Industrial Engineer - Warehouse Design & Automation

Overview

As the Industrial Engineer - Warehouse Design & Automation, you will be a technical leader responsible for designing, engineering, and scaling warehouse facilities across a multi-site fulfillment network. Your primary mission is to translate business demand and growth forecasts into data-driven, buildable warehouse designs that optimize throughput, labor efficiency, space utilization, and cost.

This role partners closely with Operations, Real Estate, Facilities, IT, Finance, and external automation vendors to deliver standardized, scalable solutions for greenfield builds, expansions, and retrofits. You will bring a strong systems mindset, deep understanding of material flow, and a bias for simplicity, operability, and long-term sustainability.

What You'll Do

Warehouse Design & Engineering

• Design end-to-end warehouse layouts for new facilities, expansions, and retrofits, supporting high-throughput fulfillment operations.
• Engineer material flows from inbound receiving through outbound shipping, ensuring efficient, safe, and ergonomic processes.
• Define building-level requirements including dock counts, clear heights, column spacing, power, floor loading, and equipment zoning, in partnership with cross-functional teams.
• Develop and maintain layout drawings, design assumptions, and engineering narratives for leadership, finance, and vendor review.

MHE & Automation Engineering

• Specify, evaluate, and engineer material handling and automation systems including:
• Conveyors, sorters, and divert systems
• Pick modules, pallet flow, case flow, and mezzanines
• AMRs, AGVs, and goods-to-person solutions
• Packaging, labeling, dimensioning, and weighing systems
• Develop functional specifications, throughput targets, and redundancy strategies for automation systems.
• Partner with integrators and vendors through RFPs, design reviews, FAT/SAT, commissioning, and go-live support.

Capacity Modeling & Data Analysis

• Build capacity, throughput, and labor models using forecasted volumes, SKU profiles, and order characteristics.
• Analyze peak scenarios, seasonality, and failure modes to stress-test designs.
• Quantify trade-offs between labor, automation, space utilization, service levels, and cost.
• Use post-launch operational data to refine assumptions and continuously improve design standards.

Financial Analysis & Business Case Development

• Develop CapEx and OpEx estimates for MHE and automation investments.
• Support ROI, payback period, and total cost of ownership analyses.
• Partner with Finance and Leadership to support capital planning and investment decisions.
• Drive standardization across facilities to reduce engineering variability and lifecycle cost.

Launch Support & Continuous Improvement

• Support warehouse launches and expansions through go-live and stabilization.
• Partner with Operations, Maintenance, and Controls teams to resolve systemic design issues.
• Perform post-launch audits and feed learnings back into network design standards and playbooks.
• Document and maintain reference designs, engineering standards, and best practices.

What You'll Need

• Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related field. Alternatively, equivalent hands-on experience designing warehouse automation systems may be considered.
• 5+ years of experience in warehouse design, material handling engineering, or automation.
• Proven experience designing high-volume distribution or fulfillment centers.
• Strong analytical and modeling skills, with advanced proficiency in Excel; SQL, Python, or simulation tools are a plus.
• Proficiency in AutoCAD or similar layout and design tools.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Systems Engineering, or a related field.
• Experience in large-scale e-commerce, retail, or 3PL fulfillment networks.
• Familiarity with WMS concepts and system integration dependencies.
• Greenfield warehouse launch experience.
• Experience working directly with automation integrators or MHE vendors.

Key Attributes

• Strong systems thinker with the ability to design for scale, peak, and failure scenarios.
• Data-driven decision maker who can clearly communicate technical trade-offs to non-technical stakeholders.
• Practical, operations-aware engineer who values simplicity, maintainability, and standardization.
• Builder mindset with a desire to create mechanisms, standards, and repeatable solutions.