Controls Engineer

Role Overview

We are seeking a hands-on Controls Engineer with a strong foundation in mechatronics to design, integrate, and maintain our manufacturing and production equipment. Because our facility operates a mix of off-the-shelf machinery and custom-built automation systems, you will play a critical role in both building new controls architectures from the ground up and troubleshooting, upgrading, or retrofitting existing vendor equipment.

Key Responsibilities

• Custom Machine Design & Build: Architect, program, and commission control systems (PLCs, HMIs, VFDs, and motion controllers) for custom, in-house built machinery from concept through floor deployment.
• Vendor Equipment Integration & Support: Reverse-engineer, troubleshoot, and modify control logic on purchased third-party machinery to improve throughput, fix recurring faults, or integrate it into our broader plant network.
• Mechatronic Troubleshooting: Diagnose complex electromechanical failures across sensors, actuators, pneumatics, hydraulics, servo systems, and robotics-bridging the gap between software logic and physical hardware.
• Electrical Design & Documentation: Create and update electrical schematics, panel layouts, and bills of materials (BOMs) using AutoCAD Electrical or EPLAN; ensure all documentation accurately reflects field modifications.
• Safety & Compliance: Design, implement, and validate machine safety systems (safety relays, light curtains, E-stops, safety PLCs) in compliance with OSHA, NFPA 79, and ANSI/RIA standards.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with mechanical engineers, maintenance technicians, and machine builders during assembly, Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT), and Site Acceptance Testing (SAT).

Required Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Mechatronics Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent hands-on industrial automation experience).
• Experience: 3 to 7 years of experience in industrial controls, automation engineering, or machine building within a manufacturing environment.
• PLC & HMI Programming: Proven proficiency programming and troubleshooting industrial controllers (e.g., Allen-Bradley/Rockwell, Siemens, Beckhoff, or Omron) and designing intuitive operator interfaces.
• Motion & Robotics: Hands-on experience sizing, tuning, and integrating servo drives, stepper motors, VFDs, and multi-axis motion systems.
• Hardware & Schematics: Ability to read, redline, and draft electrical and pneumatic schematics, as well as physically wire, debug, and test control panels when needed.
• Industrial Networking: Working knowledge of industrial communication protocols such as EtherNet/IP, PROFINET, EtherCAT, Modbus TCP, or IO-Link.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience integrating industrial robots (e.g., FANUC, ABB, KUKA, Universal Robots) or machine vision systems (e.g., Cognex, Keyence).
• Familiarity with legacy equipment retrofits (e.g., migrating older PLC-5/SLC-500 systems to modern platforms).
• Basic understanding of mechanical CAD (SolidWorks, Inventor) to collaborate effectively on custom machine builds.
• Knowledge of SCADA systems, data collection, or IIoT protocols (MQTT, OPC UA).