & Technical Leaders

• The Director provides functional leadership for Solution Architects, Principal Engineers, and technical leaders, with direct reporting responsibility expected as the organization matures. This role ensures capability strategy and delivery execution reinforce each other.

Cross-Functional Business Alignment

• The Director is accountable for aligning Technology with PMO, Sales, Manufacturing, and Automation leadership. This role helps ensure ESCO’s technical organization supports the full delivery engine from opportunity development through execution and client satisfaction.

Innovation, Vendor Strategy & Future Technology Direction

• The Director ensures innovation and emerging technology efforts are connected to ESCO’s business strategy, technical capabilities, and client value. This role oversees certification strategy, software licensing, and software investment planning to support current and future business needs.

What We’re Looking For:

Strategic technology leadership

• Proven ability to lead technical delivery, build technical teams, or scale an engineering/technology organization.
• Experience creating standards, governance systems, technical leadership structures, or capability-based delivery models.
• Proven track record of leading technical teams and delivering measurable results.

Technical credibility

• Strong background in automation, controls, systems integration, software, operational technology, or related industrial technology environments.
• Ability to lead senior technical professionals with credibility, ask the right questions, challenge assumptions, and guide technical strategy.
• Does not need to be the smartest technical person in the room, but must be technically strong enough to earn trust from senior engineers and technical leaders.

Delivery excellence

• Proven understanding of how technical standards, project execution, quality systems, and resource planning impact project outcomes, margin, client satisfaction, and delivery consistency.

People and culture leadership

• Experience directly managing employees, with a demonstrated ability to develop technical leaders, coach teams, build trust, and hold direct reports accountable.
• Strong cultural fit with ESCO’s ownership mindset, commitment to improvement, integrity, and team work.

Organizational development

• Experience building or improving onboarding systems, mentoring programs, technical career paths, skill development plans, leadership pipelines, or succession plans.

Business alignment

• Ability to connect technology strategy to business outcomes including growth, client confidence, margin improvement, retention, and enterprise value.
• Demonstrated ability to work cross-functionally, partnering with Sales, PMO, Manufacturing, and leadership to align priorities and achieve shared goals.

Change leadership

• Ability to lead through change, influence without immediate direct authority, and move an organization from informal practices to scalable systems.

Interpersonal Skills / Characteristics:

• Senior Leadership presence and strong communication skills.
• High trust, humility, and technical credibility.
• Strong ability to influence across functions.
• Comfort leading through ambiguity and organizational change.
• Ability to balance technical excellence with business realities.
• Strong coaching, mentoring, and leadership development skills.
• Ownership mindset and accountability.
• Ability to build systems, not just solve isolated problems.
• Strong judgment in escalation, prioritization, and organizational risk.
• Commitment to continuous improvement and engineering excellence.

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; climb or balance; stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl; and talk or hear.
• The employee must regularly lift and/or move up to 10 pounds, frequently lift and/or move up to 25 pounds, and occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.
• Physical activity such as climbing up and down stairs (may be several flights) and/or ladders, and walking long distances while carrying equipment when performing on-site technical work.

Work Environment:

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Work is performed primarily in an office setting, with regular travel to client industrial facilities.
• While at client facilities, the employee may be exposed to moving mechanical parts, risk of electrical shock, and vibration.
• The employee may occasionally be exposed to wet and/or humid conditions; high, precarious places; fumes or airborne particles; toxic or caustic chemicals; outside weather conditions; extreme cold; and extreme heat.
• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate, but may be exposed to very loud areas at client sites.

**All necessary personal protective equipment is provided to meet and in some instances exceed OSHA Regulations.

How We Invest In You

• Your Health: We offer a comprehensive health insurance package, employee assistance program (EAP), and company-paid disability insurance for eligible employees.
• Your Financial Goals: Beyond our 401k offering, you will be eligible to join our ESOP with its tax-deferred retirement benefits.
• Your Ownership: You don't just work FOR the company; you OWN the company. You'll join other employee-owners along our ESOP journey and receive the benefits that ownership provides.
• Your Work-Life Balance: We offer paid time off, flexible scheduling, parental leave, and encourage our Employee Owners to give back to their communities through established volunteer opportunities.
• Your Career Development: We offer tuition assistance and additional growth opportunities to develop you in your career.
• We Live our Core Values: We believe strongly in our five core values at ESCO Group: Innovation, Ownership, Teamwork, Courage, and Growth.