Automation Controls Engineer II

Automation Controls Engineer

The Automation Controls Engineer is responsible for the design, support, troubleshooting, and continuous improvement of the plant's industrial automation and process control systems. This role serves as the site's technical expert for automation, electrical controls, and industrial networking, partnering closely with Maintenance, Production, Engineering, EH&S, and IT to maximize equipment reliability, safety, quality, and manufacturing performance.

The successful candidate leads automation projects from concept through commissioning, provides advanced technical support for plant operations, develops long-term controls strategies, and mentors maintenance personnel to strengthen the plant's overall troubleshooting capability. This is a hands-on role for an engineer who enjoys solving complex technical problems while driving continuous improvement in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.

This position has no direct supervisory responsibility but provides technical leadership, coaching, and direction to maintenance technicians, contractors, and vendors. Occasional travel of less than 10% may be required for equipment acceptance testing, vendor support, or training. The typical schedule is Monday through Friday, with flexibility required to support equipment startups, breakdowns, planned shutdowns, and critical production needs.

• Troubleshoot and resolve complex automation, electrical, instrumentation, and networking issues affecting production.
• Design, develop, implement, and maintain PLC, HMI, SCADA, VFD, and industrial control systems.
• Maintain and continuously improve plant process control systems, production networks, historian systems, and manufacturing data collection.
• Develop automation solutions that improve safety, increase equipment reliability, reduce downtime, improve product quality, and increase throughput.
• Maintain current backups of PLC programs, HMI applications, drive parameters, and automation documentation.
• Ensure electrical drawings, network diagrams, and controls documentation remain accurate and up to date.
• Identify recurring equipment failures and implement permanent corrective actions using root cause analysis.
• Partner with Maintenance and Operations to improve Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) through automation and process improvements.
• Support preventive and predictive maintenance initiatives through automation enhancements and equipment performance monitoring.
• Analyze production and maintenance data to identify opportunities for improved equipment performance, reliability, and process stability.
• Develop and implement standards for control systems, programming practices, and electrical design.
• Serve as the plant's primary technical resource for automation and controls.
• Mentor maintenance technicians in PLC troubleshooting, electrical diagnostics, instrumentation, industrial networking, and controls best practices.
• Develop training materials and provide hands-on coaching to improve technician capabilities and reduce dependence on engineering support.
• Design and modify control systems in compliance with OSHA, NEC, NFPA 70, NFPA 79, and applicable machine safety standards.
• Support machine risk assessments and implementation of safety improvements including guarding, safety PLCs, light curtains, interlocks, and emergency stop systems.
• Assist EH&S and Operations in improving equipment safety and reducing operational risk.
• Support plant compliance with applicable electrical and automation standards.
• Develop project scopes, technical specifications, cost estimates, and capital funding requests.
• Lead automation portions of capital improvement projects from concept through startup.
• Coordinate contractors, vendors, electricians, and maintenance personnel during project execution.
• Assist with equipment FATs, SATs, commissioning, startup, and performance validation.
• Provide technical leadership during equipment upgrades, line expansions, and modernization projects.
• Other duties as assigned.

• Industrial controls:
  Rockwell Automation PLC platforms (Control Logix, Compact Logix);
  Factory Talk View SE/ME; PLC…