Director of Customer Deployment & Implementation - Advanced Rail Technology (ART)

Progress Rail

$120K — $150K *
Transportation
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor of Science in Engineering or equivalent experience.
  • 10+ years in senior engineering or project leadership roles.
  • Strong background in delivery management and organizational execution.
  • Proven experience leading multiple engineering projects simultaneously.
  • Excellent executive communication and decision-making skills.
  • Familiarity with managing budgets, capacity planning, and resource allocation.
  • Ability to operate effectively in regulated or safety-critical environments.

Responsibilities

  • Lead program delivery in agile/hybrid environments, ensuring execution and quality.
  • Direct cross-functional project teams to meet customer requirements and configurations.
  • Oversee ART solution deployments, including cutover planning and stabilization.
  • Manage project operations, including purchasing and lab setup.
  • Establish and run the delivery operating system for project governance.
  • Own resource allocation and manage the operation budget across projects.
  • Engage with customers during key deployment phases and define readiness criteria.

Benefits

  • Opportunity to lead impactful projects in the rail and transportation industry.
  • Ability to work in a collaborative and innovative environment.
  • Competitive career development and performance management framework.
  • Participation in a high-performing team dedicated to customer success and quality.
  • Opportunities for travel both domestically and internationally.
Full Job Description
Job Purpose

The Director of Technology Delivery is responsible for program and deployment delivery execution across ART product lines, spanning onboard systems, on premise solutions, hardware adjacent software, and cloud/web platforms. You will directly lead the ART deployment organization and manage a leadership team composed of multiple Directors. This role carries direct ownership of:
• Project execution and delivery.
• Customer success.
• Quality, Safety, and Cybersecurity assurance.
• People leadership and management.

You will also be accountable for the people management across the ART deployment organization and continuous improvements for faster, better, smoother delivery to our customers.

We are seeking a Director of Deployment and Implementation to lead the execution, delivery, and governance of all ART deployment projects. This is a highly impactful leadership role responsible for aligning people, process, technology, and execution across multiple engineering verticals with different development models and constraints.

This role is accountable for scalability of ART products-ensuring consistent results, predictable delivery, strong cybersecurity and safety posture, effective project management, and disciplined governance.

This is a full-time position based in the Progress Rail Southlake, TX office.

Education / Training
• Bachelor of Science in Engineering or equivalent experience.
• 10+ years in senior engineering or project leadership or director-level roles.

Preferred:
• Experience with AI, embedded systems, industrial IoT, and automation software.
• Rail, transportation, or similar industrial domain experience strongly preferred.

Key Job Elements

Project Execution & Delivery
• Lead program delivery in an agile/hybrid environment, including scoping, estimating, integrated plans, sprint/iteration management, and executive reporting.
• Direct cross functional project teams to capture and deliver customer specific requirements, integrations, and configuration for core software and hardware.
• Own deployment execution for ART solutions at rail and mining customers, including cutover planning, go live, hypercare, and stabilization.
• Oversee project operations including purchasing, lab setup, supplier/vendor management, and coordination of lab/field tests and site readiness.
• Establish and run the delivery operating system: stage gates, readiness reviews, change control, dependency management, and risk/issue escalation across programs.
• Own resource allocation across products and projects, balancing strategic priorities and execution needs.
• Manage the operation budget, forecasting, and cost control.
• Partner with leadership to align staffing plans with product deployment plans.

Customer Success
• Lead executive customer engagement during deployments, escalations, and go live decision points.
• Define deployment readiness criteria (technical, safety, cyber, operational) and run readiness reviews to ensure consistent outcomes.
• Own post deployment stabilization, adoption metrics, and the continuous improvement loop from field feedback to backlog intake.
• Partner with Services/Field teams to align support models, training, and sustainment plans for each deployment.

Quality, Safety, and Cybersecurity Assurance
• Be accountable for the quality, safety, and cybersecurity requirements of all ART products, working closely with IT, engineering, and customer teams.
• Build team and tools to provide traceability and ensure consistency.

People Leadership & Management
• Own the people management framework for ART engineering, including performance management, career development, succession planning, engagement, and organizational health.
• Ensure consistent people management execution across all engineering verticals.
• Build, retain, and develop a high-performing delivery organization with strong execution discipline and customer focus.

Key Responsibilities:
• Improve on-time delivery predictability.
• Establish deployment governance model and cadence
• Implement delivery KPIs / dashboards
• Reduce deployment defects / rework
• Improve cyber/safety audit readiness
• Establish clear accountability and performance measurements across teams.
• Drive continuous improvement in delivery predictability, quality, and team effectiveness.
• Communicate performance, risks, and strategic needs to senior leadership and customers.

Qualifications and Experience
• 10+ years of engineering/project leadership experience, preferably in software-driven or mixed hardware/software environments.
• Proven experience leading multiple engineering projects/programs simultaneously.
• Strong background in delivery management, and organizational execution.
• Demonstrated success in people leadership, including performance management and leadership development.
• Experience managing budgets, capacity planning, and resource allocation.
• Ability to operate effectively in complex, regulated, or safety-critical environments.
• Excellent executive communication, leadership, and decision-making skills.
• Ability to travel up to 10%, domestic and international.

Essential and Physical Activities Functions:
• Strength - Position typically involves work in an office environment with occasional visits to an industrial environment. Frequent/constant sitting. Occasional standing and walking. Occasional light to medium- level lifting or carrying (up to 50 pounds).
• Motion - Position regularly requires standard motions associated with working in an office environment. Depending on assigned project, position may occasionally require motions involved in an industrial working environment, including some low to intense levels of pushing, pulling, climbing, balancing, crouching, stooping, kneeling, reaching, grasping.
• Vision/Hearing Requirements - Frequent verbal communications, including both talking and hearing.
• Work Environment - Position is typically located in an office environment with occasional visits to an industrial environment which may include a non-temperature-controlled environment, as well as exposure to noise (85+ decibels), occasional exposure to temperature changes, heavy machinery and other hazardous working conditions requiring the use of PPE. Position may require travel as necessary, both domestic and international.
• Emotional Demands - Very high level of responsibility. Must be able to coordinate diverse aspects of a project. Requires significant interpersonal skills while sustaining very high standards.
• Safety - Position may occasionally require the use of Personal Protective Equipment during visits to industrial areas.

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