Global Controls Project Engineer

Ensign-Bickford Industries•Saint Charles, MO

4d•Onsite

About The Position

AFB International is seeking a Global Controls Project Engineer to lead electrical, controls, and automation work across capital projects. Based at the company’s St. Charles, Missouri corporate office or Aurora, Missouri plant, this position independently manages smaller projects—generally valued below $500,000—and provides electrical and controls leadership on larger manufacturing, technology, and continuous-improvement initiatives. The work has a direct impact on operations, capacity, reliability, safety, and growth. The engineer manages assigned projects from planning through closeout, develops and reviews electrical and controls engineering deliverables, and coordinates vendors, contractors, consultants, and plant teams. The role supports equipment integration, installation, troubleshooting, commissioning, startup, training, performance verification, and project turnover. It also promotes consistent global engineering standards and ensures solutions address safety, food safety, quality, cybersecurity, regulatory, and operational requirements. The position involves work in office, manufacturing, construction, and active production environments, with travel between AFB facilities and to vendor or contractor locations. Occasional off-hour support may be needed during equipment startups, commissioning, or other critical project activities.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Controls Engineering, Automation Engineering, or a related discipline from an accredited university or technical college.
At least three years of experience in electrical engineering, controls, automation, capital projects, or industrial manufacturing.
Working knowledge of PLCs, HMIs, industrial networks, instrumentation, control panels, drives, and automation systems.
Experience with electrical documentation, control systems, equipment integration, commissioning, startup, and troubleshooting.
Experience working with equipment suppliers, system integrators, contractors, consultants, and plant personnel.
Ability to develop scopes, estimates, schedules, procurement documents, change control, and project closeout materials.
Strong communication, organization, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
Ability to manage costs, evaluate alternatives, prioritize work, and make practical decisions in a changing environment.
Ability to travel between AFB facilities and to vendor or contractor locations.
Ability to provide occasional off-hour support during equipment startup, commissioning, or critical project activities.

Responsibilities

Manage assigned electrical, controls, and automation projects, generally valued below $500,000, from planning through closeout.
Maintain project scopes, budgets, schedules, action items, risks, and status reports using AFB project-management practices.
Support larger capital projects by coordinating electrical and controls requirements, vendors, contractors, deliverables, schedules, costs, and risks.
Execute projects to approved safety, quality, cost, schedule, and scope expectations.
Develop electrical and controls scopes, design criteria, specifications, I/O and network requirements, bid packages, and procurement documents.
Manage and review electrical and controls design deliverables for completeness, accuracy, constructibility, maintainability, and compliance with AFB standards.
Review drawings, specifications, control narratives, panel designs, PLC and HMI documentation, network architecture, programs, alarms, interlocks, and operator interfaces.
Direct electrical consultants and other technical resources as needed.
Evaluate alternative solutions to ensure systems are practical, reliable, maintainable, and cost-effective.
Coordinate electrical and controls installation, field troubleshooting, commissioning, startup, training, performance verification, and turnover.
Participate in and lead Factory Acceptance Tests (FATs), document deficiencies, and ensure corrective actions are completed before equipment ships or enters service.
Verify that controls and automation systems meet AFB requirements and global standards.
Complete system backups, as-built drawings, network records, manuals, spare-parts information, and other closeout documentation.
Partner with the Global Automation and Controls Engineer and plant controls engineers to apply consistent architecture, programming, HMI, networking, and documentation standards.
Build working relationships with Corporate Project Managers, plant engineering and maintenance teams, Operations, Quality, EHS, vendors, contractors, suppliers, and integrators.
Ensure electrical and controls solutions support safety, food safety, quality, cybersecurity, regulatory, and operational requirements.
Provide troubleshooting and startup support for electrical, controls, automation, instrumentation, and industrial networking issues.
Communicate requirements, decisions, risks, and project expectations across cross-functional and external teams.