Controls Engineer

Title: Controls Engineer

Reports to: Technology Team Leader

Location: Ashby, MN or Winchester, VA

Job Purpose:

Designs, supports, and continuously improves industrial automation and control systems across manufacturing operations. Partners with operations, maintenance, engineering, IT/OT, and vendors to improve reliability, safety, data visibility, process capability, and equipment performance.

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities:

• Develop, troubleshoot, and maintain PLC, HMI, SCADA, historian, and industrial network systems supporting production and utilities operations


• Create and maintain control narratives, electrical drawings, I/O lists, panel documentation, program backups, change logs, and technical standards


• Support automation design, programming, commissioning, FAT/SAT execution, startup, validation, and turnover for capital projects and plant improvement work


• Partner with maintenance and operations to reduce automation-related downtime through root cause analysis, corrective actions, alarm rationalization, and preventive controls practices


• Implement safe, reliable, and maintainable control solutions that support workforce usability, sanitation, food safety, production quality, and equipment reliability


• Support data collection, dashboards, OEE/downtime reporting, historian tags, and integration between floor-level controls and business systems


• Assist with control platform standardization, approved component selection, spare parts strategy, lifecycle planning, and obsolescence risk reduction


• Work with vendors, OEMs, contractors, and internal stakeholders to specify, review, test, and implement automation solutions that meet company standards


• Provide technical support for production issues, utilities systems, process improvements, safety upgrades, and continuous improvement initiatives


• Promote a professional company image through clear communication, strong ownership, safe work practices, and effective collaboration with plant and corporate teams

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Controls Engineering, Automation Engineering, Mechatronics, or related technical field preferred; equivalent industrial controls experience may be considered


• 5+ years of hands-on experience supporting PLCs, HMIs, SCADA systems, industrial instrumentation, motor controls, VFDs, sensors, and automated production equipment


• Experience with Rockwell/Allen-Bradley controls platforms preferred; experience with Ignition or similar SCADA/historian platforms strongly preferred


• Ability to read, interpret, and update electrical schematics, panel layouts, P&IDs, network diagrams, control narratives, and equipment documentation


• Working knowledge of industrial Ethernet, control networks, cybersecurity basics, backup/version management, and safe change-control practices


• Strong troubleshooting, root cause analysis, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills


• Ability to support occasional off-hours troubleshooting, project startups, plant shutdown work, and vendor/OEM commissioning activities as business needs require


• Manufacturing, food processing, packaging, utilities, refrigeration, or regulated-industry experience preferred