Principal Industrial Controls Engineer

Symbotic; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 248,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

Dental insurance

Vision care

Disability insurance

401K

PTO

Job summary

Symbotic is seeking a Principal Industrial Controls Engineer to lead architecture and strategy for PLC controls and simulation platforms. You will guide reusable platform capabilities, drive standardization, and shape multi-year roadmaps across products and sites.

You will provide deep hands-on expertise in Rockwell Automation PLCs, motion control, safety, OT networking, and HMI/SCADA, while mentoring engineers and aligning with product and operations leadership.

Qualifications

• Requires 12+ years of related experience or equivalent
• Bachelor's or Master's in Electrical/Automation/Mechatronics or related field
• Expert-level knowledge of Rockwell Automation PLCs, motion control, and OT networking

Responsibilities

• Define architecture, strategy, and lifecycle roadmap for controls and simulation platforms across products
• Create reusable PLC platform capabilities, templates, interfaces, and standards
• Lead practical migration plans to reduce platform variants and simplify systems
• Provide hands-on leadership for Rockwell PLCs, motion control, safety systems, OT networking, and industrial protocols
• Lead simulation and virtual commissioning strategy, including digital twins and hardware-in-the-loop testing
• Manage platform health: versioning, release governance, diagnostics, observability, and deprecation planning
• Architect interfaces among PLC controls, electrical, robotics, and software teams
• Lead design reviews and communicate risks and tradeoffs to stakeholders
• Prototype new controls concepts and guide production-ready transitions
• Lead troubleshooting and root-cause analysis to drive systemic improvements
• Mentor engineers and raise technical capability through standards and forums
• May directly manage one or two engineers and align investments with business needs

Skills

Technical leadership

Systems architecture

PLC design

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Electrical Engineering - B.S./M.S.

Tools

Rockwell Automation PLCs

HMI/SCADA (Ignition)

Industrial networking

Simulation & V&V tools

Job description

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USA Remote & Travel

Principal Industrial Controls Engineer

Time type: full time
Posted on: September 30, 2026
Job requisition id: R8152

What we need

Symbotic is seeking for a Principal Industrial Controls Engineer to join our Industrial Control Systems R&D team within our Engineering organization. Your job will be to serve as a technical authority for the architecture, evolution, and management of our PLC controls and simulation platforms. Reporting to the Director of Industrial Control Systems R&D, this role combines deep hands‑on controls expertise with enterprise‑level technical leadership. The Principal Engineer will drive simplification and standardization, create reusable platform capabilities, shape multi‑year technical roadmaps, and influence execution across products, programs, and sites. The role may directly manage one or two engineers, but its primary accountability is technical direction, platform health, and organizational impact.

What we do

The Industrial Control Systems R&D team develops and supports the controls and simulation platforms that power Symbotic's automated systems. We partner closely with software, robotics, electrical, systems, deployment, and operations teams to deliver scalable, reliable, and innovative automation solutions. Our team is responsible for PLC architecture, motion and safety systems, industrial networking, simulation and virtual commissioning, platform standardization, and lifecycle management across Symbotic products and customer deployments.

What you'll do

• Define and own the architecture, technical strategy, and lifecycle roadmap for industrial controls and simulation platforms across Symbotic products and deployments.
• Establish modular, reusable PLC platform capabilities, libraries, templates, interfaces, and configuration standards that accelerate delivery and improve consistency.
• Drive simplification by reducing one‑off solutions and platform variants, clarifying system boundaries, eliminating duplication, and leading practical migration plans.
• Provide deep, hands‑on technical leadership for Rockwell Automation PLCs, motion control, safety systems, OT networking, industrial protocols, and HMI/SCADA solutions.
• Lead the simulation and virtual‑commissioning strategy, including digital twins, software‑in‑the‑loop and hardware‑in‑the‑loop testing, automated regression, and deterministic scenario coverage.
• Manage platform health through versioning, compatibility, release governance, diagnostics, observability, cybersecurity, quality metrics, technical‑debt reduction, and deprecation planning.
• Architect and govern interfaces among PLC controls, electrical systems, robotics, embedded systems, simulation, and higher‑level software.
• Lead architecture and design reviews, document key decisions, and communicate risks and technical tradeoffs clearly to engineering and business stakeholders.
• Prototype and de‑risk new controls concepts, then guide their transition into supported, production‑ready platform capabilities.
• Lead troubleshooting and root‑cause analysis for complex, cross‑system, or high‑impact issues and convert findings into systemic improvements.
• Mentor engineers and raise technical capability across teams through coaching, standards, technical forums, and reusable guidance.
• May directly manage one or two engineers, including regular 1:1s, goal setting, performance feedback, and career development, while remaining primarily accountable for technical leadership.
• Influence portfolio priorities and partner with product, systems, software, electrical, test, deployment, and operations leaders to align platform investments with business needs.

What you'll need

• Minimum of 12 years of related experience or equivalent work experience.
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, Automation Engineering, or a related field.
• Expert-level knowledge of Rockwell Automation PLC platforms, motion control, safety PLC systems, OT networking, and industrial communication protocols.
• Demonstrated experience defining controls architectures and reusable platform capabilities deployed across multiple products, programs, or sites.
• Deep experience with simulation and virtual commissioning, including digital twins, software‑in‑the‑loop or hardware‑in‑the‑loop testing, automated regression, and scenario‑based validation.
• Strong knowledge of HMI/SCADA architecture and development; experience with Inductive Automation Ignition is preferred.
• Experience managing platform lifecycles, including roadmaps, release and compatibility strategies, configuration management, observability, cybersecurity, technical debt, and deprecation planning.
• Strong software engineering practices applied to PLC development, including modular design, version control, code review, automated testing, CI/CD, diagnostics, and documentation.
• Ability to simplify complex systems, make sound architectural tradeoffs, and lead across organizational boundaries without relying on direct authority.
• Excellent communication, mentoring, and stakeholder‑management skills; prior direct people‑management experience is beneficial but not required.

Our environment

• Up to 60% of travel may be required. Employees must have a valid driver's license and the ability to drive and/or fly to client locations and company HQ.
• Employees may be required to use a personal credit card for business travel expenses, which are reimbursed based on the program guidelines. Eligible employees may receive a corporate credit card based on role and travel requirements, but a personal credit card may be needed during onboarding until the corporate card is issued.

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The base range for this position in the posted location is $180,000.00 - $247,500.00 however, base pay offered may vary depending on job‑related knowledge, skills, and experience. The compensation package includes medical, dental, vision, disability, 401K, PTO and/or other benefits.