Controls Engineering Supervisor - Projects

Kahler Automation Corp.; Fairmont (MN); On-site; USD 90,000 - 135,000; Full time

Job summary

Kahler Automation Corp. in Fairmont, MN is seeking a Controls Engineering Supervisor - Projects to lead the Controls Engineers and HMI/SCADA team within the Projects group.

This role combines hands-on technical work with people management, timecard approvals, and mentoring to ensure on-time delivery of automation solutions that meet customer needs. You will drive sprint planning, enforce templates and documentation, and coordinate with cross-functional teams to maintain quality and project

Qualifications

• 5-8+ years of automation experience in PLC and HMI programming with leadership experience.
• Proven ability to manage people, processes, and project deliverables.
• Experience in structured engineering environments using code libraries, standards, and agile/sprint methods.

Responsibilities

• Own overall team delivery performance, quality, and continuous improvement.
• Mentor engineers on technical topics, project execution, and adherence to standards.
• Lead sprint planning and reviews and track velocity and backlog.

Skills

Team leadership

PLC programming

HMI/SCADA

Agile/Scrum

Mentoring

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Automation Engineering

Tools

Rockwell Studio 5000

FactoryTalk View

Ignition

EOS methodology/tools

Job description

Job Description

Job DescriptionDescription:

Job Title: Controls Engineering Supervisor - Projects

Reports to: VP of Operations

Department: Engineering

Location: 808 Timberlake Road, Fairmont, MN 56031

Position Summary: The Controls Engineering Supervisor - Projects leads the Controls Engineers and HMI/SCADA Engineer within the Projects Team to ensure the successful delivery of automation solutions that meet customer requirements and internal quality standards. This is a working supervisory role that combines hands-on technical contribution with personnel management responsibilities, including timecards, reviews, and mentoring.

The Supervisor ensures project consistency by enforcing adherence to internal templates, checklists, and documentation. They facilitate agile sprint planning and sprint reviews to drive throughput and transparency as well as accountabilities such as managing Rocks, To-Dos, Scorecards, and running L10 meetings for the Projects group.

Exhibit and promote the following values:

• Curious Attitude: An employee who is curious is motivated to take time to question and explore new things to find answers that will ensure the best outcomes for the organization.
• Focus on Quality: An employee who values quality has integrity and produces results that meet high standards set by the organization.
• Passion for Service: An employee who is service-oriented displays a positive behavior and responds to customers using good business practices to meet their needs and expectations.
• Dedicated Spirit: A dedicated employee is one who takes ownership of their role and the whole organization to ensure that goals are achieved.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities include the following. Other duties may be assigned:

Team Leadership & Supervision:

• Own overall team delivery performance, quality, and continuous improvement.
• Assign project work based on workload, capability, and growth objectives.
• Monitor team workload and project priorities and adjust assignments as needed to maintain project commitments and balance workload across the team.
• Conduct performance reviews, approve timecards, manage PTO requests, and support career development.
• Mentor Controls Engineers on technical topics, project execution, and adherence to visual and logic standards.
• Support cross-training and skill diversification across the team.
• Facilitate Level 10 meetings for the Projects team.
• Track and manage Rocks, To-Dos, Scorecards, and team Issues.
• Lead and manage a remote team while driving issue resolution and alignment with company priorities.
• Drive issue resolution and alignment with company priorities.

Controls Engineering Execution:

• Provides technical direction and oversight for Controls Engineering work on assigned projects.
• Coordinate Controls Engineering priorities with Project Management.
• Serve as an escalation point for complex project execution or troubleshooting challenges.
• Review project deliverables to ensure quality, completeness, and consistency.
• Assist in estimating programming labor and advising on project staffing or technical risks.
• This Job description is not comprehensive, and all employees must be flexible, and willing to perform other duties as assigned by their supervisor.

Template & Documentation Ownership:

• Ensure the Projects Team maintains internal project templates, checklists, and documentation libraries.
• Oversee updates to documentation based on feedback from recent projects or field learnings.
• Work with Development group to feed improvements and standards back into the shared library.

Agile/Sprint Execution:

• Lead weekly sprint planning and sprint review meetings with the Projects team.
• Track team velocity, blockers, and backlog management to drive predictable delivery.
• Ensure accountability for task completion and continuous process improvement.

Technical Contribution:

• Participate in the development and troubleshooting of PLC logic, HMI configuration, and communication setups.
• Collaborate on high-impact or complex customer projects, especially where technical coordination is critical.
• Provide feedback to the Development team for future improvements to standards, based on implementation experience.

Qualifications: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.

Education/Experience:

• 5-8+ years of automation experience in PLC and HMI programming, including demonstrated experience leading, mentoring or supervising other engineers.
• Proven ability to manage people, processes, and project deliverables simultaneously.
• Experience in structured engineering environments using code libraries, standards, and agile/sprint methods.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Proficiency with Rockwell Studio 5000, FactoryTalk View SE/ME, and Ignition.
• Familiarity with EOS methodology and tools (L10s, Rocks, To-Dos, IDS).
• Experience conducting technical peer reviews and mentoring junior engineers.
• Prior involvement with sprint planning or agile delivery in engineering settings.
• Experience coordinating with cross-functional departments such as project management, electrical design, CAD, and production.

Computer/Technical Skills:

• Proficient in Microsoft Office tools.
• Strong in PLC logic development, HMI/SCADA visualization, and industrial communication protocols.
• Familiar with managing shared code libraries, reusable components, and internal documentation tools.
• Ability to guide team members in debugging and testing across multiple automation platforms.

Requirements

Reasoning Ability: Able to balance short-term project needs with long-term team and process development. Capable of identifying recurring issues or inefficiencies and driving resolution through people, process, or tooling improvements.

Math Ability: Ability to work with mathematical concepts such as probability and statistical inference, and fundamentals of plane and solid geometry and trigonometry. Ability to apply concepts such as fractions, percentages, ratios, and proportions to practical situations.

Language Ability: Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals. Ability to write routine reports and correspondence. Ability to speak effectively before groups of customers or employees in the organization. Ability to read electrical schematics and familiar with piping and instrument drawing (PID) and product flow drawing (PFD).

Certificates and Licenses: Valid Driver's License

Travel: Occasional travel (approximately 5%) may be required but is not a regular or frequent part of this position. Travel may include destinations throughout North America by automobile, commercial airplane, or company airplane.

Work Environment and Physical Demands: The work environment characteristics and physical demands 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 essential functions. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

The employee must regularly lift and/or move up to 25 pounds, frequently lift and/or move up to 50 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 100 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus, while performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; climb or balance; stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl; talk or hear and taste or smell. Must be able to accurately discriminate among colors.