Automation & Controls Engineer
Location: Glendale, Arizona
Employment Type: Full-Time, Direct Hire
Shift: Night Shift
Industry: High-Speed Beverage Manufacturing
Position Overview
We are seeking an experienced Automation & Controls Engineer to support a large, highly automated manufacturing facility in Glendale, Arizona.
This is a hands-on controls position responsible for supporting production equipment, troubleshooting automation issues, improving equipment reliability, and executing controls and automation projects.
The facility operates high-speed production and packaging systems, including filling, canning, conveying, packaging, palletizing, robotic material handling, and process equipment.
Responsibilities
- Provide hands-on automation and controls support for production and process equipment.
- Troubleshoot Allen-Bradley PLCs, HMIs, VFDs, instrumentation, industrial networks, sensors, and electrical control systems.
- Diagnose equipment failures using PLC logic, I/O, electrical schematics, and system data.
- Perform PLC programming, troubleshooting, modifications, and controls optimization.
- Provide Tier 1 and Tier 2 troubleshooting support during equipment failures and production downtime.
- Support high-speed automated equipment including fillers, seamers, conveyors, packaging equipment, palletizers, and robotic systems.
- Identify recurring equipment and controls issues and implement long-term corrective actions.
- Support automation upgrades, equipment installations, commissioning, and continuous-improvement projects.
- Work closely with maintenance, engineering, operations, and equipment manufacturers.
- Provide technical guidance and controls support to maintenance technicians.
- Participate in management-of-change processes and maintain appropriate controls documentation.
- Support plant-wide automation systems as needed.
Qualifications
- 5+ years of Allen-Bradley PLC experience.
- Strong PLC programming and troubleshooting capabilities.
- Experience working with industrial HMIs, VFDs, instrumentation, sensors, and automated control systems.
- Strong electrical troubleshooting skills with the ability to diagnose problems through PLC logic and field I/O.
- Experience supporting automated manufacturing or process equipment.
- Experience with high-speed production, packaging, bottling, canning, food & beverage, pharmaceutical, chemical/process, or similar manufacturing environments.
- Ability to troubleshoot equipment under production conditions where uptime and response time are critical.
- Strong problem-solving and communication skills.
- Ability to work effectively with maintenance technicians, engineers, operations personnel, and OEM/vendor teams.
- Availability to work the designated night-shift schedule.
Preferred Experience
Experience with any of the following is highly valuable:
- High-speed canning or bottling equipment
- Filling and seaming systems
- Conveyors and material handling
- Packaging equipment
- Robotics and robotic integration
- Palletizers and depalletizers
- Servo systems and VFDs
- Process controls and instrumentation
- Food and beverage manufacturing
- High-speed automated production environments
This position is ideal for an Automation & Controls Engineer who enjoys being hands-on with equipment and PLCs while also contributing to automation improvements, equipment reliability, and engineering projects.
