Senior Controls / Plant Automation Engineer

Job Description

Job Description

Position Title & Basic Details

We're seeking Senior Controls / Plant Automation Engineers for an onsite contract assignment at a highly automated manufacturing facility in Southwestern Kansas. This position requires at least 7 years of relevant controls or automation engineering experience.

• Location: Southwestern Kansas – Onsite
• Duration: Initial 12-month contract with potential extension
• Openings: Up to 2
• Industry: Large-scale process manufacturing
• Work Environment: Highly automated manufacturing facility
• Experience: Minimum of 7 years of relevant experience
• Compensation: Competitive hourly rate, depending on experience (DOE)

Overview

In this role, you will provide hands-on engineering and troubleshooting support within a large, highly automated process manufacturing facility.

The plant is managing a significant volume of controls, automation, material-handling, equipment, maintenance, and modernization activities. The existing technical team requires additional senior-level engineering capacity to address ongoing production issues, automation backlogs, upgrades, and troubleshooting needs.

This is a hands-on plant-floor position, not primarily a controls-design or desk-based engineering role. The ideal candidate will be comfortable working directly in an operating manufacturing environment, independently troubleshooting automation problems, modifying existing control logic, supporting production equipment, and resolving issues with minimal supervision.

The facility operates a combination of legacy and modern automation technologies. Successful engineers must be able to quickly understand existing systems and troubleshoot across multiple generations of controls equipment.

Travel & Expense Support

The following approved project-related expenses will be paid or reimbursed:

• Travel: Travel to and from the project location
• Lodging: Accommodations during the assignment
• Transportation: Approved local transportation
• Meals: Meals or a daily meal allowance
• Additional Expenses: Other approved project-related expenses

Key Responsibilities

• Troubleshoot, maintain, modify, and support PLC-based industrial control systems.
• Provide hands-on support for Schneider Electric and Modicon PLCs, including legacy and newer systems.
• Troubleshoot and support GE/Proficy iFIX HMI and SCADA environments.
• Diagnose plant-floor automation issues involving PLCs, HMI and SCADA systems, industrial communication networks, sensors and field devices, scanners and identification systems, and production machinery.
• Troubleshoot automated conveyor and material-handling systems involving equipment sequencing, sensors and photo eyes, interlocks, motors and drives, and material-handling equipment.
• Troubleshoot and integrate industrial barcode, scanning, identification, and vision systems, including Keyence, Cognex, and SICK technologies.
• Diagnose communication issues between PLCs, HMIs, scanners, field devices, and other plant-floor systems.
• Perform root-cause analysis on controls, automation, electrical, communication, and equipment failures.
• Modify PLC logic and control-system configurations as required to resolve production issues.
• Support controls upgrades, automation modernization, and legacy-system replacement initiatives.
• Work closely with Plant Engineering, Maintenance, Operations, and Technical teams to minimize production downtime.
• Provide additional engineering capacity for existing automation, maintenance, troubleshooting, project, and upgrade backlogs.
• Document system modifications, troubleshooting activities, and controls changes.
• Follow established plant controls, safety, documentation, and change-management procedures.

Requirements

• Experience: Minimum of 7 years of relevant controls, automation, or plant-floor engineering experience.
• Professional Background: Significant hands-on experience as a Controls Engineer, Automation Engineer, Plant Controls Engineer, Industrial Controls Engineer, or similar professional.
• PLC Expertise: Strong experience with industrial PLC programming and troubleshooting.
• Plant-Floor Automation: Proven experience supporting plant-floor controls and automation systems.
• Modicon Experience: Hands-on experience with Schneider Electric and Modicon PLCs.
• HMI/SCADA: Experience supporting and troubleshooting HMI and SCADA systems.
• Industrial Communications: Strong understanding of industrial communications and control networks.
• Material Handling: Experience troubleshooting automated conveyor and material-handling systems.
• Field Devices: Experience with sensors, photo eyes, scanners, interlocks, motors, drives, and other industrial field devices.
• Production Support: Proven ability to troubleshoot production equipment in an operating manufacturing environment.
• Legacy and Modern Systems: Experience working with a combination of legacy and modern control systems.
• Root-Cause Analysis: Strong troubleshooting skills across controls, electrical systems, communications, and production equipment.
• Plant-Floor Availability: Ability to work directly on the plant floor and respond to production-related automation issues.
• Independent Work: Ability to work independently and effectively in a downtime-sensitive manufacturing environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• GE/Proficy iFIX SCADA and HMI experience
• Extensive Modicon PLC programming and troubleshooting experience
• Keyence, Cognex, and/or SICK scanning or machine-vision system experience
• Process manufacturing or other highly automated production-environment experience
• High-speed production-environment experience
• Conveyor and material-handling automation experience
• VFD and motor-control experience
• Industrial instrumentation and field-device experience
• Controls modernization and legacy PLC upgrade-project experience
• Experience working in 24/7 manufacturing environments
• Experience supporting production facilities where equipment availability and downtime are critical

Why Join Us?

• Competitive Compensation: Receive a competitive hourly rate based on your experience.
• Paid Travel Support: Approved travel, lodging, local transportation, meals, and other project-related expenses are paid or reimbursed.
• Technical Challenge: Work with a combination of legacy and modern controls, automation, communication, scanning, and material-handling technologies.
• High-Impact Work: Directly support production reliability, reduce downtime, resolve complex automation problems, and help address critical engineering backlogs.
• Potential Extension: The initial three-month contract may be extended based on project requirements and performance.

Additional Information

• This is an onsite, hands-on plant-floor assignment in Southwestern Kansas.
• Candidates must be comfortable working in an active, highly automated, and downtime-sensitive manufacturing environment.
• This is not primarily a controls-design or desk-based engineering position.
• Candidates must be capable of troubleshooting independently with minimal supervision.
• Up to four engineers may be selected for this assignment.