Senior Controls Engineer - Industrial Automation Software

GCS Recruitment; Renton (WA); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

GCS Recruitment is seeking a Senior Controls Engineer to develop PLC software for automated material-handling and machine-control systems. The role emphasizes Beckhoff TwinCAT or CODESYS, IEC 61131-3 Structured Text, and integration with real-world industrial equipment.

The candidate will build reusable function blocks, state-machine sequences, and safety logic while coordinating with hardware and field devices.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required in controls, electrical, computer, mechanical, mechatronics engineering, CS or related field.
• 5+ years of industrial controls or automation software experience.
• CODESYS V3 or Beckhoff TwinCAT experience; IEC 61131-3 Structured Text programming.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain PLC/control software for material-handling and machine-control systems.
• Write reusable IEC 61131-3 Structured Text code.
• Develop state-machine-based machine sequences.
• Configure and troubleshoot EtherCAT networks and hardware integration.
• Work with Git and modern software-development practices.

Skills

Structured Text

State-machine design

Object-oriented design

CASE statements

Education

Bachelor's degree in Controls, Electrical, Computer, Mechanical, Mechatronics Engineering, Computer Science, or related discipline

Tools

CODESYS V3

Beckhoff TwinCAT

EtherCAT

Git

Industrial automation hardware integration

Job description

Senior Controls Engineer - Industrial Automation Software

Location: Renton, WA
Work Model: Hybrid
Experience: 5+ Years

About the Role

We are hiring a Senior Controls Engineer with strong software development experience to support advanced automated material-handling and machine-control systems.

The successful candidate will develop reusable PLC software and integrate control applications with real-world industrial equipment. Strong experience with Beckhoff TwinCAT or CODESYS, Structured Text, EtherCAT, and state-machine design is highly valued.

What You'll Do

• Develop and maintain PLC/control software using CODESYS V3 or Beckhoff TwinCAT.
• Write structured, reusable IEC 61131-3 Structured Text code.
• Build reusable Function Blocks and control libraries.
• Develop state-machine-based machine sequences.
• Implement equipment startup, shutdown, fault, recovery, and safety logic.
• Apply object-oriented design principles to control software.
• Integrate motors, drives, sensors, photo-eyes, actuators, and other field devices.
• Configure and troubleshoot EtherCAT networks.
• Test control software in engineering and lab environments.
• Analyze electrical schematics and control drawings.
• Troubleshoot hardware/software integration issues.
• Support commissioning and deployment activities.
• Work with Git and modern software-development practices.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Controls, Electrical, Computer, Mechanical, Mechatronics Engineering, Computer Science, or related discipline.
• 5+ years of industrial controls or automation software experience.
• CODESYS V3 or Beckhoff TwinCAT.
• Strong IEC 61131-3 Structured Text programming.
• State-machine and CASE-statement programming experience.
• PLC Function Block development.
• Object-oriented programming concepts.
• EtherCAT communication experience.
• Industrial automation hardware integration.
• Ability to read electrical schematics.
• Experience with Git/source control.

Preferred Qualifications

• Conveyor and sortation systems.
• Material-handling or warehouse automation.
• High-speed automation.
• IO-Link.
• Linux Industrial PCs.
• JSON configuration.
• Commissioning experience.
• C++ or Rust experience.