The Technology Talent Market: Why Digital Manufacturing Leaders are in High Demand

Every technology leadership role has important relationships with the C-suite, the organization and its bottom-line performance. In this edition of Heller’s Technology Talent Market, Kerri Westberg, Heller Senior Principal, explains why digital manufacturing leaders are so valuable in today’s marketplace, how leaders can attract and identify the best candidates, and how job-seekers can find success. 

The role: Digital manufacturing leaders bring transformation to shop floor technology by connecting operational technology (OT) and IT. This role is critical, because traditionally isolated OT systems now need to connect to corporate IT networks to provide data for analytics and remote monitoring. This IT/OT convergence creates both innovation opportunities and cybersecurity risk.

Digital manufacturing leadership is an emerging role with Vice President titles including Digital Manufacturing, MES solutions, Industry 4.0, and Smart Manufacturing. Depending on the organization, these leaders can report to CIOs, manufacturing general managers, and supply chain executives. The variety in titles and org chart reporting responsibilities is typical of a rising executive technology position.

The challenge in IT/OT convergence is that IT and OT leaders have different business orientations. IT people focus on business applications and corporate networks, while OT people specialize in machinery technology. This includes SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) systems that monitor facilities, PLCs (programmable logical controllers) that control the machines, and industrial sensors that measure temperature and pressure. Both IT and OT roles are technical, but the approach, knowledge and point of view are very different. 

Why they are in demand: I see three key themes behind the surge in demand for digital manufacturing leaders. First, companies that want to pursue automation, data, and AI strategies are now confronting a roadblock in manufacturing. The machines are so old that they are not compatible with the new need for real-time data, let alone AI enablement. One key element of the digital manufacturing role is to retrofit these old machines for these new data needs.

Second, with today’s big shifts in the geopolitical climate, we are seeing an increase in demand for U.S.-based manufacturing, which requires people with both IT and OT knowledge to build a modern shop floor from the ground up.

Third, companies that aren't investing in digital manufacturing talent are getting left behind by the likes of Tesla and Amazon, which have been investing in digital manufacturing for years, and can now move much faster. 

What they do for their companies: Every manufacturing business needs to drive down costs through higher production, less downtime, and better supply chain transparency. Digital manufacturing leaders identify quick wins by extracting data from aging machines and capturing legacy knowledge from retiring technicians. Beyond these immediate opportunities, these leaders focus on long-term strategies for comprehensive shop floor connectivity using digital twin technologies, chatbots, and other advanced tools.

While their approach varies significantly across each company the overall goals are consistent: reduce costs, improve efficiency, and modernize operations through strategic technology deployment.

These leaders serve a critical role as the glue between IT and OT. Without leadership in this space, it's open season for executives from various parts of the enterprise to impose different and often competing digital initiatives on the manufacturing environment. And that leads to mayhem. This leader can channel the initiatives into the best outcomes. Think of this person as a “mini-CIO” for manufacturing operations. 

How to spot them: Ideal digital manufacturing candidates have experience in both IT and OT. In my executive search work, I’ve seen them come up through three pathways: They grew up in manufacturing and OT and then took a role partnering with IT to deploy new systems on the shop floor. Or they can spend their career in IT but have always worked in manufacturing. Another valid profile is someone with deep process knowledge, like Lean and Six Sigma, and they’ve deployed supply chain tools to integrate with manufacturing. But all qualified candidates will have some manufacturing and some IT.

For attributes, we are looking for candidates who communicate across different groups, because they have so many different stakeholders. They can cut through a technology and process challenge, get to the core of the problem, and resolve it. They closely follow emerging technologies and trends and get excited about the potential of these technologies and can articulate the outcomes. So, a business outcomes focus is a key attribute.

People leadership is important as well, since junior IT/OT people are rare. The best digital manufacturing leaders are very attentive to team development and retention. They know that once you develop a high performing IT/OT team, you don’t want to lose it.

What they want: What candidates want most is the opportunity to have an impact, and the investment dollars to support their strategies. Digital manufacturing candidates are shrewd interviewers because they’ve been burned by talk of a big transformation on the shop floor, but when they get there, they find no appetite for investment. For this reason, they tend to react well to long-term incentive packages, which indicate a serious commitment to the impact of their work.

What the boss should know: If your recruiter has not done this for you, nail down exactly where a candidate sits in the organization and what they are responsible for. Who are their peers? Who exactly owns the critical technologies that are important to you, whether a new MES system or digital twin technology? There is gray area in who owns what, so spend a minute figuring that out.

Remain open-minded to different kinds of candidates. If the candidate meets 80 percent of your criteria on paper, then talk to them. The more you talk to a range of different candidates, the more you learn what your own most pressing needs and deal-breakers are. These roles are often brand new for an organization, so sometimes you are looking more for organizational athleticism than experience.

You know you've landed a keeper when: After 12 months in the job, the right digital manufacturing leaders will have built relationships and trust both on the shop floor and within IT. They've had some strong quick wins in the short term, but in the longer term, they’ve outlined and are executing on a strategic roadmap for digital manufacturing. 

Kerri’s pro tips for digital manufacturing candidates: Present yourself professionally. I've had candidates take the interview from their cars, or wear sweatshirts, or be too casual. This role requires credibility with so many parts of the business. Establish executive presence right from the start.

The most successful candidates in any of my executive search work effectively communicate the real-world applications of their jobs and bring to life their excitement over the possibilities. One of my favorite candidates applied his career in digital manufacturing to a fast-food restaurant, and he’s doing amazing things to automate drive-through technology. Fascinating!

Don’t talk too much! Keep your answers tight and right to the point. Remember: your success stories have a beginning, middle, and most importantly, an end. Stick the landing!

Kerri: Why do you love this work? I love to get to the heart of a client’s problem in manufacturing operations and then find them the leader who will solve those problems. But I have the most fun when I check in with our placement and see all of the change they are bringing to our clients.