About Careertakes

👉 Important disclosure: Careertakes is a third-party recruiting platform supporting this hiring process. If selected, you will be employed directly by our client, IT.

Applicants for this role may also receive access to additional matched opportunities through the Careertakes platform.

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Position Overview

Confidential Client is seeking an Innovation Engineer to support operational technology pilots, deployments, and continuous improvement efforts at facilities in and around Lakeland, FL. This role blends technical evaluation, hands‑on implementation, and project coordination to introduce automation and software solutions that improve safety, productivity, quality, and overall operational performance. This is a full‑time, contract opportunity. Estimated salary (source): $95,177 per year (estimate).

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Primary Responsibilities

Technology research & evaluation

• Research emerging automation technologies, software platforms, and industry best practices.
• Conduct vendor evaluations, market analysis, and competitive benchmarking.
• Build business cases and ROI analyses to support technology decisions.

Pilot programs & deployment

• Support pilot projects and rollouts within operating facilities.
• Assist with equipment installation, testing, validation, UAT, training, and go‑live support.
• Track milestones, risks, issues, and measure post‑deployment performance.

Project management & coordination

• Maintain project plans, timelines, budgets, documentation, and action‑item tracking.
• Coordinate activities between operations, IS, solutions engineering, data analytics, and vendors.
• Facilitate meetings and provide regular status updates to stakeholders.

Operational & field support

• Spend time in distribution centers to gather requirements, observe processes, and support deployments.
• Troubleshoot implementation challenges and coordinate corrective actions.
• Support change management activities to drive adoption.

Communication & reporting

• Prepare presentations, reports, and executive summaries for leadership.
• Document lessons learned and maintain innovation program records and metrics.

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Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering, Supply Chain, Operations Management, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field preferred.
• Experience: 0–3 years of relevant engineering, operations, technology, or project management experience preferred; internships or project experience in technology implementation or automation are desirable.
• Technical & professional skills:
  • Strong research, analytical, and problem‑solving skills.
  • Ability to translate technical evaluations into clear business recommendations.
  • Project management and organizational capabilities; proven ability to manage multiple priorities.
  • Excellent verbal and written communication; comfortable presenting to operational and executive stakeholders.
  • Proficiency with Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, and SharePoint.
  • Familiarity with Warehouse Management Systems (WMS), Warehouse Execution Systems (WES), automation control systems, and supporting operational technologies.
  • Comfortable participating in system testing, UAT, validation activities, and hands‑on support in active warehouse environments.

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Travel

• Ability to travel 30–50% of the time (project dependent).

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Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, HSA options, and medical reimbursement
• Annual bonus eligibility
• 401(k) match
• Vacation and holiday pay
• Employee assistance and identity theft protection
• Career development and internal promotion opportunities
• Tuition reimbursement
• Company‑paid life insurance and short‑term disability

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Work Environment & Other

• This role requires frequent on‑site presence in distribution and warehouse environments and direct interaction with operations teams and technology vendors. Standard safety protocols and PPE will apply within operational settings.

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Equal Opportunity & Hiring Transparency

Careertakes and our client are Equal Opportunity Employers committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce. We prohibit discrimination or harassment of any kind. To support a fair and efficient hiring process, AI tools may be used to assist with application review or resume screening. These tools do not replace human decision-making. Final hiring decisions are made by people.

If you have questions about how your data is used, please contact us directly.