Industrial & Automation Engineer

Our Story Powering fast, reliable fulfillment for Adorama, Scuba.com and Sunny Sports, the shipping warehouse is the backbone of our e-commerce business. Distributing from two warehouses, we ensure that creators, adventurers, and enthusiasts alike get the gear they need - accurately and on time.

Whether it’s camera equipment, dive gear, or outdoor essentials, our warehouse teams handle every step of the process with precision, care, and a deep commitment to the customer experience. We don’t just ship products - we help deliver moments of inspiration, exploration, and creativity.

We’re a team that takes pride in doing things right - working together to ensure every package that leaves our warehouses reflects the quality, reliability, and service our customers expect from each of our brands.

Our Leadership Principles

• Growth Mindset: We set high standards, embrace failure, and are open to change.
• Be Customer-Centered: We focus on the end-to-end customer experience.
• Take Ownership & Dig Deeper: We are proactive, use data, and avoid shortcuts.
• Think Like a Start-Up: We move fast, stay flexible, and celebrate every win.
• Be Humble & Respectful: We assume positive intent, listen actively, and support one another.

Position Summary

Lead industrial engineering and warehouse automation initiatives to improve productivity, labor utilization, material flow and fulfillment capacity. A central responsibility is to help Adorama successfully implement, integrate and maximize the long-term value of its Goods-to-Person (GTP) system. The role also develops the labor standards, planning models, performance reporting and process improvements needed across manual and automated operations. This is a hands-on position requiring strong analytical judgment, independent project leadership and regular involvement on the warehouse floor.

Key Responsibilities

• GTP implementation and performance: Represent Fulfillment in GTP design reviews, process validation, integration planning, installation readiness, testing, commissioning and operational handover; monitor vendor deliverables and project milestones.
• GTP capacity and ROI: Challenge and validate assumptions for throughput, presentation rates, staffing, labor savings, utilization and system capacity; establish baselines and compare actual results with committed performance after go-live.
• Labor planning and performance engineering: Develop engineered labor standards, workload-to-hours models, staffing forecasts and actionable daily/weekly KPIs by building, department and process; explain performance changes using output and actual labor hours.
• Data and reporting: Convert existing WMS/AS400, Looker and operational data into practical management tools; partner with BI and IT on data quality, dashboard development and automation of recurring analysis.
• Process improvement: Observe and measure receiving, putaway, replenishment, picking, packing, sorting and shipping; identify bottlenecks, waste and variation; test improvements and quantify before-and-after results.
• Material and order flow: Optimize slotting, hot zones, batching, order routing, replenishment, work release and movement between manual processes and automated equipment while protecting shipping cutoffs.
• Automation integration and reliability: Work with IT, vendors, Operations and Maintenance on WMS/WCS interfaces, equipment performance, recurring faults and root-cause analysis; recommend corrective actions and verify results.
• Cross-functional project delivery: Lead assigned engineering initiatives, track owners and deadlines, evaluate vendors and capital proposals, communicate risks and results, and support future capacity and network planning.

Working Relationships & Accountability

• Report directly to the VP of Fulfillment; partner closely with the Sr. Director of Operations, Senior Operations Manager, department leaders, BI/IT, Maintenance and external automation partners.
• Engineer owns analytical methods, standards, process design recommendations and validation of results; Operations leadership owns daily staffing, execution, coaching and sustained performance.
• Influence change through data, practical floor-level collaboration and clear recommendations, without relying on direct supervisory authority.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Systems Engineering or a related technical discipline, or equivalent directly relevant experience.
• 4+ years of hands-on industrial/operations engineering experience in a high-volume distribution or e-commerce fulfillment environment; demonstrated ability to work independently.
• Proven experience with labor standards, productivity analysis, staffing or capacity models, and measurable warehouse process improvements.
• Practical experience with automated material handling systems and understanding of WMS/WCS-driven workflows, system interfaces and material flow.
• Strong analytical skills using Excel and operational datasets; ability to work with BI/reporting tools and translate findings into clear actions for operating leaders.
• Experience leading cross-functional projects and working effectively with vendors, IT, maintenance and warehouse teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Direct GTP, AS/RS, sortation or similar warehouse automation implementation and ramp-up experience.
• Experience with AS400/IBM i, Looker, SQL or other warehouse reporting and analysis tools.
• Lean Six Sigma, PMP or similar continuous improvement/project management credentials; experience supporting capital ROI and acceptance testing.

Measures of Success

• GTP launch readiness, achieved throughput, utilization and verified benefits versus approved design assumptions.
• Accurate, usable labor planning models and timely visibility into productivity drivers at department and process levels.
• Documented productivity, quality, labor efficiency and material-flow improvements with measurable before-and-after results.
• Effective project delivery, cross-functional adoption and sustainable operating processes.