Signal Processing Engineer Entry Level Jobs in Columbus, OH

We're looking for an Industrial Data Systems Engineer to own, support, and continuously improve the systems that collect, transport, store, protect, and make industrial operating data available across our operations. This hands-on OT and industrial data-platform role spans PLCs, industrial networks, SCADA/gateways, MQTT, historian systems, databases, and scripting.

What You'll Bring

• A strong systems-thinking and troubleshooting mindset with the curiosity to learn unfamiliar technologies, interpret logs and diagnostics, research problems, and work with vendors on solutions.
• Practical industrial automation knowledge, including how PLC programs, instrumentation, communications, and equipment operation affect data quality and reliability.
• A detail-oriented approach to configuration management, tag structures, naming standards, data quality, documentation, and change control.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills across Controls Engineering, IT, Operations, Field Service, Process Engineering, vendors, and other stakeholders, including sound judgment on when to escalate issues.

What You'll Do

• Own and support the industrial data historian platform and the systems that collect, transport, buffer, store, calculate, and present operational data, including Canary Historian, Ignition, MQTT/Cirrus Link technologies, EWON remote connectivity, and associated services or comparable platforms.
• Monitor platform health and data ingress, proactively identifying missing data, failed connections, service issues, resource constraints, and abnormal system behavior.
• Configure new equipment, sites, and integrations using PLC/OPC connectivity, Ignition gateways, MQTT sessions, historian datasets, tag structures, metadata, hierarchies, deadbands, and data-quality settings.
• Develop and maintain standardized tag structures, templates, naming conventions, and configuration processes; validate data against PLC programs, instrumentation, equipment operation, and source tags to confirm the correct process information is being collected.
• Troubleshoot the complete industrial data path across PLC communications, OPC, VPN/network connectivity, Ignition, MQTT Transmission/brokers, collectors, store-and-forward services, historian services, calculations, and visualization applications; use logs, diagnostics, database errors, and performance information to identify root causes.
• Develop, maintain, and execute data-recovery and disaster-recovery procedures for locally buffered, MQTT/store-and-forward, historian, and embedded-database data; manage buffering behavior to minimize data loss during outages, maintenance, and upgrades.
• Plan and execute upgrades, patches, module updates, configuration changes, and migrations using appropriate testing, backup, rollback, and verification practices; maintain historian calculations, derived tags, events, quality handling, and views.
• Develop and support Axiom applications, trends, dashboards, reports, and other tools that make historian data useful to engineering, operations, and business users.
• Develop scripts and utilities using Python, SQL, JSON, CSV, SQLite/H2, APIs, and related technologies for configuration, tag creation, validation, transformation, recovery, diagnostics, and administrative automation.
• Work with IT on servers/VMs, backups, networking, DNS, firewalls, Active Directory, and infrastructure dependencies; support secure operation through appropriate access, certificates/TLS, service accounts, credentials, and remote connectivity.
• Manage vendor support relationships and cases, including collecting diagnostics, testing fixes, and escalating unresolved issues; track software licenses, support agreements, annual renewals, subscriptions, certificates, and vendor contacts.
• Maintain system documentation and operational runbooks, including architecture, configuration standards, inventories, support contacts, troubleshooting/recovery/upgrade procedures, and known issues; provide technical training and knowledge transfer.
• Continuously improve reliability, monitoring, standardization, automation, scalability, cybersecurity, and supportability, and participate in the long-term design and evolution of the industrial data architecture.

What You'll Need

• Associate or bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Controls/Automation Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field; equivalent relevant industrial experience may be considered.
• Three or more years of experience in industrial automation, controls, SCADA, historian platforms, OT systems, industrial data systems, or a related technical environment.
• Working knowledge of PLC-based automation systems and the ability to read PLC programs to identify process signals and historian data sources; Allen-Bradley/Rockwell Automation experience is strongly preferred.
• Experience with industrial communications such as OPC/OPC UA, MQTT, Sparkplug B, EtherNet/IP, and Modbus, plus administration or support of an industrial historian, SCADA, IIoT, or data platform. Experience with Ignition and Canary Historian is strongly preferred; comparable platforms will be considered.
• Understanding of OT networking and infrastructure concepts including TCP/IP, DNS, VPNs, firewalls/ports, certificates/TLS, Windows services, servers, and virtual machines.
• Working knowledge of Python and SQL/database concepts, with experience using structured data and configuration formats such as JSON, CSV, and APIs; SQLite/H2 familiarity is beneficial.
• Experience interpreting logs, error messages, trace files, diagnostic packages, and other technical information during troubleshooting.
• Strong documentation, communication, organization, time-management, and problem-solving skills with the ability to work independently and collaboratively.
• Canary Historian administration, including Historian, MQTT Collector, SAF, Views, Calculations/Events, Axiom, and related services.
• Inductive Automation Ignition Gateway/Edge/EAM, Cirrus Link MQTT Transmission/broker technologies, and EWON/eCatcher remote access and data collection.
• Historian calculations, data-quality management, derived tags, deadbanding, store-and-forward architectures, and industrial data recovery/disaster recovery.
• Windows Server and virtualized OT infrastructure; software lifecycle management including testing, upgrades, rollback, licensing, and vendor support.
• Power BI, Tableau, Axiom, or comparable visualization/reporting platforms.

Benefits and Perks

• Competitive salary with opportunities for career growth and advancement
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage
• 401(k) with company match
• Paid time off and floating holidays
• Volunteer Time Off (VTO) to give back to your community
• Employee referral bonus program
• Wellness benefits that support your overall health and well-being
• Opportunities for professional development, training, and leadership growth
• Collaborative and supportive team environment
• Stable company with long-term career opportunities

Who Thrives Here

You enjoy meaningful work and take pride in contributing to a team that values collaboration, professionalism, and continuous improvement. You communicate effectively, build strong relationships, and look for ways to enhance processes and service. You understand that success comes from accountability, teamwork, and doing the right thing for customers and colleagues.

You’ll fit right in if you are:

• Motivated by purpose, service, and delivering results
• Organized, dependable, and committed to high-quality work
• A strong communicator who builds positive working relationships
• Proactive and solution-oriented
• Adaptable and open to learning and growth
• Someone who values respect, teamwork, and professionalism

We believe a strong workplace is built on trust, innovation, and a shared commitment to excellence—where every team member plays a role in delivering a premier service experience.