Controls Engineering Manager

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
• Drive long‑term roadmap for:
  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

• Autonomous maintenance (AM) enablement via automation

• Lead automation scope for capital projects:
  Line installations
• System upgrades
• Process improvements

• Design standards
• Commissioning excellence
• Seamless startup performance

• Own SCADA/MES data accuracy and availability
• Enable real-time visibility into:
  Downtime
• Performance
• Process control parameters

• Work closely with:
  Operations to support throughput and line stability
• Maintenance to ensure execution capability
• Reliability to eliminate root causes
• CI/OpEx to implement improvements

Participate in daily/weekly performance reviews and loss elimination processes

• Line OEE improvement (automation-driven losses)
• MTTR reduction (controls-related issues)
• Automation-related downtime (% of total downtime)
• Project delivery (on-time, on-budget, startup performance)
• Controls system standardization compliance
• 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

• Understanding of: CMMS systems
• Reliability/TPM principles

• Systems thinker (understands end‑to‑end process flows)
• Bias for action in high‑pressure downtime situations
• Strong cross‑functional influencer
• Ability to translate technical issues into business impact
• Builds and develops technical talent pipelines

• Within 12 months, this leader:
  Establishes stable, standardized control systems across all lines
• Reduces automation-driven downtime by 25-40%
• Implements 24/7 automation support model
• Fully integrates controls into:
  Reliability strategy
• Daily performance management
• Builds a high‑performing controls + automation team

• Reports to:
  
  Plant Engineering Manager
• Direct Reports:
  Sr. Controls Engineers, SCADA Engineer
• Indirect Influence:
  Automation Technicians, Maintenance Supervisors, Reliability Engineers

In a plant of this size and automation level:
The Controls Engineering Manager is the single biggest lever for uptime, throughput, and operational stability. This role directly determines whether the facility operates at:
Average performance (reactive, unstable), or Top‑quartile performance (predictable, optimized, data‑driven)

• 8 + years in controls/automation engineering in manufacturing
• 3 + years in leadership/management role
• Experience in high‑speed, highly automated environments (food manufacturing preferred)

• 12+ years in controls/automation engineering in manufacturing
• 5+ years in leadership/management role

The pay range for this role is $140k - $155k (Annual). Actual wage will vary based on several factors, including but not limited to external market data, internal equity, location, and candidate skill set and experience. Base pay is just one component of Jack Link's Total Rewards package for Team Members. Other rewards may include annual incentive and program-specific awards. Jack Link's provides a variety