Controls/Electrical Engineer - Buffalo Trace Distillery

Sazerac Company; Frankfort (KY); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Sazerac Company, Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, KY, seeks an experienced Controls/Electrical Engineer to lead automation initiatives and maintenance programs across the distillery.

You will oversee PLC/HMI standardization, manage a team of technicians, ensure uptime, safety, and regulatory compliance, and drive cost-saving and reliability projects within an entrepreneurial environment.

Qualifications

• Engineering or related degree or equivalent experience.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
• Proven planning and organizational abilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of production automation plans for the distillery.
• Standardize PLC/HMI platforms across facilities to improve reliability and safety.
• Supervise 3–5 Electrical/Instrumentation technicians; evaluate performance and plan improvements.
• Ensure compliance with safety, quality, and environmental policies; update SOPs for maintenance.
• Provide leadership and drive maintenance projects to meet deadlines and budgets.
• Develop preventive/predictive maintenance programs for electrical and controls infrastructure.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Planning & organization

Project management

Education

Engineering or related degree

Tools

AutoCAD

Allen-Bradley PLC

MS Office

Rockwell Automation

Job description

Sazerac Company Overview

Build your career at Sazerac! With almost 400 years of rich history, Sazerac Company has thrived as an independent, American family-owned company with operations in the United States and around the world. Since the 2000s, Sazerac has averaged double digit growth every year! Sazerac Company produces and markets the most award-winning bourbons and whiskeys in the world, including Buffalo Trace, Pappy Van Winkle, Eagle Rare, Blanton’s, Traveller, and Sazerac Rye. Additionally, Sazerac owns many popular brands across a range of spirits, including Fireball, Svedka, Wheatley, BuzzBallz, Southern Comfort, Seagram’s V.O., Myers’s, Goldschläger, Parrot Bay, 99 Brand, and Platinum Vodka.

We’re proud of our award-winning culture and distilleries. Our Louisville office has been named one of the “Best Places to Work in Kentucky” four times, and our Buffalo Trace Distillery has earned the title of “world’s most award-winning distillery” through the dedication of our craftsmen for well over 200 years. Whether you’re a recent graduate or an experienced professional, Sazerac provides extraordinary opportunities for growth with competitive salaries and benefits in an exciting, entrepreneurial industry.

Company/Location Overview

Buffalo Trace Distillery is an American family-owned company based in Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky. The Distillery's rich tradition dates back to 1773 and includes such legends as E.H. Taylor, Jr., George T. Stagg, Albert B. Blanton, Orville Schupp, and Elmer T. Lee.

Buffalo Trace Distillery is a fully operational Distillery producing bourbon, rye and vodka on site andis a National Historic Landmark as well as is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Distillery has won 17 distillery titles since 2000 from such notable publications as Whisky Magazine, Whisky Advocate Magazine and Wine Enthusiast Magazine. It was named “Brand Innovator of the Year”by Whisky Magazine at its Icons of Whisky America Awards 2015. Buffalo Trace Distillery has also garnered more than 300 awards forits wide range of premium whiskies. The distillery is part of the Sazerac family of companies.

For more information, please visitwww.buffalotracedistillery.com or www.sazerac.com.

Job Description/Responsibilities

The Controls/Electrical Engineer is responsible for the direction and focus of the Controls/Electrical Maintenance Team activities. Organize workloads, provide technical support, and manage work quality for responsible areas; to ensure at least a 95% uptime through support of preventive/reactive maintenance, project management, systems control and general engineering.

• Lead the development of a production automation plan for BTD that will help specify and develop hardware and software platforms throughout the distillery. Support production through the implementation and continued support of these systems as we work to develop an expandable control and monitoring system facility wide. Identify and lead cost savings initiatives within the organization
• Our vision for the Controls Engineer is to help/guide us to develop/establish a uniform platform for all our PLC’s, HMI’s, VFD’s and overall controls. This will lead to not only improved productivity as we become apt to address issues more reliability in a quick manner it will also help in both Electrical Safety and operation safety. Support the overall facility safety program through excellence in project management, maintenance, problem identification, and supervision and participate in the Crisis Management Project and become SME on maintenance related items with the CM plan by understanding potential crises and appropriate responses.
• Trains and supervises 3 - 5 Electrical/Instrumentation technicians that support the facilities and electrical/ automation needs. Evaluates employee performance and skill level to determine skill improvement needs and develops improvement plans to address. Creates and develops a personal development plan with Plant Engineer to improve a skill/competency that will develop personal skills and improve performance.
• Ensure adherence to Personal Safety, Food Safety, Quality and Environmental Policies and Practices. Lead the development and on-going updates of SOP's and processes related to MRO inventory and preventive maintenance scheduling.
• Meets and exceeds customer expectations through supervision of Maintenance employees to deliver product on time within budget and to meet quality specifications. Troubleshoots operating problems, evaluates the situation and coordinates resolution.
• Provide leadership to Maintenance employees in a manner consistent with the culture of the company. Ensures employees are treated fairly and with respect. Creates a team environment where all employees are encouraged to make a difference in meeting and exceeding customer expectations. Participates in efforts to address issues identified through climate surveys and make the Company "one of the industry's most desired places to be."
• Ensures all projects and initiatives are implemented in compliance with Regulatory and Environmental guidelines
• Keeps abreast of all technological advancements and establishes/implements a plan to train our technicians and raise the level of technical knowledge within our facility
• Assist in development of a preventative/predictive maintenance program for electrical and controls infrastructure to include, cleaning, back-up, program logging, and thermal scanning. Maintain the documentation system, MP2, for data collection during repairs and PM activities in order to monitor deterioration rates and identify critical failure points.

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Qualifications/Requirements

Must

• Engineering or related degree or equivalent experience
• 5 years relevant experience (minimum)
• Ability to manage multiple projects at one time
• 3 years hands on electrical experience, Allen Bradley PLC programming and hardware experience, equipment trouble shooting experience
• BSEE, BSEET, ASEE, ASEET or equivalent experience
• Working knowledge of MS Office Products (Word, Excel and Outlook)
• Strong interpersonal skills
• Strong planning and organizational skills

Preferred

• Proficient in Auto-Cad Software
• Rockwell Automation controls training
• Working knowledge of PC's, LAN's and WAN's

Physical Requirements

• Ability to pick up and/or move objects up to 50 pounds without assistance.
• Ability to work overtime if necessary
• Ability to work 8 hour shift
• In-person job attendance
• Strong communication skills
• Ability to read and write
• Ability to work near moving mechanical parts
• Ability to pay attention to detail
• Ability to pay attention to detail
• Noise level at work station is loud (metal can manufacturing, large earth moving equipment)
• Ability to work with the risk of electrical shock