Position Summary
The Controls Systems Engineer works closely with Operations, Maintenance, Engineering, IT, contractors, and OEMs at an aluminum manufacturing facility to troubleshoot complex equipment issues, develop engineering solutions, and lead automation projects from concept through commissioning. This role requires strong technical expertise in PLCs, HMIs, drives, SCADA systems, industrial networking, and manufacturing systems integration, along with a willingness to actively engage on the production floor diagnosing and resolving equipment issues.
Responsibilities
- Design, program, troubleshoot, modify, and maintain:
- Allen-Bradley ControlLogix and CompactLogix PLCs
- Allen-Bradley PowerFlex Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs)
- Allen-Bradley PanelView HMIs
- Servo systems, motion controls, and associated automation equipment
- Industrial Ethernet communication networks
- Modify PLC and HMI programs to improve equipment reliability and functionality
- Implement machine safety logic, interlocks, and control strategies
- Diagnose and resolve electrical, controls, instrumentation, communications, and automation faults
- Support installation, startup, commissioning, and validation of new equipment and control systems
- Develop and maintain standardized programming practices, electrical documentation, and control narratives
- Maintain backups and revision control of PLC, HMI, SCADA, and drive programs
- Develop, maintain, and improve Ignition applications
- Create dashboards, alarm management systems, reports, and historian configurations
- Configure user security and role based access controls
- Develop scripting and automation within Ignition
- Support manufacturing data acquisition and visualization initiatives
- Troubleshoot data collection, historian performance, and system integration issues
- Maintain SQL databases supporting manufacturing operations
- Develop SQL queries, stored procedures, reports, and data analytics tools
- Interface production equipment with SQL based ERP and business systems
- Support manufacturing KPI reporting, production analytics, and operational decision making
- Troubleshoot data integrity and communication issues between manufacturing equipment and enterprise systems
- Support industrial automation networks integrated with corporate IT infrastructure using dedicated VLANs
- Configure, maintain, and troubleshoot:
- Managed Ethernet switches
- EtherNet/IP communications
- Industrial network devices
- VLAN communications
- Network reliability and performance
- Coordinate with Corporate IT on cybersecurity, firewall configurations, network architecture, and system updates
- Actively troubleshoot and resolve equipment failures alongside maintenance technicians, engineers, and operations personnel
- Lead root cause investigations for recurring equipment and process issues
- Develop corrective actions and long term solutions to eliminate repetitive failures
- Create preventive and predictive maintenance strategies for automation and controls systems
- Track equipment downtime, failure frequencies, and reliability metrics
- Provide technical training and mentorship to maintenance personnel and electrical trades
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Controls Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related discipline, or a Licensed Journeyman Electrician with advanced PLC or automation certification and equivalent industrial experience
- 5 or more years of industrial automation and controls experience in a manufacturing environment
- Experience programming Allen-Bradley PLC platforms, including ControlLogix and CompactLogix
- Experience with Allen-Bradley PowerFlex drives
- Experience developing and troubleshooting HMI systems
- Experience with Ignition SCADA
- Strong SQL database knowledge and development experience
- Experience integrating manufacturing equipment with ERP and manufacturing systems
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