Automation Engineer

Must be local at one of these locations: Lexington, KY; Louisville, KY; Cincinnati, OH; or Princeton, IN.

Will travel in between these offices, and only that travel will be reimbursed. Some remote work will be allowed, but there is no set time yet for how much onsite is needed. Assume full time onsite for now.

Title - Automation Engineer

Location – (Hybrid) Lexington, KY; Louisville, KY; Cincinnati, OH; or Princeton, IN

Duration – 6 months

Description

Develop & deploying a custom-built software application that will help the company to meet Industry 4.0 standards.

• As Operational Technology Engineer, advising manufacturing customer on Industry 4.0 modernization efforts for a large manufacturing company.
• Assess current manufacturing operational technology systems and processes to identify areas for improvement.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including engineering, IT, and production to design, deploy, and maintain operational technology systems.
• Provide technical expertise and guidance on troubleshooting and resolving issues related to manufacturing operational technology systems.
• Stay informed about emerging technologies and industry trends relevant to manufacturing operations and recommend innovative solutions to enhance competitiveness.
• Develop and deliver training programs to educate manufacturing personnel on the use and maintenance of operational technology systems.
• Job Description
• This role is capable of delivering ISA-95 Level 2 and possibly some Level 3 related equipment/process supervisory control solutions, and all ancillary processes/systems, to industrial customers. Project management and delivery is an inherent part of this role type ensuring all as-designed systems are deployed at the right price, quality, and schedule for the customer.
• This role spans analysis, architecture, development, deployment, and management role types. This role typically resides in the customer’s Engineering/Operational Technology (OT) and/or Maintenance organization. This role is sometimes referred to as an “Automation Engineering” or “Controls Engineer”.
• Capabilities
• Technical Expertise Deep understanding of edge/hybrid/cloud device/system concepts, including supervisory control and data acquisition systems as well as some IoT device integration best practices.
• Knowledge of edge hardware/software devices/systems including SCADA, Network Layer-2 switches, communication protocols, etc. (ISA-95 Level 1-2).
• Development and deployment of industrial application/system user interfaces, business logic, database interfaces, device interfaces, and/or related analytics.
• Documentation Ability to create clear, concise, and detailed job instruction sheets that can be easily understood by technical and non-technical personnel.
• Skills in technical writing and documentation, with an emphasis on instructional materials for hardware and software operations.
• Experience with diagrammatic representations of network setups and data flow using industry standard tools (e.g., Microsoft Visio, Lucid, etc.)
• Communication & Training Strong verbal and written communication skills to interact effectively with team members and to produce understandable instructional content.
• Ability to conduct training sessions or workshops for staff to familiarize them with new devices and processes.
• Collaboration & Teamwork Ability to work closely with other team members, including IoT engineers, production engineering, and maintenance.
• Industry Knowledge Knowledge of common industry best practices and standards.
• Understanding of compliance and security issues related to the use of edge technologies in industrial settings.
• Project Management Industrial project and solution management, design, deployment, and maintenance.
• Project oversight, reporting, requirements analysis, estimating, scoping, and proposal building and customer explanation.
• Manage 3rd party/external supplier’s activities and deliverables.
• Delivery across 3-5 different customers (internal and/or external).
• Education/Training
• REQUIRED: BSEE/BSME (ABET accredited)
• OPTIONAL: 1-year post BS or work-study experience in automation and control design. Professional Engineer (PE) registration not required but desirable.
• Once a new person is on-boarded in the customer’s organization there is a set of internal, customer specific education that needs to take place upfront and ongoing as follows:
• Engineering standards
• Engineering technology directions
• Engineering reporting practices
• Overall organization structure and roles/responsibilities
• Procurement practices
• Document Management practices
• Safety practices
• Supplier/Vendor practices
• Skill Levels
  
  

The following table outlines all related skill sets required of this role with relative (1=novice, 10=expert) experience/capability levels for each skill set.

Skill Capability/Experience Level (1=novice, 10=expert) Comments

Engineering Fundamentals

Electrical Engineering Principles 9 Could be a Mechanical Engineer also.

Mechanical Engineering Principles 9 Could be a Mechanical Engineer also.

Root-Cause Analysis (RCA) 10

Process Engineering

ISA-95 Level 0 6

ISA-95 Level 1 6

ISA-95 Level 2 10

ISA-95 Level 3 6 Could be higher depending on seniority level and experiences.

ISA-95 Level 4 4 Could be higher depending on seniority level and experiences.

Equipment/Machine 3

Automation and Control Systems 6

Electrical Panels 3

Motor Control 3

Power Control 3

Manufacturing

Production Control 8

Product Flow/Routing 8 Depends on process context.

Product Traceability 8 Depends on process context.

Inventory/Warehouse Control/Execution/Management 8 Depends on process context.

Material Handling 6 Depends on process context.

Product Quality/Laboratory 7 Depends on process context.

Safety Systems 4 Always required.

Network

OSI Layer 1-7 Design/Development/Deployment 4 OSI model layers.

Questions

Candidate able to develop & deploying a custom-built software application that will help the company to meet Industry 4.0 standards?

Candidate able to provide technical expertise and guidance on troubleshooting and resolving issues related to manufacturing operational technology systems.?

Candidate able to stay informed about emerging technologies and industry