Manager, IT Engineering Systems

Woodward is committed to creating a great workplace for all team members. Our company and its members are committed to acting with integrity being respectful and accountable to one another and staying humble and driven while maintaining the highest professional and ethical standards.

We are steadfastly committed to attracting the best talent across our communities creating a rewarding workplace. Together we are fulfilling our purpose to design and deliver energy control solutions our partners count on to power a clean future.

Woodward supports our members wellbeing and regularly benchmarks with other companies in our industry to offer an extensive Total Reward package for this position. Salary will be determined by the applicants education experience knowledge skills and abilities as well as internal equity and alignment with market data.

Estimated annual base pay: $142000(minimum) - $177000(midpoint) - $213000(maximum)

All Levels are eligible for the benefits below:

• All members included in annual cash bonus opportunity.
• 401(k) match (4.5%)
• Annual Woodward stock contribution (5%)
• Tuition reimbursement and Training/Professional Development opportunities for all members
• 12 paid holidays including floating holidays.
• Industry leading medical dental and vision Insurance upon date of hire
• Vacation / Sick Time / Vacation Buy-up / Short Term Disability / Bereavement leave.
• Paid parental leave.
• Adoption Assistance
• Employee Assistance Program including mental health benefits.
• Member Life & AD&D / Long Term Disability / Member Optional Life
• Member referral bonus
• Spouse / Child Optional Life / Optional AD&D / Healthcare and Dependent Care Flexible Spending
• Voluntary benefits including:
  • Home / Auto Insurance discounts
  • Whole Life Insurance / Critical Illness Insurance / Legal Assistance / Military Leave

Purpose:

The Manager IT Engineering partners with stakeholders define lead and drive the integration of cutting-edge digital technologies and processes across the organization ensuring seamless connectivity data flow and operational efficiency. This role is critical to enabling our Model Based Engineering (MBE) strategy to drive adoption of modern technology-driven solutions while leveraging the digital thread to create a connected ecosystem for data and processes across the entire lifecycle of products systems or operations.

Key Responsibilities:

Inspire and Lead High-Performing Teams:

• Cultivate a culture of trust collaboration ownership and accountability by mentoring team members setting clear goals and fostering professional growth across diverse technical and business functions.
• Foster an environment of continuing education and career development for team members that includes both internal and external relationship building and understanding of business operations.
• Mentor and develop team members fostering a collaborative environment and encouraging skill growth in emerging technologies and best practices.
• Manage daily team operations including task assignments workload balancing and performance monitoring.
• Conduct regular team meetings to review progress address challenges and align priorities.
• Evaluate team member performance providing feedback and implementing improvement plans.
• Provide regular updates to leadership on team status.

Champion Strategic Alignment:

Foster strategic partnerships with stakeholders to drive the identification and implementation of business system improvements and innovations that support organizational goals ensuring initiatives are well-communicated strategically prioritized and effectively executed.

Platform Strategy & Development:

• Partner with leadership to align and evolve team capabilities in line with the strategic goals.
• Lead the implementation of business system improvements and strategies that support organizational goals ensuring initiatives are well-communicated properly resourced prioritized and effectively executed for the engineering environment:
• Define and lead the IT vision and strategy acting as a strategic liaison to the broader organization in the development of the roadmap for MBE adoption defining technical standards and best practices for model development management and simulation.
• Partner with Engineering Design & Simulation communities to influence define and implement solutions to streamline and improve efficiencies.
• System Leadership (PLM/CAD/HPC): Manage the integration and maintenance of digital tools including PLM systems (e.g. Windchill) to ensure seamless data flow across enterprise including Quality and Manufacturing.

Operational Excellence:

• Monitor and optimize system performance enforce compliance manage incidents and ensure high availability and reliability of engineering IT services.
• Provide oversight in the deployment integration and maintenance of engineering software and simulation tools ensuring robust and secure IT operations across platforms.
• Act as a strategic liaison to business partners Sourcing and other IT teams to govern provision and manage software entitlements participate in vendor compliance audits and identify areas of risk.

Program/Project/Change Management:

• Facilitate requirements gathering sessions and translate business needs into actionable initiatives.
• Develop detailed project plans schedules budgets allocate resources effectively and coordinate with internal and external teams and stakeholders.
• Monitor project progress manage risks and implement corrective actions to ensure on-time and within-budget delivery.
• Communicate project updates to stakeholders ensuring transparency and alignment throughout the project lifecycle.
• Guide teams and stakeholders through change management processes with empathy and clarity promoting user adoption and minimizing disruption through proactive communication and training.
• Oversee large-scale implementation projects including new modules upgrades and integrations with other enterprise systems.

Vendor Relationship Management:

• Act as the primary point of contact for external vendors and consultants.
• Manage relationships with software vendors ensuring optimal service delivery and adherence to contracts.
• Partner with Sourcing Legal and IT Software Asset Management teams in contract negotiations and oversee vendor performance metrics to ensure service level agreements (SLAs) are met
• Partner with IT Software Asset Management in response to vendor compliance audits.

