Senior Control Engineer

Amsted Rail; Petersburg (VA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Amsted Rail Petersburg seeks a Sr. Controls Engineer to serve as the site technical authority for industrial controls, automation, and machine control systems within our manufacturing operation.

You will lead high impact projects from concept to commissioning, delivering reliable, scalable automation solutions and mentoring engineering teams. You will drive standards, troubleshoot production automation equipment, and advance vision systems integration while ensuring safety and maintainability

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, Controls Engineering, Mechatronics, Automation Engineering, or a related field from an ABET accredited engineering program.
• 7+ years of controls engineering experience in manufacturing, automation, material handling, or industrial environments.
• Advanced PLC/HMI programming experience, with Allen Bradley ControlLogix, CompactLogix, GuardLogix, Studio 5000, FactoryTalk View SE/ME or comparable platform.
• Experience developing and maintaining electrical drawings using Autodesk AutoCAD Electrical or comparable CAD tool.
• Robotics integration, troubleshooting, commissioning, and production support experience.
• Machine vision and sensor based production inspection systems.
• Strong troubleshooting skills in manufacturing facilities across electrical, controls, networking, motion, vision, and robotic systems.
• Working knowledge of functional safety, machine safety principles, safety circuits, risk reduction, and industry best practices.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the technical lead for automation, with electrical design responsibility from concept through implementation for new projects and legacy equipment upgrades.
• Deliver robust, production ready systems that improve reliability, throughput, safety, and overall equipment effectiveness.
• Maintain and improve controls standards, PLC programming standards, electrical schematics, documentation, and system architecture across manufacturing processes.
• Support and troubleshoot in production automation equipment to minimize downtime and improve reliability.
• Strengthen internal automation capability across engineering, process, operations, and maintenance teams.
• Act as a technical mentor for engineers, technicians, and maintenance specialists.
• Drive common PLC, HMI, motion control, servo, machine vision, robot programming structure, naming conventions, and reusable logic practices.
• Set expectations for machine quality, system maintainability, and production reliability.
• Establish and enforce best practices for: Code reusability and modular design, Fault handling and recovery logic, System maintainability and scalability.
• Backup, restore, version control, and lifecycle management of PLC, HMI, and automation programs using the AssetCentre repository.
• Drive safe robotic operation and support compliance with applicable ANSI/RIA machine safety requirements.
• Integrate and standardize vision systems across all manufacturing processes.
• Apply advanced vision tools and AI-enabled capabilities where appropriate to improve inline quality inspection, repeatability, and production reliability.
• Technical experience with; Ethernet/IP and Modbus TCP communications, servo and motion control systems and Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs).

Skills

Controls engineering

PLC programming

HMI programming

Robotics integration

Machine vision

Electrical design

Schematic documentation

Automation engineering

Troubleshooting

Networking

Safety compliance

Education

ABET accredited engineering program

Tools

AutoCAD Electrical

Studio 5000

FactoryTalk View

ControlLogix/CompactLogix/GuardLogix

I/O and PLC hardware (Allen Bradley)

Cognex/Keyence vision systems

Job description

Amsted Rail Company, a global leader in freight rail solutions and an Amsted Industries business, is a 100% employee-owned company. Amsted Rail Petersburg is a global leader in tapered roller bearings and precision sealing solutions. We offer stability, growth, and the opportunity to make a real impact on our industries and communities. As part of one of the top employee-owned companies in the U.S., team members benefit directly from our success through annual stock awards, competitive pay, and strong benefits.

The Sr. Controls Engineer serves as the site technical authority for industrial controls, automation, and machine control systems within our manufacturing operation. In this role you will lead high impact controls projects from concept and design through commissioning, production handoff, and support. This position is ideal for an engineer who enjoys solving complex manufacturing challenges, building reliable automation systems, and setting technical direction for scalable controls solutions. In this role you will be a hands-on automation expert who can deliver safe, reliable and maintainable control system solutions while serving as a trusted technical resource for engineering, operations, and maintenance.

What you will own – Business Critical Impact

To accomplish this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each business-critical impact satisfactorily with or without accommodation.

• Serve as the technical lead for automation, with electrical design responsibility from concept through implementation for new projects and legacy equipment upgrades.
• Deliver robust, production ready systems that improve reliability, throughput, safety, and overall equipment effectiveness.
• Maintain and improve controls standards, PLC programming standards, electrical schematics, documentation, and system architecture across manufacturing processes.
• Support and troubleshoot in production automation equipment to minimize downtime and improve reliability.
• Strengthen internal automation capability across engineering, process, operations, and maintenance teams.
• Act as a technical mentor for engineers, technicians, and maintenance specialists.
• Drive common PLC, HMI, motion control, servo, machine vision, robot programming structure, naming conventions, and reusable logic practices.
• Set expectations for machine quality, system maintainability, and production reliability.
• Establish and enforce best practices for: Code reusability and modular design, Fault handling and recovery logic, System maintainability and scalability.
• Backup, restore, version control, and lifecycle management of PLC, HMI, and automation programs using the AssetCentre repository.
• Drive safe robotic operation and support compliance with applicable ANSI/RIA machine safety requirements.
• Integrate and standardize vision systems (Cognex, Keyence, etc.) solutions across all manufacturing processes.
• Apply advanced vision tools and AI-enabled capabilities where appropriate to improve inline quality inspection, repeatability, and production reliability.
• Technical experience with; Ethernet/IP and Modbus TCP communications, servo and motion control systems and Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs)

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, Controls Engineering, Mechatronics, Automation Engineering, or a related field from an ABET accredited engineering program.
• 7+ years of controls engineering experience in manufacturing, automation, material handling, or industrial environments.
• Advanced PLC/HMI programming experience, with Allen Bradley ControlLogix, CompactLogix, GuardLogix, Studio 5000, FactoryTalk View SE/ME or comparable platform.
• Experience developing and maintaining electrical drawings using Autodesk AutoCAD Electrical or comparable CAD tool.
• Robotics integration, troubleshooting, commissioning, and production support experience.
• Machine vision and sensor based production inspection systems.
• Strong troubleshooting skills in manufacturing facilities across electrical, controls, networking, motion, vision, and robotic systems.
• Working knowledge of functional safety, machine safety principles, safety circuits, risk reduction, and industry best practices.

Preferred experience

• Cognex and Keyence vision programming and integration
• Stratix Ethernet Switches
• OpenPLC platforms such as ABB or Rexroth
• Mitsubishi, Omron, or other PLC platforms