Controls Design Engineer

Bell & Associates, Inc.; Wisconsin; On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Bell & Associates, Inc. seeks a Controls Designer/AutoCAD Electrical Specialist to rebuild databases and produce high-quality electrical schematics for custom industrial control planes.

The role focuses on standardizing drawing processes with templates and automation, with potential to transition into PLC and HMI programming. Under the Controls Engineer Manager, you will audit catalogs, build templates, and collaborate with engineers to meet NEC, OSHA and customer specs.

Qualifications

• Expertise in AutoCAD Electrical and daily use in an industrial environment.
• Experience managing catalog/part libraries, symbol libraries, and footprints.
• Experience creating intelligent schematic templates/macros for complex subsystems.
• Familiarity with NEC, UL 508A, and industrial safety standards.
• AutoCAD Electrical certification or advanced portfolio.

Responsibilities

• Audit, repair, and optimize the AutoCAD Electrical catalog and libraries so components insert correct symbols and footprints.
• Build and maintain intelligent schematic templates for subsystems with proper symbols, wiring, and annotations.
• Create and maintain project templates, title blocks, drawing standards, and workflows to streamline panel design.
• Produce accurate electrical schematics, panel layouts, BOMs, wire lists, and reports using AutoCAD Electrical features.
• Train team members on best practices and standardized processes.
• Collaborate with mechanical and controls engineers to meet NEC/customer specifications.

Skills

AutoCAD Electrical

Catalog/parts database management

Schematic/template macros

Panel layout design

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

AutoCAD Electrical certification

Tools

Studio 5000

FactoryTalk View

PLC/HMI basics

Job description

Bell & Associates is seeking a Controls Designer/ AutoCAD Electrical Specialist

Under the direction of and reporting to the Controls Engineer Manager, the AutoCAD Electrical Specialist/Controls Designer will rebuild/fix our component database and libraries and produce high-quality electrical schematics and panel layouts for custom industrial control planes. The role will focus on standardizing and automating our drawing processes with opportunity to transition into PLC and HMI programing/design, if desired.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Audit, repair, and optimize the AutoCAD Electrical catalog/database, symbol libraries, and footprint libraries so that selecting a component (e.g., Allen-Bradley 140MT-C3E) reliably inserts the correct schematic symbol andpanel footprint.
• Build and maintain intelligent schematic templates for common subsystems (flame safeguards, temperature controllers, SCR heater controls, safety circuits, VFDs, etc.) that auto-populate with proper symbols, wiring, and annotations.
• Create and maintain project templates, title blocks, drawing standards, and workflows to streamline the entire panel design process.
• Produce accurate electrical schematics, panel layouts, BOMs, wire lists, and other reports using AutoCAD Electricals’ full feature set.
• Train existing team members on best practices and new standardized processes.
• Collaborate with mechanical engineers and controls engineers to ensure designs meet NEC, OSHA, NFPA, and customer specifications.
• After ~12 months, potentially transition into PLC logic (Studio 5000, CCW), HMI development (FactoryTalk View, PanelView), and related work.
• Customer Service and Communication: Must maintain confidentiality and use discretion with business information. Must maintain an approachable demeaner at all times. Focus on clear, concise communication with clients, vendors, and peers. Professional, positive, and timely communication, both verbally and in writing is crucial to this role.
• Focus and Direction: Accepting of interruptions and being able to refocus and stay on task. Must be able to take direction as well as instill a proactive, self-directed approach to ensure daily requirements are fulfilled and projects are completed in an efficient and timely manner. Must be able to handle multiple tasks at the same time, know how to prioritize in order of importance and meet overlapping deadlines without substituting quality or accuracy. Ask questions to ensure continuous self-learning and development.
• Analytical Aptitude: The ability to read, analyze and interpret complex documents such as customer and industry specifications, professional codes and standards, engineering drawings, policy manuals, safety rules and regulations, operating and maintenance instructions and procedure manuals. Ability to effectively add notes and other pertinent information on drawings for customer approvals and manufacturing.
• Technology: Proficient with basic software and smartphone technology including email, internet, and calendaring applications and able to functionally use emerging technologies to support business needs. Proficient with MS Office applications such as Teams, Word and have advanced knowledge of Excel. Proficient with AutoCAD electrical and PLC and HMI software languages.

Required Skills and Qualifications

• Strong expertise in AutoCAD Electrical.
• Deep experience managing and troubleshooting the Catalog Database (parts catalogs, .udb files), symbol libraries, and panel footprint libraries.
• Proven ability to make components auto-select correct symbols and footprints reliably.
• Hands-on experience creating and maintaining intelligent schematic macros/templates for complex control subsystems (e.g., flame safeguards, Eurotherm/Omron/Siemens temperature controllers, Allen-Bradley PowerFlex drives, safety PLCs, etc.).
• Proficiency with AutoCAD Electrical features including: Project Manager and multi-sheet projects, Automatic report generation (BOM, wire lists, terminal reports, etc.), Ladder diagram tools, PLC I/O import/export, Footprint lookup and panel layout automation, Title block and attribute management, and Electrical audit and error checking tools.
• Ability to build and enforce company drawing standards and templates.
• Strong understanding of industrial control panel design (power distribution, motor controls, safety circuits, sensors, heaters/SCRs, etc.).

Education and Experience

• Expertise in AutoCAD Electrical and a minimum 3-5+ years of daily professional use in an industrial controls or panel building environment.
• Experience in a panel shop or custom automation environment building drawings for Allen-Bradley/Rockwell components.
• Familiarity with Studio 5000, FactoryTalk View, or other PLC/HMI software (for future role expansion).
• Knowledge of NEC, UL 508A, and industrial safety standards.
• AutoCAD Electrical certification or proven advanced-level portfolio.