Senior Automation Controls Engineer

Job Description

AZEK is seeking a Principal Automation Engineer (Senior Automation Engineer) to assist as a technical resource for teams of highly skilled engineers responsible for maintaining business critical equipment and infrastructure and bringing in new processes, equipment, and improvements. The initial focus will be on expanding our technical and project support to reduce risk to the operation while supporting capital, CI, R&D, IT, Quality, and Process projects as a technical resource and safeguard.

• Act as a technical leader / subject matter expert. This includes hands‑on activities to keep operations running smoothly when there is a skills gap with a primary focus on new processes, projects, and methods. This also includes training and exposing less experienced employees to these required skills (Server work, in‑the‑field reprogramming, new automation processes)
• Act as the company lead on manufacturing digitalization strategy and deployment, with an ability to step in and complete high level technical tasks to advance the company’s position.
• Implement and recommend automation engineering strategies that align with the company’s goals and objectives.
• Oversee the design, development, and implementation of control systems for new and existing equipment, ensuring that they meet safety and performance standards.
• Adjust and develop performance and safety standards as the company grows.
• Develop and manage project timelines and budgets, ensuring that projects are completed on time and within budget.
• Collaborate with other departments, such as production, maintenance, and quality assurance, to ensure that controls engineering projects meet their needs.
• Ensure compliance with safety standards and regulations, such as OSHA and NFPA, in all controls engineering projects.
• Develop and maintain relationships with vendors and suppliers, negotiate contracts and manage relationships to ensure the best possible pricing and service.
• Communicate effectively with management and other departments to ensure that controls engineering projects are aligned with the company’s overall goals and objectives.
• Participate in implementing standardization, process improvement, and cost reduction programs.
• Lead efforts to increase equipment OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) through controls engineering optimization and automation.
• Develop and implement cybersecurity policies, procedures, and standards for OT systems.
• Development of capital plans to complete upgrades, close out cybersecurity issues, and remediate process bottlenecks.
• Perform regular risk assessments and vulnerability assessments on OT systems and infrastructure.
• Define and ensure that factory and site acceptance plans are executed prior to bringing systems into facilities.
• Able to visit other manufacturing sites and define 3‑5 year digitalization plans based on the current state and the required capital projects and infrastructure required.
• Ensure that IT / OT convergence is properly implemented, including managing interfaces between control systems and enterprise systems such as MES (Manufacturing Execution Systems) and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems.
• Work with process engineers and operators to develop innovative solutions for improving process efficiency, quality, and safety.
• Work with IT functions to define and mature our cybersecurity and support strategies.
• Monitor and analyze equipment data to identify trends and develop strategies for improving equipment reliability and availability.
• Collaborate with equipment suppliers to develop specifications and standards for equipment procurement and installation.
• Experience with Statistical Process Control (SPC) and other data‑driven methodologies for process optimization.
• Experience with historian software and visualization tools for data.
• Knowledge of advanced controls technologies such as Model Predictive Control (MPC), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning (ML), and their applications in manufacturing.
• Expertise in remediating cybersecurity issues with industrial control systems, including vulnerability assessments, risk management, and incident response.
• Mastery of industry…