Manufacturing Controls Development Engineer

About the Role

The Manufacturing Automation Development Engineering team is seeking a highly motivated Controls Engineer to contribute to the design and development of new automation equipment and assembly lines. The Controls Engineer will work to develop machine and process concepts along with several manufacturing and mechanical design engineering peers. Candidates will create a robust system architecture to support the concept, and then layout electrical/pneumatic schematics. Once the electrical panel is built, they will program all controls components such as PLC, safety devices, HMI, servo drives, process hardware, and robots from power-on to debug, and finally to process fine tuning and validation. The Controls Engineer will also work with cross-functional teams throughout the entire life cycle of the product and processes. They will work closely with product design engineering, quality, production, and maintenance to bring components from initial design, through prototype development and finally into full production.

Key Responsibilities

• Participate in initial equipment conceptual development, carefully balancing product specifications, process control requirements, layout complexity, cost, quality, and lead-time limits.
• Implement control reliable safety systems (ANSI/RIA 15.06 and OSHA compliant) for safeguarding robots, gantries, conveyors, and other high-volume manufacturing equipment.
• Architect, write, and debug PLC logic, emphasizing code organization, structure, documentation, maintainability, and reusability.
• Architect, write, and debug programs for subsystems such as robots, vision systems, test equipment, and manufacturing execution systems.
• Participate in Tesla specification and standard creation, release to vendors, and quote technical evaluation.
• Select and size electrical and electromechanical components.
• Generate aesthetically simple HMI screens for complex machinery, providing sufficient feedback for troubleshooting.
• Lay out new industrial electrical control panels that are NFPA 79, NEC, and UL 508A compliant, and create electrical, pneumatic, and fluid schematics.
• Manage electrical cabinet builds, field wiring, pneumatic, and fluid plumbing.
• Introduce automated processes into production, and train maintenance and production teams to support after deployment into production.

Requirements & Tech Stack

• Proficiency in standard and safety PLC programming (Siemens TIA Portal, Allen Bradley Studio 5000, Beckhoff TwinCAT 3).
• Proficiency in script-based programming (Python, Go, SQL).
• Proficiency in robot programming (Fanuc, Kuka, ABB).
• Proficiency in servo system commissioning (Siemens SIMATIC, Rockwell Kinetix, Beckhoff Drive Manager 2).
• Proficiency in 2D/3D vision system programming (Keyence XGX, Cognex Insight, LMI Gocator).

Qualifications

• In-depth knowledge of equipment safety standards (ANSI/RIA 15.06, OSHA compliant) and electrical standards (NFPA 79, NEC, UL 508A).
• Degree in Mechatronics, Electrical, Mechanical, or Computer Science Engineering, or equivalent experience.