Senior Systems Analyst – Logistics Automation & Platform Services

Job Summary The Senior Systems Analyst is responsible for the platforms, integrations, and vendor relationships that keep material handling equipment (MHE) and warehouse automation systems running across our distribution network. This role sits on the IT side of the IT/OT boundary and is responsible for the servers, interfaces, monitoring, and support model beneath warehouse control and execution systems, serving as the primary escalation point to MHE vendors when a fault sits below the software line. Success in this role is measured by the availability of the platforms and integrations beneath our automation systems, and by how quickly automation issues are diagnosed and driven to resolution. When automation degrades, this person determines where the problem lives and mobilizes the right team or vendor to fix it. Job Description This role sits within Platform Services and partners closely with logistics operations, Operations Management (including site engineering and controls teams), application development, infrastructure, security, and external automation vendors. Scope boundary: This role is responsible for the IT platform layer — servers, operating systems, middleware, integrations, monitoring, and vendor support coordination. Physical equipment, PLC programming, and controls hardware remain owned by Operations Management. This role is accountable for driving resolution across that boundary, not for performing hardware or controls work. Key Responsibilities 1) MHE & Warehouse Automation Platform Support Maintain the availability, performance, and lifecycle of the server, OS, database, and middleware layers supporting warehouse control and execution systems (WCS/WES), sortation, conveyance, print-and-apply, scanning, and related automation platforms. Monitor and troubleshoot integrations between WMS, WCS/WES, host applications, and ERP — message flow, order release, wave and cartonization handoffs, label data, and scan-to-sort logic — where the majority of automation incidents originate. Partner with Operations Management to triage automation issues, isolate fault domains, and determine whether resolution sits with IT, Operations Management, or the vendor. Manage change for automation platforms under production constraints: patching and upgrade planning around shift schedules, peak freeze windows, and site downtime availability. Maintain and validate degraded-mode and fallback procedures so sites can continue operating when automation systems are unavailable. 2) MHE Vendor Management & Escalation Serve as the primary technical escalation point to MHE and automation vendors. Drive incidents to resolution rather than relaying tickets. Manage day-to-day vendor support relationships: escalation paths, named contacts, response commitments, and after-hours coverage. Track vendor performance against contracted SLAs, document gaps, and escalate persistent shortfalls to leadership. Track and govern software version currency, support entitlement expiration, end-of-life and end-of-support timelines, and patch/upgrade roadmaps across the automation vendor portfolio. Coordinate vendor remote access in line with security policy — provisioning, session governance, and audit trail. Supply technical requirements and input to contract renewals, statements of work, and support-model decisions led by leadership and sourcing; identify where vendor scope, our scope, and Operations Management scope have gaps or overlaps. Participate in vendor and site readiness activities for new automation deployments, expansions, and retrofits, including integration testing and cutover support. 3) Monitoring, Alerting & Observability Implement and maintain monitoring standards for automation systems that go beyond server health: throughput against plan, device and subsystem availability, controller heartbeat, fault and jam rates by zone, scan read rates, and print-and-apply failures. Build and improve dashboards that answer specific operational questions for site leadership and support teams, using platforms such as LogicMonitor, Splunk, and AppDynamics. Ensure every alert has a defined owner, calibrated threshold, escalation path, and runbook, and routes to a documented incident record — reducing noise and making response performance measurable. Develop collectors, integrations, or custom instrumentation where automation telemetry is not natively available to enterprise monitoring tooling. 4) Platform Operations & Environment Readiness Configure and manage the Windows, Linux, virtualization, and core infrastructure services underpinning WCS/WES and logistics applications. Prepare and validate environments for logistics application deployments and infrastructure changes across dev, test, and production, including readiness checks ahead of site-impacting changes. Maintain secure, consistent server environments aligned to IT security policy — certificate lifecycle, access control, and endpoint standards — with particular attention to systems accessed by vendors. 5) Incident Management & Continuous Improvement Respond to system anomalies, performance degradation, and vulnerability alerts; coordinate remediation across IT, site, and vendor teams. Conduct root-cause analysis on automation and platform incidents and drive corrective actions that reduce repeat occurrences. Analyze incident and alert trends across sites to identify systemic issues, chronic bad actors, and improvement opportunities. 6) Automation & Engineering Practices Develop and maintain scripts (PowerShell, Python, or Bash) that reduce manual operational work — automating health checks, configuration consistency across sites, degraded-mode and failover validation, and routine platform tasks. Apply infrastructure-as-code and CI/CD practices using tools such as Ansible or Terraform to build repeatable configuration patterns as automation platforms are deployed, upgraded, or expanded across sites. 7) AI-Enabled Operations Apply AI-driven capabilities within observability and monitoring tooling to reduce alert noise, improve anomaly detection, and speed triage. Use approved AI tooling to accelerate runbooks, post-incident summaries, knowledge base content, and stakeholder communication, with appropriate accuracy review and data handling. 8) Documentation & Knowledge Management Author and maintain system documentation, integration diagrams, support models, and vendor escalation matrices. Build and maintain runbooks that allow site support and on-call staff to resolve common automation issues without escalation. Working Conditions Participation in an on-call rotation supporting 24/7 distribution operations. No travel required; this role supports distribution sites remotely. Availability during peak season and change freeze periods, including occasional off-shift work aligned to site downtime windows. Required Qualifications Demonstrated experience supporting enterprise Windows and/or Linux systems and application platforms in a production environment with meaningful uptime expectations. Strong troubleshooting and root-cause analysis skills, including the ability to isolate faults across integrated systems and multiple support teams. Experience managing external technology vendors — escalation, support contracts, SLA accountability, and driving resolution of issues outside your direct control. Hands-on scripting experience with PowerShell, Python, or Bash. Experience implementing or operating monitoring and alerting solutions, including dashboards and log analysis. Experience supporting logistics, distribution, manufacturing, or another operations-driven environment where system downtime has immediate physical business impact. Preferred Qualifications Direct experience supporting warehouse automation or MHE systems — WCS/WES, sortation, conveyance, print-and-apply, AS/RS, robotics, or similar. Working knowledge of the OT side of automation: PLC concepts, industrial networking, device-level protocols, and how controls teams op