Overview

Rockwell Automation is a global technology leader focused on helping the world's manufacturers be more productive, sustainable, and agile. With more than 28,000 employees, we work with companies that help feed the world, provide life-saving medicine, and focus on clean water and green mobility.

Role Summary

As an AI Co-Innovation Engineering Program Manager, you will drive the operational rigor of complex, cross-functional programs and serve as a credible technical thought partner to engineering teams and external technology partners building at the frontier of AI and autonomy — including agentic frameworks, robotics, and emerging AI platforms.

You will live at the intersection of program execution and technical fluency — deep enough in the technology to challenge assumptions, ask the right questions in architecture discussions, and translate between business stakeholders, R&D engineers, and partner engineering teams.

This role reports to the AI Co-Innovation Engineering Manager and is fully remote, based in Illinois.

Primary Responsibilities

• •Manage a portfolio of programs end-to-end: plans, milestones, performance metrics, risks, and resource needs across complex, multi-stakeholder work.
• •Define and run the communication plan for each program — landing strategy, rhythm of business, executive updates, and decision logs — so the right people have the right context at the right time.
• •Establish objectives and success criteria with stakeholders, hold teams accountable, and shepherd decisions to closure across business unit product, engineering, AI COE/AI R&D, partner engineering, and executive sponsors.
• •Use OKRs, KPIs, and other performance metrics to demonstrate program value and business impact, adapting communication style to each audience.
• •Recognize process gaps and inefficiencies, and drive optimization across the portfolio.
• •Help shape the technical strategy for programs run jointly with strategic technology partners, in close partnership with the AI Engineering Programs Manager and engineering counterparts.
• •Advise internal stakeholders on technical feasibility and trade-offs as we build with and on top of partner technologies in areas like agentic frameworks, robotics, and applied AI.
• •Maintain working knowledge across modern AI systems — LLMs, agentic frameworks, ML pipelines — and adjacent areas such as robotics and autonomy stacks. Read technical design documents critically and ask questions.
• •Promote reference architectures, standards, and reusable patterns from partner engagements so learnings flow back into the broader AI and Autonomy function.
• •Understand the technical and business drivers of strategic technology partners and translate them into a partner engagement strategy aligned to our roadmap.
• •Map partner capabilities to internal opportunities, helping business units see what is possible and helping partners understand where their technology lands inside our environment.
• •Jointly qualify and prioritize partner opportunities with the AI Engineering Programs Manager, and develop the technical engagement plan that supports each one.
• •Engage internal teams — engineering, product groups, R&D — to confirm capability to execute and to unblock technical and business obstacles as they surface.

Required Qualifications

• •Bachelor's Degree in a relevant field.
• •Legal authorization to work in the US is required. Visa sponsorship is not available for this role.

Preferred Qualifications

• •Minimum of 8 years of related experience.
• •Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, or equivalent practical experience.
• •5+ years of program management experience in software, AI, or other deeply technical environments.
• •Experience running complex, multi-stakeholder programs with engineering teams as a primary audience.
• •Track record of producing executive-quality updates and driving alignment in writing.
• •Background as a software engineer, AI/ML engineer, or in an adjacent technical role — prior hands-on building experience before moving into program management.
• •Working knowledge of modern AI systems — LLMs, agentic frameworks, ML pipelines — and/or robotics and autonomy stacks.
• •Experience working with or inside technology partnerships (joint engineering, co-development, vendor/partner integrations).
• •Experience building and running programs that require cross-org collaboration and support from leadership.
• •A genuine passion for product roadmaps shaped by AI capabilities.

Compensation and Benefits

• •Total target compensation: $130,400 to $195,600 USD annually.
• •Health Insurance including Medical, Dental, and Vision.
• •401k.
• •Paid Time Off.
• •Parental and Caregiver Leave.
• •Flexible Work Schedule.