Ice Cream Automation & Controls Engineer
About The Position
The Automation & Controls Engineer will strengthen reliability, performance, and future automation capability at the Sikeston manufacturing site. The role provides technical leadership for automation and control systems and partners with Operations, Maintenance, Engineering, Quality, and Continuous Improvement to reduce losses, improve equipment performance, develop technical capability, and deliver automation solutions that support factory transformation. The goal is to build a reliable, standardized, and future-ready automation environment that improves factory performance while developing people’s technical capability. The successful candidate is a hands-on, curious, results-driven engineer who solves complex factory-floor problems and builds sustainable solutions. They collaborate across functions, prevent recurring problems, and develop others. Success includes reducing controls-related downtime and recurring failures, improving reliability and OEE, strengthening controls standards and documentation, increasing maintenance technician capability, delivering automation and modernization projects, and achieving measurable productivity and labor-efficiency improvements.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in Electrical, Controls, Automation, or Mechatronics Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent relevant industrial experience.
- Strong experience with PLCs, HMIs, VFDs, instrumentation, sensors, and industrial control systems.
- Strong electrical and controls troubleshooting and root-cause problem-solving capability.
- Experience in high-speed manufacturing, preferably in food, beverage, or consumer goods.
- Hands-on, curious, results-driven approach to solving factory-floor problems.
- Ability to collaborate, build capability, prevent recurring problems, and develop others.
Nice To Haves
- Experience with Rockwell/Allen-Bradley platforms.
- Experience with industrial networks, servo systems, robotics, machine vision, or SCADA/MES.
Responsibilities
- Troubleshoot and eliminate recurring PLC, HMI, drive, instrumentation, electrical, and industrial network failures.
- Improve equipment reliability, OEE, line performance, and controls-related MTBF/MTTR.
- Develop, modify, and maintain PLC/HMI programs, machine sequencing, interlocks, alarms, and diagnostics.
- Establish standards for controls backups, documentation, change management, programming, and obsolescence management.
- Lead the controls scope of capital projects, including specifications, design reviews, FAT/SAT, commissioning, and ramp-up.
- Identify and implement automation opportunities that improve productivity, ergonomics, process consistency, quality, and labor efficiency.
- Support robotics, machine vision, automated inspection, material handling, and advanced process control where appropriate.
- Partner with IT/OT teams to support secure and reliable industrial control systems and networks.
- Develop maintenance technicians through coaching, troubleshooting standards, and practical controls training.
- Build a prioritized automation and controls roadmap aligned with factory needs.
- Adapt to new environments and learn new systems, tools, and ways of working.
Benefits
- Market-competitive pay and performance-related rewards
- Bonus eligibility
- Health insurance, including prescription drug, dental, and vision coverage
- Retirement savings benefits
- Life insurance and disability benefits
- Parental leave
- Sick leave
- Paid vacation and holidays
- Voluntary benefits
- Flexible ways of working
- Support for health, wellbeing, and life outside of work
- Ongoing learning and development opportunities
- Time off to rest and recharge
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
