AutoCAD, Automation, Career Development, Consulting, Control Engineering, Control Systems, Cross-Functional, Electricity, Identify Issues, Industrial Robotics, Leadership, Manufacturing, Mentoring, Process Development, Production Control, Production Systems, Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), Project Tracking, Project/Program Coordination, Support Documentation, System Integration (SI), Team Lead/Manager, Team Player, Training/Teaching
Job Title: Controls Engineer
Location: Loves Park, IL
Hire Type: Contract to Hire
Compensation: $35-52 per hour depending on experience
Benefits: Medical, Dental, Vision, 401k, PTO, and more!
Innovation & Technical Growth
Join a highly stable, industry-leading team investing in advanced automation, control systems, and evolving technologies. This is an excellent role for engineers who enjoy solving technical challenges, improving systems, and working with HMIs, PLCs, motion systems, robotics, and industrial networking.
Collaborative & Supportive Culture
Work side-by-side with experienced engineers who are committed to teaching, mentoring, and helping you build strong foundational and advanced skills. You’ll have the freedom to ask questions, explore ideas, and continuously grow your capabilities.
Long-Term Career Development
Gain exposure to cross-functional projects, production environments, and new technologies—positioning you for future advancement within engineering, automation, or leadership paths.
What You’ll Do
- Support development and modification of control systems while following established engineering processes
- Gain hands-on familiarity with controls hardware including PLCs, HMIs, motion controllers, vision components, and related devices
- Assist with tracking project milestones, maintaining documentation, and supporting project coordination
- Troubleshoot basic production control issues using defined methods and guidance
- Support automation and system integration efforts
What We’re Looking For
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or equivalent professional experience
- 1-5+ years of experience in a manufacturing environment working with controls systems
- Knowledge of any of the following would be helpful: Ignition, Digital Factory, FactoryTalk, AutoCAD Electrical
Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.
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Sterling Engineering, Inc.
Sterling Engineering has been a trusted partner for engineering, project management, and staffing solutions for over five decades. We provide exceptional engineering/technical recruitment and engineering project services to clients nationwide:
- Engineering & Technical Recruitment - With our focus on engineering, technical, and IT, Sterling has the in-depth knowledge, industry expertise, and robust employee pipeline it takes to rapidly find talent for even the most difficult to fill positions. Sterling’s extensive recruitment methodology allows us to engage the most talented employees in the marketplace. We offer exciting work and career-building opportunities for our candidates, along with expert support at every step of the process.
- Engineering Project Services – Our experienced, multi-disciplined team of project managers, engineers, and designers, led by licensed Professional Engineers (PE), provide project management, engineering, design, and Commissioning, Qualification, and Validation (CQV) to manufacturing, OEM, and R&D customers. We work on complex, highly technical projects across a number of industry sectors, and our ability to scale and seamlessly integrate at multiple levels of your organization is what differentiates us.
Sterling offers a unique combination of engineering solutions and Best of Staffing level service to help our clients and talent achieve their goals.