Engineer Controls Engineer Jobs in Colonial Heights, VA

POSITION SUMMARY

The Sr. Controls Engineer serves as the site technical authority for industrial controls, automation, and machine control systems within our manufacturing operation. In this role you will lead high impact controls projects from concept and design through commissioning, production handoff, and support. This position is ideal for an engineer who enjoys solving complex manufacturing challenges, building reliable automation systems, and setting technical direction for scalable controls solutions. In this role you will be a hands-on automation expert who can deliver safe, reliable and maintainable control system solutions while serving as a trusted technical resource for engineering, operations, and maintenance.

What you will own – Business Critical Impact

To accomplish this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each business-critical impact satisfactorily with or without accommodation.

• Serve as the technical lead for automation, with electrical design responsibility from concept through implementation for new projects and legacy equipment upgrades.
• Deliver robust, production ready systems that improve reliability, throughput, safety, and overall equipment effectiveness.
• Maintain and improve controls standards, PLC programming standards, electrical schematics, documentation, and system architecture across manufacturing processes.
• Support and troubleshoot in production automation equipment to minimize downtime and improve reliability.
• Strengthen internal automation capability across engineering, process, operations, and maintenance teams.
• Act as a technical mentor for engineers, technicians, and maintenance specialists.

Controls Engineering, Machine Vision & Robotics

• Drive common PLC, HMI, motion control, servo, machine vision, robot programming structure, naming conventions, and reusable logic practices.
• Set expectations for machine quality, system maintainability, and production reliability.
• Establish and enforce best practices for: Code reusability and modular design, Fault handling and recovery logic, System maintainability and scalability.
• Backup, restore, version control, and lifecycle management of PLC, HMI, and automation programs using the AssetCentre repository.
• Drive safe robotic operation and support compliance with applicable ANSI/RIA machine safety requirements.
• Integrate and standardize vision systems (Cognex, Keyence, etc.) solutions across all manufacturing processes.
• Apply advanced vision tools and AI-enabled capabilities where appropriate to improve inline quality inspection, repeatability, and production reliability.
• Technical experience with; Ethernet/IP and Modbus TCP communications, servo and motion control systems and Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs)

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, Controls Engineering, Mechatronics, Automation Engineering, or a related field from an ABET accredited engineering program.
• 7+ years of controls engineering experience in manufacturing, automation, material handling, or industrial environments.
• Advanced PLC/HMI programming experience, with Allen Bradley ControlLogix, CompactLogix, GuardLogix, Studio 5000, FactoryTalk View SE/ME or comparable platform.
• Experience developing and maintaining electrical drawings using Autodesk AutoCAD Electrical or comparable CAD tool.
• Robotics integration, troubleshooting, commissioning, and production support experience.
• Machine vision and sensor based production inspection systems.
• Strong troubleshooting skills in manufacturing facilities across electrical, controls, networking, motion, vision, and robotic systems.
• Working knowledge of functional safety, machine safety principles, safety circuits, risk reduction, and industry best practices.

Preferred experience

• FANUC CNC motion control
• Automation Direct PLC programming
• Kuka robotics integration
• Cognex and Keyence vision programming and integration
• Stratix Ethernet Switches
• OpenPLC platforms such as ABB or Rexroth
• Ignition SCADA
• Horner OCS
• Mitsubishi, Omron, or other PLC platforms

Employment requirements

• Successfully pass a pre-employment drug & background screening
• Lift, push & pull 10 to 50 lbs
• Wear department required, employer provided, personal protection equipment (PPE)
• Be able to regularly stand and move throughout the department and shift
• Ability to support and travel to domestic and international manufacturing sites as needed.

Why Choose Amsted Rail Petersburg?

• Employee Ownership: Annual stock awards (10% of compensation)
• 401(k) Match: Up to 4% dollar-for-dollar
• Comprehensive Benefits: Medical, dental, vision, HSA with company contributions, life insurance, disability coverage, and pet insurance available after 30 days
• Competitive Pay: Competitive salary, considering prior experience, plus annual bonus eligibility potential
• Career Growth: Annual Talent Development
• Work-Life Balance: Paid Time Off (PTO) starting at 3 weeks of PTO & 11 paid holidays
• Additional Offerings: Tuition Reimbursement, Referral Bonuses, Employee Discount Programs