Sr. Program Manager, Automation

Dorman was founded on the belief that people should have greater freedom to fix motor vehicles. For over 100 years, we have been driving new solutions, releasing tens of thousands of aftermarket replacement products engineered to save time and money, and increase convenience and reliability. Founded and headquartered in the United States, we are a pioneering global organization offering an always-evolving catalog of automotive, heavy-duty and specialty vehicle products. Today, we have more than 3,500 employees across 29 different locations, with a family of brands that also includes SuperATV and Dayton Parts. Publicly traded under the stock ticker DORM, reaching a revenue of $2 billion in 2024.

Everyone who works at Dorman is called a Contributor. We need everyone, regardless of role and experience, to contribute to our success. That means everyone has a unique ability to make an impact on the business. We encourage all our Contributors to bring their authentic selves to work. The freedom to pursue new ideas, offer different perspectives, and grow in your career is fundamental to working at Dorman.

Job Summary

The Senior Program Manager - Automation Programs oversees Dorman's automation portfolio as an integrated program - ensuring all initiatives align with corporate strategy, network design, and long-term ROI targets.

This role translates executive vision into a unified program roadmap that connects design, implementation, and sustainment across multiple distribution centers. It balances resources, timelines, and interdependencies across sites to ensure the network evolves in a cohesive, high-return way.

Acting as the operational command center between Operations, Engineering, IT, Maintenance, Finance, and site OPEX, the Senior Program Manager brings clarity to complexity - connecting strategic intent with disciplined execution.

This position directly manages the Automation Project Manager and Automation Specialist, and partners closely with the Technical Product Manager and site OPEX leadership to ensure consistency, visibility, and sustainment across all automation programs.

Primary Duties

Strategy Integration:

• Ensure all automation efforts ladder up to enterprise capacity, cost, and service goals.
• Translate long-term strategy into an actionable multi-site program roadmap.
• Partner with senior leadership to align capital planning, sequencing, and future design decisions with strategic objectives.

Portfolio Management:

• Oversee multiple automation projects as a unified portfolio, balancing budgets, resources, and timelines.
• Manage interdependencies between initiatives, identifying conflicts and synergies across sites.
• Provide executive-level visibility into program health, milestones, and risk posture.

Governance & Standardization:

• Establish and enforce program governance - including playbooks, templates, and stage-gate standards - to drive consistency across all projects.
• Build scalable processes that improve delivery speed, predictability, and quality.
• Lead cross-functional reviews to ensure accountability, transparency, and decision readiness.

Sustainment & Continuous Improvement:

• Own the post-launch sustainment phase of all automation programs, monitoring throughput, uptime, labor, and ROI targets.
• Partner with site OPEX and maintenance teams to identify optimization opportunities and ensure target realization over time.
• Institutionalize lessons learned into future designs and standards.

Vendor & Executive Interface:

• Serve as the primary point of contact for automation vendors and executive stakeholders.
• "Speak both languages" - technical with vendors and integrators, financial with leadership.
• Manage vendor relationships to ensure scope, cost, and technical performance align with enterprise goals.

Leadership & Team Development:

• Directly manage and mentor the Automation Project Manager(s) and Automation Specialist(s).
• Build a culture of proactive communication, disciplined execution, and continuous improvement across all automation initiatives.

Qualifications

• Proven experience integrating advanced material handling or automation systems (G2P, AMRs, AS/RS, VLMs, etc.) within high-volume environments.
• Strong understanding of program governance, capital management, and cross-functional leadership.
• Exceptional ability to translate between technical and executive audiences.
• PMP, Lean, or Six Sigma certification preferred.
• Willingness to travel 10-20% to project sites and vendor facilities.

Education / Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Management, Supply Chain, or related field (Master's preferred).
• 5-8 years of experience in distribution, operations, or manufacturing, including 3+ years leading multi-site programs or automation portfolios.

#LIMI1 #DORMANPRODUCTS

The US base salary range for this full-time position is $83,900.00 to $124,800.00. This role is also eligible for a bonus. The actual base pay offered to the successful candidate will depend on multiple factors, including but not limited to job-related knowledge and skills, experience, business needs, geographical location, and internal pay equity. Compensation decisions are made based on the specific facts and circumstances of each role and candidate.

As a Dorman US contributor, you (and eligible dependents, as applicable) will have access to medical, dental, vision, basic life insurance, paid time off (sick/vacation), and Paid Parental Leave. U.S. employees are entitled to paid holidays, floating holidays, and paid time off starting in their first year of employment depending on hire date. You are also able to participate in our 401k retirement plan (with company match and profit-sharing) and Discounted Employee Stock Purchase Plan.

Dorman Products is an equal opportunity employer; we value a combination of ideas, perspectives, and cultures at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. EEO/AA Employer M/F/D/V. www.DormanProducts.com