Automation Controls Engineer, Manufacturing Automation Design & Engineering

Amazon Web Services' Hardware Engineering team is looking for experienced professionals to help build the world's premier cloud computing platform. The Manufacturing Automation Design & Engineering team designs, validates, and deploys automation solutions, including robotics, cobots, vision inspection, AI-powered quality systems, and automated assembly workflows, across contract manufacturer sites worldwide.

You will define the controls and electrical systems architecture for all automated assembly lines, creating the standard control platform that scales across all platforms and all contract manufacturer sites. You own PLC programming standards, HMI development frameworks, safety system architecture, and industrial network design. You define how automated cells communicate with each other, with MES, and with data collection systems. You are the architect of the nervous system that connects every robot, sensor, actuator, and inspection system into a coordinated, data-generating production line.

You establish reusable control system templates that ensure consistency and reduce deployment time globally.

The scope covers all server and rack assembly across all architectures and platforms, including compute, AI/ML accelerators, storage, and networking. The team designs intelligent, predictive-analytics-driven production systems where every station is sensor-driven, AI-optimized, and self-correcting, turning assembly lines into programmable, data-generating platforms that scale capacity without scaling headcount. This role requires the engineer to operate in a fast-paced, multi-platform international manufacturing environment with travel to contract manufacturer sites (up to 25-30% travel anticipated).

• Define controls systems architecture: PLC programming standards, HMI frameworks, safety system design, network topology
• Design and program PLC-based control systems for automated assembly lines
• Develop standardized HMI interfaces for operator interaction and production monitoring
• Architect industrial network infrastructure (e.g., Ether Net/IP, PROFINET, EtherCAT) for automated lines
• Design safety system architecture per ISO 13849 and IEC 62443 (functional safety and cybersecurity)
• Create reusable control system templates and code libraries for global deployment standardization
• Define MES integration specifications and data exchange protocols between automation cells and enterprise systems
• Lead controls architecture reviews for automation projects and vendor-supplied systems

The Manufacturing Automation Design & Engineering team is building a centralized automation Center of Excellence that owns the process specification and IP for how AWS hardware gets assembled. The team is responsible for engineering, defining automated process requirements, designing and proving solutions at proof-of-concept, and maintaining AWS-owned intellectual property that scales globally. The team works within a collaborative framework across Hardware Engineering (product design for automation), Manufacturing Automation Design & Engineering (process specification and validation), and Manufacturing Operations (deployment and scaling), ensuring automation is engineered once, proven once, and deployed everywhere.

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Controls Engineering, Computer Engineering, or equivalent
• 7+ years designing industrial control systems for automated manufacturing
• Proficiency in PLC programming (e.g., Siemens TIA Portal, Allen-Bradley Studio 5000, Beckhoff TwinCAT)
• Experience with industrial safety system design (e.g., ISO 13849, safety PLCs, safety networks)
• Experience with industrial network protocols (e.g., Ether Net/IP, PROFINET, EtherCAT, OPC-UA)
• Track record of defining control system standards for multi-site deployment

• Experience with MES integration and manufacturing data exchange
• HMI/SCADA development experience (e.g., Ignition, WinCC, Factory Talk)
• Industrial cybersecurity knowledge (e.g., IEC 62443)
• Experience with servo motion control and multi-axis coordination
• Electronics, server, or precision hardware manufacturing environment
• Experience leading controls design reviews for third-party automation systems
• Lean Six Sigma certification (Green Belt or higher)

Amazon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected veteran status, disability, or other legally protected status.

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