Job Description
Title: Senior Controls & Automation Engineer
Location: Crossville, TN
Position Type: Full-Time Direct Hire
Salary: $110,000–$130,000 per year
Salary: $110,000–$130,000 per year
Comprehensive Benefits Package
No Travel Required
You’ll serve as a technical leader responsible for improving equipment reliability, troubleshooting complex control systems, and modernizing legacy automation technology. This position combines hands-on controls engineering with project coordination and technical leadership. You’ll work closely with production, maintenance, engineering, and external integrators while driving improvements that directly support manufacturing performance.
Key Responsibilities
- SCADA Modernization: Redevelop legacy SCADA applications and migrate systems to Ignition.
- PLC Backup & Version Control: Standardize backups, recovery procedures, and software change traceability.
- Automation Performance Management: Improve visibility into project progress, system performance, workload, and deadlines.
- Production Support & Continuous Improvement: Resolve complex automation issues and implement improvements across manufacturing operations.
- Coordinate automation projects, managing scope, workloads, timelines, deadlines, deliverables, and project status.
- Lead advanced troubleshooting and root cause analysis for issues affecting production, quality, safety, and equipment availability.
- Perform system integration, testing, debugging, commissioning, and startup to ensure reliable and maintainable automation systems.
- Develop and maintain control system documentation, technical standards, software backups, and troubleshooting guides.
- Collaborate with production and maintenance teams to improve equipment reliability and manufacturing performance.
- Monitor project progress and system performance while identifying opportunities for continuous improvement.
Qualifications
- Associate or bachelor’s degree in Controls Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Automation, Mechatronics, or a related technical field preferred.
- 7–10 years of industrial automation experience, ideally in high-volume manufacturing with fast cycle times or continuous production.
- Strong experience with SCADA platforms such as Ignition, Movicon, Citect, or WinCC.
- Strong PLC programming experience, ideally with Siemens, Omron, or Allen-Bradley/Rockwell systems.
- HMI experience with platforms such as Weintek, WinCC Advanced/Flexible, Pro-face, or Omron.
- Experience configuring drives, industrial communication networks, and integrated control systems.
We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.
Numbers & Facts
| Location | Crossville, TN |
| Industry | Staffing/Employment Agencies |
| Salary | $110,000–$130,000 Per Year |
| Company Size | 500 to 999 employees |
| Year Founded | 1969 |
| Website | http://www.sterling-engineering.com |
About Company
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.
Skills
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