Controls Engineering Manager

• Department:
  Operations
• Compensation: USD 140,000 - USD 155,000 - yearly

At
Link Snacks
, we show up hungry, roll up our sleeves, plaid or otherwise, and dive straight into the hard work. We don’t hide from challenges; we hunt them down. We push harder, move faster, and take the kinds of big swings that built this business in the North Woods of Wisconsin four decades ago.

We’re everyday people who deliver extraordinary results. Innovation, creativity, and urgency aren’t buzzwords, they’re expectations. And just like the real protein snacks we make across our global house of brands—Jack Link’s® , Lorissa’s Kitchen® , Golden Island® , BiFi® , Peperami® and KOOEE!® to name a few—there’s nothing artificial about us. What you see is exactly what you get: humble, gritty, passionate people who show up every day ready to not just be a participate in the meat snack industry that the Link Family created, but to move faster, innovate harder and keep raising the bar so high, the rest of the world needs a ladder just to see it.

Dominating this space across the world takes a team. A team that runs together, succeeds together, and celebrates together. A team that’s full of relentless energy and spirit that can only be fueled by one thing: a fist full of our delicious meat snacks.

Real Meat Protein. Real People. Real Results. THAT is Link Snacks.

The Controls Engineering Manager is responsible for leading the strategy, performance, and development of all automation, controls, and SCADA systems within a highly automated food manufacturing facility. This role ensures maximum equipment uptime, system reliability, and continuous improvement of automation platforms to support world-class safety, quality, and operational efficiency.

This leader is a critical driver of OEE, downtime reduction, and digital plant capability, partnering closely with Operations, Maintenance, Reliability, and OpEx & CI.

• Own the site-wide automation strategy aligned to production and reliability goals
• Standardize PLC, HMI, SCADA, and network architecture across the facility
• System modernization
• Obsolescence mitigation
• Digital integration (data, MES, analytics)

• Ensure 24/7 controls system support model is in place
• Escalation owner for major automation failures and chronic downtime issues
• Partner with Maintenance to reduce MTTR for controls-related failures
• Define and implement:
  • Troubleshooting standards
  • Root cause analysis for automation failures

• Lead team of:
  • Controls Engineers
  • SCADA Engineers
  • (Indirect) Automation Technicians
• Set performance expectations, development plans, and technical standards
• Build bench strength for a multi-shift automated environment

• Partner with Reliability Engineering to:
  • Eliminate repeat failure modes
  • Build predictive and preventative automation strategies
• Support TPM initiatives:
  • Focused improvement (FI)
  • Autonomous maintenance (AM) enablement via automation

• Lead automation scope for capital projects:
  • Line installations
  • System upgrades
  • Process improvements
• Ensure:
  • Design standards
  • Commissioning excellence
  • Seamless startup performance

• Own SCADA/MES data accuracy and availability
• Enable real-time visibility into:
  • Downtime
  • Performance
  • Process control parameters
• Partner with CI and data teams to convert data into actionable insights

• Work closely with:
  • Operations > support throughput and line stability
  • Maintenance > ensure execution capability
  • Reliability > eliminate root causes
  • CI/OpEx > implement improvements
• Participate in daily/weekly performance reviews and loss elimination processes

• MTTR reduction (controls-related issues)
• Automation-related downtime (% of total downtime)
  Project delivery (on-time, on-budget, startup performance)
• SCADA/data integrity and uptime

• Strong hands-on experience with:
  • PLCs (Allen-Bradley, Siemens, etc.)
  • HMI/SCADA systems
  • Industrial networks (Ether Net/IP, Profinet, etc.)
• Experience with:
  • Motion control, vision systems, robotics (preferred)
  • System integration and commissioning
• Underst…