Sr. Eng, Process Control

Smurfit Westrock plc; Sheldon Springs (VT); On-site; USD 98,000 - 164,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision

Life insurance

401k with match

Tuition reimbursement

Employee discounts

Employee referral bonus

Job summary

Smurfit Westrock plc is seeking an Electrical & Control Engineer to lead and improve control systems across multiple generations within a 24/7 production environment. This role blends hands-on field work with project management, documentation, and coaching of electrical staff.

The ideal candidate will troubleshoot, design, and implement system upgrades while coordinating with maintenance, operations, and engineering teams to meet safety, quality, and cost goals.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or equivalent.
• Experience with AC and DC electrical control circuits.
• Experience with programming, testing, or troubleshooting control system components (PLC, HMI/SCADA, DCS, etc).

Responsibilities

• Support production, maintenance, and engineering teams to meet mill goals.
• Coordinate and supervise project teams and maintenance work.
• Troubleshoot control issues and perform root cause analysis.
• Develop and maintain technical documentation and drawings.

Skills

Troubleshooting

Project management

Team collaboration

Analytical thinking

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s in Engineering

Tools

PLC

HMI/SCADA

DCS

VFDs

Job description

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) is the go-to leader and partner of choice in sustainable packaging. We are dedicated to creating efficient and scalable paper and packaging solutions to help solve complex packaging challenges. Guided by our values of safety, loyalty, integrity and respect, we are committed to delivering meaningful value for shareholders, customers, employees and the communities where we operate.

Position: Electrical & Control Engineer

Job Code: MEPCP3 + Sr. Eng, Process Control

The Opportunity:

The Electrical & Control Engineer position combines a mixture of technical field work with project management and engineering. As a part of a multi-disciplined engineering group that supports maintenance and 24/7 production, the day-to-day priorities can shift quickly. You would have a unique opportunity to work on a variety of analog and digital control systems, spanning multiple equipment generations, ranging from electro-mechanical relay controls to advanced PLC controlled Coordinated-Drive systems with Integrated Safety. Your role’s primary responsibility would be management of these control systems. This role is ideal for a troubleshooter who wants to understand how systems work, identify opportunities to make system improvement, and seek out your own growth and development. In this role you would drive success through project identification, development, and management as well as real-time problem solving, technical troubleshooting, documenting, and coaching.

How You Will Impact Smurfit Westrock:

This list identifies the essential functions. As with all jobs, all duties and responsibilities are not listed, and will vary based upon the department, team, and business needs.

Teams

• Support production, maintenance, and engineering departments to ensure safety, quality, reliability, continuous improvement, and cost savings
• Collaborate with team leaders, supervisors, engineers, operators, technicians, and department managers to meet Mill goals
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives and system upgrades to address obsolescence, enhance performance, reliability, and cost savings.
• Rotational on-call to facilitate unplanned weekend maintenance

Projects

• Manage all phases of large and small projects from inception through design, construction, and start-up
• Develop project requirements, scopes, cost estimates, forecasts, and schedules.
• Develop and/or manage the preparation and review of drawings for assigned projects by working with engineering firms, vendors, and mill personnel.
• Coordinate all types of design activities including equipment sizing, P&ID’s, electrical, and process control.
• Manage the direction of consultants, contractors, and maintenance work associated with assigned capital and repair projects.
• Control project costs by monitoring expenditures to ensure projects are completed within budget and schedule.

Technical

• Troubleshoot control issues, contribute to root cause analysis, and develop timely solutions for production problems that arise
• Support, train, and coach electrical staff with troubleshooting and skill development
• Interpret, maintain, develop, and update technical documentation, including electrical schematics, wiring diagrams, control panel layouts, manuals, and software backups
• Support maintenance outages, startup, and on-site troubleshooting to ensure optimal performance
• Coordinate and supervise construction and startup activities with project teams, Maintenance, and Operations.
• Assure all project drawings, documents, equipment information, manuals, etc. become part of the Engineering Document Control System.

Systems

• Management of the Mill's electrical power distribution maintenance program.
• Management of the Mill's electrical safety program

What You Need to Succeed:

• Curiosity/Problem Solving
• A curiosity to understand how things work, solving technical problems, continuously learning, and sharing knowledge with others
• Persistent mindset and willingness to work through unfamiliar technical challenges
• Excellent troubleshooting, analytical, and problem-solving skills
• Must be a team player able to work in a fast-paced environment with demonstrated ability to handle multiple competing tasks and demands
• Demonstrates active listening, seeks clarification, and capable of clear verbal/written communication of technical and non-technical information
• Must be comfortable in both a manufacturing and office setting

Controls/Power

• Experience in a project, operations, or maintenance engineering role
• Strong understanding of AC and DC electrical control circuits with hands-on experience
• Experience programing, testing, or troubleshooting control system components (such as DCS, PLC, HMI/SCADA, VFDs, relays, contactors, analog sensors, valve positioners, etc)
• Bachelor’s of Science in Engineering or an equivalent combination of education and experience
• Basic understanding of IP network addressing (IPv4 subnet)

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelors of Electrical Engineering, Electrical Engineering Technology, or similar
• Experience with industrial communication protocols (Modbus, OPC, DeviceNET, EtherNet/IP)
• Experience with virtualized computer systems, advanced IP subnet routing, VLANs, firewalls
• Strong understanding or experience with industrial power distribution systems and motor control centers
• Work experience in a manufacturing environment
• Capital project development and management
• Experience with NFPA NEC, NFPA 70E, short circuit analysis, arc flash, and load calculations
• Able to understand pneumatic and hydraulic systems and related control components

What we offer:

• Corporate culture based on integrity, respect, accountability, and excellence.
• Comprehensive training with numerous learning and development opportunities.
• An attractive salary reflecting skills, competencies, and potential.
• Benefits package to include medical, dental, vision, life insurance, 401k with match, tuition reimbursement, employee discounts, employee referral bonus, and much more!
• A career with a global packaging company where Sustainability, Safety and Inclusion are business drivers and foundational elements of the daily work.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by state or federal law.

The salary range for this position is $98,250.00 - $163,750.00, depending on your role, level, and location. The range listed is also the expected pay for roles in Illinois and Colorado. The benefits for this role include short-term bonus incentive, health, dental and vision insurance, flexible spending accounts or health savings accounts, retirement savings plans, life and disability insurance programs, and paid sick leave as required by applicable state/local law, 15 days of paid vacation, and 11 days of paid holidays, subject to annual change. Your pay will be based on factors such as your skills, experience, and education.