Key Skills:

Strategic Vision and Alignment:

• Ability to clearly convey complex ideas to both technical and non-technical audiences ensuring alignment and understanding across all levels of the organization.
• Skills to align technology initiatives with long-term business strategies ensuring investments deliver measurable value.
• Strategic prioritization of projects balancing immediate needs with future goals.
• Focus on building relationships leveraging expertise and fostering trust while communicating strategically.

Leadership and Team Development:

• Proven ability to lead mentor and inspire cross-functional teams of IT professionals engineers and business stakeholders.
• Mentorship and coaching skills to develop team members technical analytical and leadership skills.
• Ability to foster a collaborative accountable and high-performing team culture while addressing team challenges constructively.
• Skilled in setting clear goals to drive ownership and accountability tracking progress through KPIs and using feedback to continuously improve team performance and system outcomes.
• Ability to manage underperforming employees.

Change Management and Transformation Leadership:

• Expertise in leading organizational change particularly in rolling out or optimizing PLM CAD MBE and HPC systems.
• Ability to drive digital transformation initiatives such as adopting model-based workflows or implementing HPC clusters for advanced simulations.
• Skills to handle resistance to change by communicating the value of new tools and processes and ensuring smooth adoption.
• Ability to drive ownership and accountability as part of change management.

Stakeholder Communication and Influence:

• Strong communication skills to bridge the gap between technical teams and non-technical stakeholders such as executives or business leaders.
• Ability to present complex technical concepts and system updates in a clear concise manner to decision-makers.
• Skills to build consensus manage stakeholder expectations and align teams toward shared goals.

Collaboration and Cross-Functional Leadership:

• Ability to foster collaboration between IT engineering manufacturing and business teams to ensure alignment across the organization.
• Leadership in breaking down silos and encouraging knowledge sharing to improve workflows and innovation.
• Skills to mediate and resolve conflicts between departments or team members constructively.

Project and Program Management:

• Proficiency in managing complex projects.
• Skills in project planning timeline management and resource allocation using methodologies like Agile Scrum or Waterfall.
• Ability to manage project risks budgets and deliverables while ensuring team alignment and accountability.

Empathy and Emotional Intelligence:

• Strong emotional intelligence to lead with empathy understanding the needs and challenges of team members and stakeholders.
• Ability to motivate and engage teams especially during periods of high stress or organizational change.
• Skills to foster a positive and inclusive work environment where everyone feels valued and heard.

Process Optimization and Continuous Improvement:

• Leadership in identifying inefficiencies and bottlenecks and implementing improvements.
• Focus on leveraging automation digital tools and best practices to streamline operations and enhance productivity.
• Ability to align process improvements with business goals to maximize ROI and engineering efficiency.

Decision-Making and Problem-Solving:

• Confident in making informed decisions under pressure balancing short-term needs with long-term strategy and managing competing priorities effectively.
• Strong analytical skills to troubleshoot issues in systems and implement timely solutions.
• Strategic problem-solving to address long-term challenges and risks ensuring sustainable success.
• Manage multiple tasks effectively ensuring that operational and support responsibilities are completed on time.

Knowledge of Industry Standards and Trends:

• Familiarity with industry standards and best practices such as ISO 10303 (STEP) ASME Y14.41 and other PLM/MBE/CAD frameworks.
• Awareness of emerging trends in digital transformation such as digital twins generative design and cloud-based PLM solutions.
• Leadership in integrating advanced technologies (e.g. AI/ML) into engineering processes to drive innovation.

Vision for Digital Transformation:

• Awareness of emerging trends in PLM CAD MBE and HPC including cloud-based solutions generative design AI/ML applications and digital twins.
• Understanding of industry standards (e.g. ISO 10303 STEP ASME Y14.41) and compliance requirements (e.g. ITAR GDPR) relevant to engineering and HPC systems.
• Ability to evaluate and advocate for innovation and align cutting-edge technology with organizational objectives.

Other Qualifications:

• Bachelors Degree in Computer Science Information Systems Engineering or related discipline is required.
• 5 years of experience in IT and engineering system management preferred.
• 3 years of leadership or management experience with a proven track record of leading cross-functional teams preferred.
• 7 years of experience in IT and engineering system management preferred.
• Project management experience required.

Application window is anticipated to close 30 days from original posting date.

This information is provided in compliance with the Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act and is the companys good faith and reasonable estimate of the compensation range and benefits offered for this position. The compensation offered to the successful applicant may vary based on factors including experience skills education location and other job-related reasons.

This position requires use of information which is subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and/or the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). All applicants must be U.S. Persons within the meaning of the ITAR and EAR or eligible to obtain all required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State and/or the U.S. Department of Commerce. The ITAR defines a U.S. Person as a U.S. citizen or national lawful permanent resident (i.e. Green Card holder) or a protected person (e.g. asylee or refugee).

Woodward is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of race color religion sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity) national origin age disability protected veteran status or any other category protected under federal state or local laws.