Summary:

The production organization will benefit from this role by leveraging the individual’s ability to:

• Design, specify, implement, and program advanced plant process control and automation systems from the ground up to optimize safety, quality, yield, and availability.
• Work cooperatively and effectively with a multidisciplinary engineering team to deploy cutting-edge automation and process control solutions aimed at maximizing performance of newly acquired equipment as well as existing equipment.
• Apply sound automation and controls engineering principles to significantly expand PLC and SCADA capabilities through clever design of hardware, software, and instrumentation particularly aimed at increasing throughput and yield.
• Take ownership and drive process improvement efforts through advanced automated control engineering techniques such as PID loop tuning, software filtering, unique sensors, and novel instrumentation.
• Write SOP and work instructions as well as training for others.
• Support and engage in LEAN, 6S, continuous improvement, process safety management, and total quality management initiatives.
• Lead electrical improvements in maintenance and assist with electrical maintenance activities and supervision
• Demonstrate engineering knowledge, creative thinking, excellent communication skills and clever problem-solving techniques to help build a world-class powdered metals production facility.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Recognition that safety is the top priority in all that we do. Responsible for ensuring that safety is expressed as the number one priority in every facet of the automation and process control engineering role.
• Develop, modify, and maintain Inductive Automation’s Ignition SCADA HMI software.
• Design and program Allen Bradley for new and legacy systems.
• Design and commission variable frequency drive systems as well as maintain relationships with vendor base for said systems.
• Program process control algorithms from scratch and modify existing systems, including custom software-based filters, PID control loops, drive and starter function blocks, level monitoring, and pump control.
• Design and programming of custom HMI software including Siemens standalone TP series comfort panels.
• Excellent practical knowledge of electrical engineering principles in the context of industrial applications, including design for power ranging from 50mA 24VDC control circuits to three phase 480VAC driving 500hp motors with VFDs.
• Working knowledge of all applicable regulatory codes and standards including OSHA 1910, OSHA 1926, IBC, NFPA 70, NFPA 79, NEMA, UL and many more.
• Ability to effectively lead contractors on site or remotely to safely complete critical project tasks on time and on budget while meeting all aspects of the original scope of work.
• Responsible for independently designing and leading plant automation, control, and data acquisition projects from concept to fruition in a fast-paced manufacturing environment while working cooperatively and effectively with a multidisciplinary team of engineers, operations, and maintenance staff.
• Support project management responsibilities as needed, including scope definition, budgetary estimates, change control, integration, commissioning, and process qualification.
• Focus on developing “clean”, properly structured, efficient programming code leading to responsive touch interfaces, excellent management of CPU resources, minimal network traffic and rapid polling of real-time data displays.
• Demonstrated understanding that the ergonomics, form, and function of human machine interface (HMI) design is critically important to achieving rapid acceptance of new equipment and process control strategies by operations personnel.
• Ability to communicate effectively and seek critical feedback from operations personnel tasked with interacting, daily, with the systems designed by the controls engineering group. Willing to make changes to improve the user experience as needed in a timely manner.
• Perform automation change control, coordinate design review meetings, create test protocols, update SOPs as needed, develop as-built drawings, upload new software, and maintain backups.
• Work closely with the quality department and other engineers to troubleshoot product quality failures and design novel approaches to accomplish in-process quality testing or sampling systems that could eliminate the root cause identified.
• Design, test, and validate proper alarms, annunciation, safety interlock behaviors, redundancy fail-over strategies and other plant safety and downtime avoidance techniques aimed at maximizing safety while increasing uptime and preventing damage to expensive machinery.
• Ability to manipulate and maintain engineering drawings and models using Autodesk AutoCAD and Inventor 3D software applications.
• Thorough knowledge of Microsoft Excel, particularly ability to program VBA scripts to automate reporting tasks and extract process archive data.
• Ability to design network infrastructure, including managed switches, routers, firewalls, and VPN devices in support of plant control ethernet Level 1 and Level 2 networks making use of fiberoptic trunk lines as well as traditional twisted pair copper branches serving individual devices such as I/O headers, PLC CPUs, VFDs, and PCs.
• Support startup and commissioning of new equipment from a controls perspective by verifying functionality in coordination with other operations and engineering team members. Verify data exchange, command and control infrastructure, safety interlocks and more.
• Ability to read and interpret legacy plant electrical engineering diagrams and schematics associated with relay control systems and analog instrumentation.
• Commitment to read and act on instructions from MSDS/SDS; Confined Space, LO/TO and Arc Flash Procedures.
• Utilize LEAN tools such as Standardized Work, 5S, Visual Management as well as leading Kaizen projects and documenting results to support continuous improvement projects.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

May lead mechanics and contractors during work in the plant as well as outside controls integration specialists focused on programming and commissioning new automation and control hardware/software.

Competency:

• Must be highly safety conscious
• Must be able to work well with all levels of personnel whether individually or in a team environment, and especially must be able to interface and communicate with different levels of management
• Must be committed to safety culture
• Must excel at planning, scheduling, and time management skills.
• Application of problem-solving skills, root cause analysis and willingness to take a hands-on approach to troubleshooting process control hardware and software. Ability to work side-by-side with operations personnel and experience any difficulty they might face to properly assess and design practical solutions.

Qualifications:

• To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily
• The requirements in this description are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability (KSAs) required
• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions
• Demonstrate good interpersonal skills & be self-motivated
• Have a solid work behaviors, be reliable to show up for work as scheduled and show initiative to complete tasks

Education and/or Experience:

• Possess a 4-year ABET accredited bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Industrial or Process Engineering, Mechatronics or equivalent field of study and a minimum 3 years of experience in a manufacturing environment.= OR 10 years field experience and demonstrated ability to meet the technical requirements of the job description
• Must be willing to work altered schedules/overtime as needed to support the business
• Personal Computer System Skills required (MS Office Suite preferred, AutoCAD)

Language Skills:

• Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating/maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals
• Ability to write routine reports and correspondence
• Ability to speak effectively before groups of customers or employees of organization

Reasoning Ability:

• Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form
• Ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job the employee is:

• Regularly required to use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; climb or balance; stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl and talk or hear.
• Frequently required to stand; occasionally required to walk and sit.
• Required to lift and /or move up to 10 lbs. (regularly); 25 lbs. (frequently); 50 lbs. (occasionally).
• Required to use their close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision and depth perception.

Work Environment:

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job the employee is:

• Frequently exposed to high, precarious places and extreme heat.
• Regularly exposed to moving mechanical parts and fumes or airborne particles.
• Occasionally exposed to wet and/or humid conditions, outside weather conditions.
• Exposed to the risk of electrical shock and vibration and high levels of noise.