Controls Engineering Manager
Jack Link's Protein Snacks•Perry, GA
•Onsite
About The Position
The Controls Engineering Manager is responsible for leading the strategy, performance, and development of all automation, controls, and SCADA systems within a highly automated food manufacturing facility. This role ensures maximum equipment uptime, system reliability, and continuous improvement of automation platforms to support world-class safety, quality, and operational efficiency. This leader is a critical driver of OEE, downtime reduction, and digital plant capability, partnering closely with Operations, Maintenance, Reliability, and OpEx & CI.
Requirements
- 8 + years in controls/automation engineering in manufacturing
- 3 + years in leadership/management role
- Experience in high-speed, highly automated environments (food manufacturing preferred)
- Strong hands-on experience with: PLCs (Allen-Bradley, Siemens, etc.), HMI/SCADA systems, Industrial networks (EtherNet/IP, Profinet, etc.)
- Understanding of: CMMS systems, Reliability/TPM principles
- Systems thinker (understands end-to-end process flows)
- Bias for action in high-pressure downtime situations
- Strong cross-functional influencer
- Ability to translate technical issues into business impact
- Builds and develops technical talent pipelines
Nice To Haves
- Experience with: Motion control, vision systems, robotics
- 12+ years in controls/automation engineering in manufacturing
- 5+ years in leadership/management role
Responsibilities
- Own the site-wide automation strategy aligned to production and reliability goals
- Standardize PLC, HMI, SCADA, and network architecture across the facility
- Drive long-term roadmap for: System modernization, Obsolescence mitigation, Digital integration (data, MES, analytics)
- Ensure 24/7 controls system support model is in place
- Escalation owner for major automation failures and chronic downtime issues
- Partner with Maintenance to reduce MTTR for controls-related failures
- Define and implement: Troubleshooting standards, Root cause analysis for automation failures
- Lead team of: Controls Engineers, SCADA Engineers (Indirect), Automation Technicians
- Set performance expectations, development plans, and technical standards
- Build bench strength for a multi-shift automated environment
- Partner with Reliability Engineering to: Eliminate repeat failure modes, Build predictive and preventative automation strategies
- Support TPM initiatives: Focused improvement (FI), Autonomous maintenance (AM) enablement via automation
- Lead automation scope for capital projects: Line installations, System upgrades, Process improvements
- Ensure: Design standards, Commissioning excellence, Seamless startup performance
- Own SCADA/MES data accuracy and availability
- Enable real-time visibility into: Downtime, Performance, Process control parameters
- Partner with CI and data teams to convert data into actionable insights
- Work closely with: Operations (support throughput and line stability), Maintenance (ensure execution capability), Reliability (eliminate root causes), CI/OpEx (implement improvements)
- Participate in daily/weekly performance reviews and loss elimination processes
Benefits
- medical
- dental
- vision benefits
- life and disability insurance
- 401k participation
- paid holidays
- paid time off
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Manager
Education Level
No Education Listed
