Automation & Controls Engineer-Sustaining

Position Summary

This position is responsible for sustaining and continuously improving the electrical and mechanical controls systems of production equipment. The role provides day-to-day manufacturing support to maximize equipment uptime and owns the troubleshooting documentation that enables Maintenance and Production teams to resolve equipment issues safely and consistently.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Provide day-to-day production support as the controls point of contact for Maintenance and Production, responding rapidly to line-down events and restoring equipment to production safely.
• Sustain, optimize, and improve automation and controls on existing equipment, including conveyor, pick-and-place, and precision material handling systems.
• Integrate a wide range of controls components such as PLCs and/or SCADA systems, motion controllers, machine vision systems, heater controllers, web edge guiding and steering mechanisms, pneumatic actuators, encoders, force sensors, thermocouples, analog devices, and various location, distance, and material presence sensors. 
• Support electrical control box engineering, standards compliance, assembly, modification, and documentation upkeep. 
• Develop, deploy, and maintain revision control of electrical and software changes on large tool sets where the hardware and software must be copied exactly. 
• Develop and execute test plans to verify machine functionality and reliability. 
• Provide timely status updates, documentation, and hands-on training to Maintenance technicians and operators on equipment controls and troubleshooting.
• Troubleshoot down equipment, lead root cause analysis (e.g., 5-Why, fishbone) on repeat and chronic failures, and implement permanent corrective actions to prevent recurrence.
• Create and maintain troubleshooting documentation, including alarm/fault code guides, troubleshooting decision trees, one-point lessons (OPLs), and electrical/controls standard work, so technicians can resolve common issues without engineering escalation.
• Capture failure history and lessons learned in the CMMS / knowledge base, and support the preventive maintenance program with controls-related PM tasks and spare-parts recommendations for critical components.
• Work closely with equipment vendors throughout all phases of a project’s development on controls and software requirements and related issues. 
• Support the handover of new equipment from projects to production, including vendor acceptance testing, commissioning, and confirming documentation, program backups, and critical spare parts are in place before release.
• Live the company culture of integrity, teamwork, self-discipline and professional competence

 

Minimum Qualifications

• BS in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, or similar field of study
• 3+ years of hands-on experience in Automation & Controls Engineering or similar field

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Advanced control system engineering and programming of complex process tools and automation primarily using Beckhoff, Mitsubishi, and Omron PLC’s, Windows and Linux PC’s, C#, Python and SQL
• Expert level troubleshooting of all facets of automated systems
• Experience in a sustaining or production support role in a high-volume manufacturing environment, including use of RCA tools and a CMMS
• Knowledge of manufacturing executions systems including direct experience integrating equipment data streams into factory information databases
• Advanced knowledge of process control and implementation of real time data acquisition
• Self-starter with the ability to multi-task in a fast-paced environment
• Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing
• Ability to influence others and collaboratively gain consensus using supportive data.
• Ability and willingness to work hands-on.
• Ability to travel 10%