A Day in the Life of an Automation Engineering Manager at Walmart
A Manager, Automation Engineering at Walmart starts each day checking for urgent issues impacting sales or customer experience—"if we have a system outage, anything impacting sales or the customer experience, that needs to be addressed right away"—before focusing on meetings and stakeholder communication. The role emphasizes efficient use of team time, recognizing the significant collective cost of meetings, ensuring everyone "is getting something out of the meeting and getting whatever they need."
Project Management, Communication, Problem-Solving, Teamwork, Leadership
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Alexander Claiborne
Manager, Automation Engineering
Walmart
University of California, Santa Barbara
N/A
Environmental & Related Sciences
Automotive & Auto Parts, Technology
Operations and Project Management
Video Highlights
1. Managing urgent issues, such as system outages that affect sales or customer experience, is a critical aspect of the job and requires immediate attention.
2. Effective planning and organization are essential, including creating meeting agendas, following up on previous discussions, and ensuring that all stakeholders have the necessary information.
3. Efficient time management is crucial, as meetings involve numerous high-earning individuals. The manager emphasizes using meeting time effectively to maximize productivity and ensure everyone benefits from the discussion.
Transcript
What does a day in the life of a manager of automation engineering look like?
Yeah, so a lot of times I wake up and just make sure that I've read all my emails. Sometimes things come in first thing in the morning and they need to be addressed right away, especially if they're affecting the business.
If we have a system outage or anything impacting sales or the customer experience, that needs immediate attention. That's why I bring that up first. Most of the time, that's not the case, but sometimes it is.
If it's not urgent, I focus on planning my day. I look at meetings and ensure that if I'm hosting one, I have an agenda and talking points. I also check that everything discussed in the last meeting has been followed up on or has a recent update.
Throughout the day, I also check in with stakeholders. I make sure everyone has what they need, especially if we're integrating a product or there's new development. I ensure that anyone who needs downstream information is included in the conversation.
Again, this is a high-level approach, but I always have to be agile if something comes up and be prepared to solve problems. It involves a lot of talking with people and ensuring meetings are efficient, as you're using a lot of people's time. Collectively, that's a pretty hefty salary if you have ten people in a room making a lot of money and they're there for 30 minutes.
So, you just want to make sure that you're using the time effectively, and everybody's getting something out of the meeting and whatever they need.