Automation Controls Manager Jobs in Union, NJ (NOW HIRING)

Plant Controls Engineer

Location: Secaucus, NJ

Employment Type: Direct Hire, Full-Time

Salary: $110,000-$120,000/year

Bonus: 5%-10% year-end bonus

Schedule: Monday-Friday, with occasional weekends for preventive maintenance or project support

Work Environment: Onsite production and packaging environment

Benefits: Full benefits package

Job Overview

A well-established food manufacturing company is seeking a hands-on Controls Engineer to support automation, controls, packaging equipment, and plant reliability at its Secaucus, NJ production center.

This role is ideal for a controls-focused engineer who is comfortable working directly on the plant floor, troubleshooting production equipment, supporting maintenance and operations, and leading automation improvements. The right candidate will have strong Allen-Bradley PLC experience, strong HMI/SCADA experience, project leadership ability, and the flexibility to support split shifts or occasional weekend preventive maintenance needs when required.

This is not a desk-only engineering role. This position requires someone who can combine controls engineering, plant support, project execution, and hands-on troubleshooting in a high-speed manufacturing environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop, maintain, troubleshoot, and optimize automation and controls systems supporting production and packaging operations.
• Program and troubleshoot Allen-Bradley PLCs, including RSLogix 5000 and Studio 5000.
• Support, configure, and improve Rockwell FactoryTalk HMI/SCADA platforms.
• Analyze equipment and control system performance to improve uptime, reliability, and operational efficiency.
• Provide technical support for equipment commissioning, upgrades, automation improvements, and engineering projects.
• Support maintenance teams with advanced troubleshooting for electrical, mechanical, controls, and automation issues.
• Partner with production and maintenance teams to identify recurring equipment issues and implement long-term corrective actions.
• Support preventive and predictive maintenance programs to reduce unplanned downtime.
• Manage engineering and automation projects from concept through implementation, including scope, budget, planning, vendor coordination, installation support, and execution.
• Coordinate with contractors, vendors, maintenance, production, safety, and internal leadership teams.
• Maintain accurate engineering documentation and support change management processes.
• Use SQL to extract data, analyze trends, and support system integrations.
• Support data-driven plant improvement, digital transformation, and technology integration initiatives.
• Ensure work is completed in compliance with food safety, OSHA, regulatory, safety, and company requirements.
• Support audits, documentation reviews, risk assessments, and safety improvement efforts.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Automation Engineering, Controls Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
• 5+ years of experience in controls engineering, automation engineering, plant engineering, manufacturing engineering, or a closely related role.
• Strong controls engineering experience in a manufacturing or production environment.
• Hands-on Allen-Bradley PLC programming and troubleshooting experience.
• Experience with RSLogix 5000 and Studio 5000.
• Experience with Rockwell FactoryTalk HMI/SCADA systems.
• Ability to troubleshoot electrical, mechanical, controls, and automation issues on production equipment.
• Experience supporting maintenance teams and production teams in a plant environment.
• Experience leading or supporting engineering projects, equipment upgrades, commissioning, or automation improvements.
• Strong communication skills and ability to work cross-functionally with maintenance, production, engineering, safety, quality, contractors, and vendors.
• Hands-on work style and willingness to spend time on the production floor.
• Comfort supporting split shifts and occasional weekend work when needed.

Preferred Qualifications

• Food manufacturing, beverage, consumer packaged goods, packaging, or other regulated production experience.
• High-speed packaging equipment experience.
• SQL experience for data extraction, trend analysis, system integration, or reporting.
• Ignition SCADA experience.
• Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, reliability, or continuous improvement experience.
• Prior lead, supervisory, managerial, or project leadership experience.
• Experience managing vendors, contractors, capital projects, or plant-floor technical teams.

Work Environment

This role is based in a food manufacturing and packaging environment. The Controls Engineer should be comfortable working around production lines, high-speed packaging equipment, plant-floor teams, sanitation requirements, safety procedures, and required PPE.

The position is primarily Monday-Friday, with occasional weekend or off-shift support for preventive maintenance, project work, equipment upgrades, or production needs.

Why This Role

This is a strong opportunity for a hands-on Controls Engineer who wants to directly impact plant reliability, production performance, automation systems, packaging efficiency, and long-term equipment improvement. The role offers a blend of controls engineering, maintenance partnership, project leadership, and plant-floor problem solving.

Benefits

This position includes a full benefits package. Specific benefit details, eligibility, plan options, and effective dates should be confirmed during the hiring process.