Software Engineer Sme Jobs in Michigan (NOW HIRING)

What You will Do:
Recognized as the organization's primary Controls Engineering SME, providing technical direction, governance, and decision-making authority for complex automation systems while ensuring engineering excellence, operational reliability, and continuous improvement across the enterprise.
Technical Leadership & Architecture
Serve as the technical authority for controls system architecture, establishing standards, design principles, and best practices across projects and programs.
Lead the development and review of control system architectures, ensuring scalability, reliability, maintainability, cybersecurity, and compliance with company and industry standards.
Define and govern reusable engineering frameworks, software libraries, templates, and design methodologies to improve consistency and reduce project risk.
Evaluate emerging technologies and recommend strategic adoption plans to enhance system performance, lifecycle supportability, and operational efficiency.
Design Reviews & Technical Governance
Chair and participate in formal design reviews, code reviews, risk assessments, and technical audits for complex controls, automation, and integration projects.
Establish engineering governance processes, ensuring adherence to design standards, documentation requirements, cybersecurity policies, and safety regulations.
Review and approve critical technical deliverables, including electrical designs, control narratives, PLC/HMI/SCADA software architectures, network topologies, and commissioning plans.
Identify technical risks early in the project lifecycle and develop mitigation strategies to ensure successful project execution.
SME Consultation & Escalation Support
Act as the highest level of technical escalation for complex system issues, startup challenges, production disruptions, and customer-critical events.
Lead root cause investigations for significant operational, quality, reliability, or safety incidents and drive implementation of corrective and preventive actions.
Provide expert guidance to project teams, operations, maintenance, customers, and leadership on complex controls and automation challenges.
Support field commissioning and troubleshooting efforts for high-impact or technically challenging installations when escalated beyond standard engineering support channels.
Mentoring & Capability Development
Mentor and coach Controls Engineers, System Integrators, and Technicians, fostering technical growth and knowledge transfer across the organization.
Lead technical training programs, workshops, and lessons-learned reviews to strengthen organizational engineering capabilities.
Guide engineers in system design, software development, troubleshooting methodologies, and engineering best practices.
Support technical career development by providing design feedback, peer reviews, and subject matter expertise across multiple projects.
Cross-Functional & Strategic Influence
Partner with engineering leadership to define long-term automation strategies, technical roadmaps, and engineering standards.
Collaborate with manufacturing, operations, quality, maintenance, IT, and cybersecurity teams to ensure alignment of automation solutions with business objectives.
Represent the organization as a technical SME during customer meetings, technical reviews, factory acceptance tests (FATs), and industry engagements.
What You Will Bring:
Required Qualifications
Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Controls Engineering, Mechatronics, Automation Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
10+ years of experience designing, implementing, commissioning, and supporting industrial automation and control systems.
Proven expertise with PLC, HMI, SCADA, motion control, industrial networking, and system integration technologies.
Advanced knowledge of platforms such as Rockwell Automation (Studio 5000, FactoryTalk), Siemens (TIA Portal, WinCC), or equivalent controls technologies.
Demonstrated experience developing controls architectures, engineering standards, reusable design templates, and best practices across multiple projects or facilities.
Strong understanding of industrial communication protocols including EtherNet/IP, PROFINET, Modbus TCP/IP, OPC UA, and related networking technologies.
Experience leading design reviews, technical risk assessments, code reviews, and engineering governance activities.
Proven ability to troubleshoot and resolve complex controls, automation, and integration issues in production, commissioning, or customer environments.
Experience leading root-cause analysis investigations and implementing sustainable corrective actions.
Strong understanding of electrical design principles, control panel standards, instrumentation, safety systems, and industrial documentation practices.
Demonstrated ability to mentor engineers and technicians while providing technical leadership across cross-functional teams.
Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to engineering, operations, maintenance, customers, and leadership teams