Automation Controls Engineer

RFA Engineering (www.rfamec.com) is an engineering service provider dedicated to delivering our clients with timely engineering support and expertise. We are seeking experienced controls and automation engineers to join our engineering team. For this position RFA will be working in many functional areas supporting industrial automation, automated equipment, machine controls, material handling systems, and other complex engineered equipment across a variety of industries.

Automation Controls Engineer

The Automation Controls Engineer will support the design, programming, integration, checkout, and validation of automated machinery and assembly equipment. Work may span electrical controls design, PLC/HMI programming, machine integration, troubleshooting, commissioning, and Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT). Projects may support biomedical, life science, industrial automation, and other advanced manufacturing applications.

Responsibilities

• Develop electrical controls designs for automated machinery and assembly equipment.
• Create electrical schematics, control panel layouts, I/O documentation, and bills of material.
• Develop PLC software for automated equipment and machine-control applications.
• Develop machine sequences, operating modes, permissives, interlocks, alarms, diagnostics, and recovery functions.
• Develop HMI applications including operator screens, equipment status, alarms, and diagnostics.
• Integrate PLCs, sensors, actuators, motors, drives, and other machine-control components.
• Support electrical panel and machine assembly activities.
• Perform machine checkout, controls troubleshooting, and commissioning.
• Develop and execute functional tests to verify machine and controls performance.
• Support Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) and equipment verification activities.
• Investigate electrical, controls, and software issues and implement corrective actions.
• Collaborate with mechanical, electrical, software, manufacturing, and project engineering teams.
• Incorporate checkout and commissioning changes into final as-built electrical drawings and controls software.
• Create and maintain technical documentation throughout the project lifecycle.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Electrical Engineering Technology, Controls Engineering, Automation Engineering, or related technical discipline preferred.
• Professional experience with industrial automation, controls engineering, automated machinery, or related equipment.
• Experience with PLC-based machine-control systems.
• Ability to read and understand electrical schematics and technical documentation.
• Strong electrical and controls troubleshooting skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work effectively with multidisciplinary engineering and manufacturing teams.

Desired Attributes

• 5+ years of relevant controls, automation, or machine-development experience preferred.
• Experience taking automated machinery from design through checkout, commissioning, and Factory Acceptance Testing.
• Experience with Rockwell PLCs and ladder logic.
• Experience with FactoryTalk View, Ignition, or similar HMI platforms.
• Experience with AutoCAD Electrical, EPLAN, or similar electrical design tools.
• Experience designing industrial control panels and machine electrical systems.
• Experience with sensors, actuators, motors, VFDs, servo drives, industrial communications, and machine-safety systems.
• Experience with automated assembly machinery, robotics, motion-control systems, or other industrial automation.
• Experience supporting biomedical, medical-device, life-science, or other controlled manufacturing applications.
• Experience creating and maintaining as-built electrical drawings and controls documentation.
• Experience with functional safety, safety-rated control systems, machine interlocks, or Safety Integrity Level (SIL) applications.
• Experience with SIL 1, SIL 2, or SIL 3 systems is beneficial.

Visa sponsorship is NOT available for this position.

Pay Range: $90,000-$130,000 Commensurate with experience

About RFA Engineering

RFA Engineering has provided product development and engineering services to industry leading customers since 1943. Our primary focus is the development of off highway equipment including agricultural, construction, mining, recreational, industrial, and special machines. Our work includes concept development, product design, documentation, problem-solving, simulation, optimization, and testing of components, systems and complete machines. Our engineering staff is located at our Engineering Center in Minneapolis, branch office in Dubuque, IA, and at numerous customer sites throughout the U.S.

Competitive Benefits

• Health and Dental Insurance
• TelaDoc Healthiest You
• Supplemental Vision Insurance
• Company Paid Life Insurance
• Company Paid Long-Term Disability
• Short-term Disability
• Retirement Savings Account (Traditional 401k & Roth 401k)
• Flexible Spending Plan Dependent Care
• HSA for Medical Expenses
• Bonus Plan (Exempt Employees Only)
• Paid Time Off (PTO)
• Paid Holidays
• Bereavement Leave
• Employee Assistance Programs (EAP)
• Education Assistance

Equal Opportunity and Veteran Friendly