Controls & Automation Specialist

Salary: $95,000 - 135,000 per year Requirements:

• Bring approximately 3 or more years of practical experience in industrial automation, controls, manufacturing maintenance, machine building, systems integration, industrial electrical work, or manufacturing IT/OT.
• Demonstrate hands-on troubleshooting ability and an understanding of PLC-controlled machinery, electrical drawings, industrial wiring, basic industrial networking, and Windows computers.
• Approach problems logically, take ownership, communicate effectively with customers, and work independently while recognizing when additional engineering support is needed.
• Be willing and able to learn unfamiliar systems. Allen-Bradley/Rockwell experience is particularly useful; Siemens, SQL, OPC, industrial networking, CNC, robotics, and manufacturing data-system experience are also valuable.
• Practical experience is prioritized over formal credentials. Associate or technical degrees, engineering technology backgrounds, technical-school training, military technical experience, apprenticeships, and self-taught industrial experience are welcome; a four-year engineering degree is not required.
• Have reliable transportation and dependable attendance, work safely in industrial environments, and be available for periodic customer-site travel.
• Be authorized to work in the United States without current or future sponsorship and able to meet applicable export-control and customer-site access requirements.

• Troubleshoot industrial controls and connected manufacturing systems, diagnosing electrical, controls, communications, computer, network, and software issues.
• Modify and support PLC and HMI applications.
• Connect production equipment to manufacturing data systems and support industrial PCs, communications, databases, and system interfaces.
• Commission new systems and upgrades, and perform backups, recovery, and configuration changes.
• Provide remote customer assistance and travel periodically to customer facilities for installation and troubleshooting.
• Work directly with customer maintenance, engineering, production, and IT personnel, taking problems through to resolution.
• Document configurations, changes, and effective troubleshooting methods.

• Support
• Network
• PLC
• Robotics
• SQL
• Windows
• Ethernet
• Hardware
• RS-485

More:

We are Factory Systems, a small technical organization that develops and supports industrial controls, manufacturing software, machine-connectivity systems, data-acquisition solutions, and custom production technology. We help manufacturers connect modern and legacy equipment, controls, software, and production data into reliable operating systems. This is a full-time, on-site role based at our Columbia, South Carolina facility, with periodic customer travel. The work offers exposure to varied machines, customers, controls platforms, software, and technical challenges, along with greater technical autonomy and broader responsibility than a production-maintenance shift. Customer issues may occasionally be urgent. When applying, please describe one difficult industrial problem you personally diagnosed and solved, including what was not working, your initial suspicion, the actual cause, and how you resolved it; we value your problem-solving approach over a generic cover letter.

last updated 41 week of 2026