Controls Engineer II

ASR Group•Baltimore, MD

About The Position

The role provides technical leadership for refinery automation, instrumentation, industrial networking, and process control systems. It is responsible for maintaining reliable, secure, and sustainable control infrastructure in support of production, quality, safety, environmental compliance, and operational excellence. The position partners with Corporate Controls Engineering, leads controls lifecycle and modernization strategies, and advances the site toward preventive, condition-based, and predictive maintenance practices. The engineer serves as the site technical authority for controls, instrumentation, industrial networks, and process automation; governs engineering and cybersecurity standards; and mentors technical and cross-functional teams. The role develops and executes a multi-year controls roadmap, manages automation asset lifecycles and spare-parts strategies, and uses plant data and diagnostics to improve asset health and reliability. The position owns the controls Management of Change process and provides controls and instrumentation expertise for capital projects, modernization, commissioning, and major maintenance. It troubleshoots and optimizes refinery, packaging, and auxiliary systems, leads failure recovery and root-cause investigations, anticipates technical risks, and provides on-call coverage. The role is located in Baltimore, Maryland.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Controls Engineering, Automation Engineering, or a related engineering discipline from an accredited college or university.
10+ years of controls, automation, instrumentation, or process-control experience in refining, manufacturing, food or chemical processing, power generation, or a related industrial environment.
Demonstrated success leading controls lifecycle, predictive maintenance, standards, modernization, and Management of Change programs.
Experience upgrading industrial control systems, instrumentation, networks, and automation infrastructure.
Experience leading capital projects from concept through startup and commissioning, including technical teams, contractors, consultants, and cross-functional partners.
Advanced knowledge of Allen-Bradley ControlLogix, CompactLogix, PLC5, SLC500, VFDs, soft starters, servo systems, and MCCs.
Advanced knowledge of Wonderware System Platform, InTouch, Historian, ArchestrA, and related platforms.
Working knowledge of industrial networks, managed switches, communication protocols, Windows Server, virtualization, and industrial cybersecurity.
Strong knowledge of process instrumentation, including control valves, transmitters, analyzers, and measurement devices.
Strong analytical, troubleshooting, project management, planning, budgeting, communication, and stakeholder-influencing skills.
Ability to mentor technical teams, balance immediate operational needs with long-term strategy, and execute technology roadmaps aligned with business objectives.
Capabilities include analytical thinking and decision making, business and financial acumen, effective communication, customer orientation, establishing trust, problem-solving, results orientation and accountability, teamwork and collaboration, adaptability, continuous improvement, and self-development.

Nice To Haves

Experience with spare-parts strategy, inventory optimization, asset management systems, or vendor-managed inventory.

Responsibilities

Serve as the site technical authority for controls, instrumentation, industrial networks, and process automation.
Lead system implementations, upgrades, and modifications in accordance with company, ISA, functional safety, cybersecurity, and hazardous-area requirements.
Direct and mentor engineers, technicians, contractors, and cross-functional teams, promoting standardization and knowledge sharing.
Establish and govern programming, alarm management, architecture, documentation, testing, validation, and cybersecurity standards.
Develop and execute a multi-year controls and automation roadmap aligned with operational, maintenance, and capital priorities.
Manage the lifecycle of PLCs, HMIs, historians, servers, operating systems, networks, instrumentation, and automation hardware.
Identify obsolescence and criticality risks and develop modernization, replacement, stocking, replenishment, and vendor-supported spare-parts strategies.
Maintain automation asset inventories and optimize costs while reducing exposure to obsolete or long-lead equipment.
Lead preventive, predictive, and condition-based programs using diagnostics, event logs, fault histories, network monitoring, historians, and asset management tools.
Use plant data and analytics to identify degradation, improve reliability, and develop asset-health KPIs and dashboards.
Lead root-cause investigations for controls and instrumentation failures and implement sustainable corrective actions.
Partner with IT, OT, Maintenance, Procurement, and Corporate Controls Engineering to improve system performance, cybersecurity, data access, and asset visibility.
Own the controls Management of Change process and ensure modifications meet testing, validation, documentation, cybersecurity, and process-safety requirements.
Provide controls and instrumentation expertise for capital projects, modernization work, commissioning, and major maintenance activities.
Troubleshoot and optimize refinery, packaging, and auxiliary control systems; lead recovery after failures and prevent recurrence.
Anticipate technical risks, provide on-call coverage, and support other engineers as needed.