Senior Automation Technician

Description

Samsill Corp is hiring a Senior Automation Technician to own the electrical, controls, and PLC health of nine production lines at our Fort Worth, TX plant.

Samsill is a 70-person manufacturer of binders and office products, selling through Amazon and major retailers from a single two-floor, ~100,000 sq ft facility. We are modernizing our equipment by migrating legacy GE Fanuc 90-30 controls to Siemens S7-1500.

This is a hands-on, senior individual-contributor role reporting to the Production and Maintenance Manager, with direct exposure to the VP of Operations. You will be the plant's go-to expert for anything involving a PLC, drive, sensor, or control panel. If you want to keep a plant running and lead its controls upgrades, rather than be one of twenty technicians, this is the job.

Requirements

What you'll do

Electrical and controls repair (about 75% of the role)

• Troubleshoot and repair electrical, controls, and pneumatic faults on riveting machines, case erectors, L-sealers, conveyors, and packaging equipment, from 24V I/O to 480V three-phase.
• Diagnose component-level failures in PLCs, HMIs, VFDs, servo drives, sensors, safety relays, contactors, and wiring.
• Respond to line-down calls as the plant's senior escalation point and get equipment running safely with minimal downtime.
• Lead root-cause analysis on repeat failures and implement permanent fixes, not patches.
• Maintain and improve electrical drawings, panel layouts, and I/O documentation so they match what is on the floor.

PLC programming and troubleshooting (about 5%)

• Read, modify, and write ladder logic and structured text in Siemens TIA Portal (S7-1500/1200) and GE Fanuc / Emerson PAC (90-30).
• Serve as the hands-on technical lead on our GE 90-30 to Siemens S7-1500 migrations, working alongside our integrator and Process Improvement Engineer.
• Configure and troubleshoot HMIs, VFDs, and PROFINET / Ethernet/IP networks.
• Back up, version, and document all PLC and HMI programs.

Equipment, projects, and standards (about 20%)

• Support installation, wiring, and commissioning of new automated equipment, including upcoming case-erector and L-sealer installs.
• Own electrical safety on the floor: arc-flash and lockout/tagout compliance, NFPA 70E practices, and machine guarding and safety-circuit integrity.
• Build and maintain the critical-spares list for controls components and manage vendor and integrator relationships.
• Mentor maintenance technicians on controls troubleshooting and basic PLC diagnostics.

Required qualifications

• 7+ years of hands-on industrial automation or controls experience in a manufacturing plant.
• Demonstrated PLC programming and troubleshooting ability in Siemens TIA Portal (S7-1500 or S7-1200). GE Fanuc 90-30 / Proficy experience, or proven ability to read legacy ladder logic and translate it.
• Strong industrial electrical skills: reading and creating schematics, panel wiring, motor controls, VFD setup and tuning, and troubleshooting 24VDC through 480VAC three-phase systems.
• Working knowledge of HMI development (Siemens WinCC/Comfort panels or similar) and industrial networks (PROFINET, Ethernet/IP).
• Experience with pneumatic systems and sensors common to packaging and assembly equipment.
• Solid grasp of NFPA 70E, lockout/tagout, and machine safety circuits (safety relays, light curtains, e-stops).
• Able to work independently, prioritize line-down calls, and communicate clearly with operators, maintenance, and management.
• Physically able to work on the plant floor: stand, climb, lift up to 50 lbs, and work in and around running equipment.
• Authorized to work in the United States.

Preferred qualifications

• Associate degree or technical certificate in Electrical Technology, Mechatronics, Industrial Automation, or equivalent military or trade training.
• Experience leading or executing a PLC platform migration (for example, GE 90-30 to Siemens S7).
• Experience with riveting, case-erecting, L-sealing, shrink-wrap, or other packaging and converting equipment.
• Servo and motion control experience (Siemens SINAMICS or similar).
• Familiarity with Plex or another ERP/MES for maintenance work orders and downtime tracking.
• Siemens certification, Journeyman or Master Electrician license, or OSHA 30.
• Bilingual English/Spanish is a plus but not required.