Sr Technical Automation Program Leader

The Quest Diagnostics Enterprise Automation Team is where invention meets impact. We are a team of builders who work passionately to apply emerging robotics hardware and software technologies to solve real-world challenges, transforming our customers’ experiences in ways we are only beginning to imagine. We invent new improvements every day, providing our team members with the tools and support needed to innovate in a rewarding, fulfilling, and collaborative environment.

Based primarily at our state-of-the-art Clifton, NJ Laboratory, we are seeking a highly strategic, proactive Senior Technical Automation Program Manager to drive our automation pipeline from initial spark to enterprise-scale deployment. In this role, you will not just manage existing projects — you will actively scout our laboratory network to identify high-impact automation opportunities, build robust business cases to justify capital investments, lead pilot and Proof of Concept (POC) initiatives, and design the long-term roadmap to scale these technologies across the Quest network. This role requires an execution-focused leader who is equally comfortable presenting to executive leadership and working on-site alongside local lab operations during critical go-live windows.

The position has one direct report.

The ideal candidate will be hybrid out of our Clifton, NJ site.

Pay Range: $165,000-$200,000/year + 20% Annual Incentive Plan 

Salary offers are based on a wide range of factors including relevant skills, training, experience, education, and, where applicable, certifications obtained. Market and organizational factors are also considered. Successful candidates may be eligible to receive annual performance bonus compensation.

Benefits Information: 

• We are proud to offer best-in-class benefits and programs to support employees and their families in living healthy, happy lives. Our pay and benefit plans have been designed to promote employee health in all respects – physical, financial, and developmental. Depending on whether it is a part-time or full-time position, some of the benefits offered may include: 

• Day 1 Medical, supplemental health, dental & vision for FT employees who work 30+ hours 

• Best-in-class well-being programs 

• Annual, no-cost health assessment program Blueprint for Wellness® 

• healthyMINDS mental health program 

• Vacation and Health/Flex Time 

• 6 Holidays plus 1 "MyDay" off 

• FinFit financial coaching and services 

• 401(k) pre-tax and/or Roth IRA with company match up to 5% after 12 months of service 

• Employee stock purchase plan 

• Life and disability insurance, plus buy-up option 

• Flexible Spending Accounts 

• Annual incentive plans 

• Matching gifts program 

• Education assistance through MyQuest for Education 

• Career advancement opportunities 

• …and so much more! 

• Ideation & Opportunity Discovery: Proactively analyze laboratory workflows across the enterprise to identify bottlenecks, labor constraints, and high-volume manual processes where robotic or automation technology can drive significant value.
• Business Case Development: Build comprehensive financial and operational business cases (including ROI, payback periods, throughput gains, and risk assessments) to secure executive sponsorship and funding for new automation initiatives.
• Pilot & Proof of Concept (POC) Leadership: Design, launch, and lead pilot programs and POCs in select laboratories to validate technical feasibility, refine operational workflows, and gather baseline performance metrics.

• Enterprise Scaling Strategy: Develop and execute the strategic roadmap to industrialize and scale successful pilot technologies seamlessly across Quest’s broader laboratory network (including legacy RBUS, EUBs, and NextGen facilities).

   

• Cross-Discipline Program Delivery: Lead the effective and efficient delivery of System and Hardware Product Development programs, working closely with automation vendors, IT, and procurement teams.
• Schedule & Lifecycle Management: Develop and manage complex project schedules across all hardware disciplines, including Mechanical, Electrical, IT, Integration to LIS, Firmware, Safety, Regulatory, and HW Test Engineering.
• Goal Definition & Performance: Partner with Operations teams, Procurement, System Reliability, IT, and other key stakeholders to define clear project goals that improve performance, reduce cost, and reduce installation cycle time.
• Technical Decision Drive: Drive consensus on technical decisions across engineering groups and ensure appropriate resources are employed to deliver high-quality, maintainable systems.

• Solution Integration: Collaborate cross-functionally to support solution development and system integration, including complex hardware/software integrations.
• Requirements Decomposition: Lead the partnership between Enterprise Automation, third-party automation vendors, and internal IT to develop and decompose comprehensive functional requirements.
• Field Support: Triage, prioritize, and execute against incoming field requests for enterprise automation support.
• Cross-Functional Liaison: Serve as the primary liaison between Systems Engineering, Software Engineering, Deployment Engineering, Solutions, Manufacturing & Supply Chain, Customer Support, and various program verticals.

• Risk Mitigation: Identify, assess, track, and mitigate issues and risks at the program level to keep critical path timelines on schedule.
• Project Documentation: Create, maintain, and disseminate project information, status reports, and key performance data to stakeholders.
• Stakeholder Facilitation: Drive effective teamwork, communication, and collaboration across multiple groups with competing priorities, managing relationships both internal and external to Enterprise Automation.
• On-Site Deployment & Go-Live Support: Travel to laboratory sites (up to 30%) during critical deployment phases to oversee physical integration, coordinate site acceptance testing (SAT), lead troubleshooting efforts, and ensure successful operational go-live.

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field.
• Experience: 10+ years of automation, robotics and hardware engineering experience.
• Direct Team Engagement: 7+ years of working directly with engineering teams.
• Ambiguity & Speed: Experience delivering products against plan in a fast-paced, multi-disciplined, distributed-responsibility, and highly ambiguous environment.
• Project Portfolio: Experience managing multiple projects in parallel through prioritization, planning, task delegation, and critical path management.
• Communication & Travel: Exceptional written and verbal communication skills to speak with technical and non-technical audiences, and the flexibility to travel up to 30% for on-site support.

• Strategic Planning: Proven track record of developing business cases, financial models, and strategic scaling roadmaps for multi-million dollar technology investments.
• Product Lifecycle: 7+ years of full product lifecycle experience, specifically taking custom or commercial off-the-shelf robotics solutions from prototype to high-volume production.
• Technical Depth: Experience in the mechanical or controls field, or direct experience with robotics work cells and their control systems.
• Regulatory & Infrastructure: Basic fundamental knowledge of mechanical and electrical design to channel dependencies with partner teams in Manufacturing Test, Reliability, Sourcing, Hardware Quality, Safety, Compliance, EMC, Firmware, Security, and Networking.
• Certifications- Bonus: 3+ years of program/project management experience or a Project Management Professional (PMP) certificate or MBA degree.