Senior Automation Engineer: AI-Enabled Controls & Data Leader

Overview

At Niagara, we’re looking for Team Members who want to be part of achieving our mission to provide our customers the highest quality, most affordable bottled water.

• Work in an entrepreneurial and dynamic environment with a chance to make an impact.
• Develop lasting relationships with great people.
• Have the opportunity to build a satisfying career.

We offer competitive compensation and benefits packages for our Team Members.

Sr. Automation Engineer

• Own technical solution selection, architecture decisions, and control philosophy standards for assigned projects
• Develop and lead the implementation of advanced automation strategies and solutions, which may include AI-enabled solutions
• Oversee the programming, testing, and maintenance of PLC, HMI, and control systems
• Manage a portfolio of automation initiatives, balancing capacity, risk, business value, and resource allocation
• Advise leadership on trade-offs, sequencing, and resource alignment across competing priorities
• Lead the commissioning and validation of new equipment and upgrades
• Approve control system designs, code standards, and change strategies within assigned scope

• Act as the technical lead and day-to-day work coordinator for automation engineers assigned to shared initiatives or programs
• Provide technical direction, expectations, and prioritization guidance to engineers across plants or projects
• Review, challenge, and approve technical approaches produced by other engineers to ensure quality and consistency
• Serve as the primary escalation point for engineering guidance and conflict resolution

• Act as final technical authority during critical automation failures and recovery efforts
• Perform expert-level troubleshooting of automation equipment and control systems
• Collaborate with maintenance and production teams to resolve critical and complex technical issues
• Establish and standardize documentation and updates to control systems
• Authorize temporary process changes, bypasses, or mitigations to restore operations safely

• Conduct in-depth analysis of operational data to identify and implement significant automation improvements
• Determine when AI-enabled automation performance warrants re­tuning, redesign, replacement, or a modernization proposal, balancing operational risk and business value
• Independently initiate improvement projects based on data trends and system performance
• Decide when automation performance warrants redesign, replacement, or capital investment proposals
• Develop intuitive dashboards/visualization tools to support data-driven decision making
• Lead and drive continuous improvement initiatives to enhance safety, quality, and efficiency

• Work closely with cross-functional teams, including engineering, operations, and quality, to ensure alignment of automation activities with production and business goals
• Serve as the final technical decision‑maker when cross‑functional alignment cannot be reached
• Ensure compliance with safety standards, company policies, and regulatory requirements
• Represent automation engineering in audits, reviews, and external technical discussions
• Define engagement models between automation engineering, plants, OEMs, and system integrators
• Ensure engineering work aligns with department operating principles and long-term roadmap

• Final authority on control system design, architecture, and programming standards
• Approval of automation changes, upgrades, and deployment strategies
• Priority of automation work based on safety, operational risk, and business value
• Ownership of system lifecycle decisions, including modernization and obsolescence planning
• Accountability for outcomes, not just recommendations
• Ownership of automation engineering standards, control philosophies, and approved toolsets
• Establishes and enforces engineering review, testing, and deployment practices
• Drives consistency across plants, OEMs, and engineering contributors
• Translates automation performance, risks, and investment needs into…