Lead Sales Engineer - PLC Control Systems

Acuity Inc.•Conyers, GA

12d•$150,000 - $200,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Acuity Inc. is a market-leading industrial technology company focused on solving problems in spaces, light, and more through its business segments, Acuity Brands Lighting (ABL) and Acuity Intelligent Spaces (AIS). The company designs, manufactures, and markets innovative products and services, including lighting, lighting controls, building management solutions, and an audio, video, and control platform. Acuity Inc. is based in Atlanta, Georgia, with global operations and approximately 13,000 employees. The Lead Sales Engineer - PLC Control Systems is a customer-facing technical leader responsible for translating complex data center and industrial automation requirements into scalable AIS solutions. This role involves leading technical discovery, solution architecture, demonstrations, proposal development, validation, and the transition from pre-sales to implementation. The position requires a blend of strong PLC and controls expertise with commercial acumen to build customer confidence, shape technical win strategies, and develop repeatable architectures connecting various systems like PLC, SCADA, DDC, BMS, DCIM, Industrial IoT, edge, cloud, and enterprise systems.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in engineering, computer science, automation, business, or a related discipline, or equivalent relevant industry experience.
Typically 7+ years of relevant experience in technical sales, sales engineering, application engineering, controls engineering, systems integration, solution architecture, or a comparable customer-facing technical role. Candidates with fewer years may be considered when they demonstrate equivalent technical depth and leadership.
Demonstrated ability to lead customer discovery and translate requirements into a solution architecture, technical scope, proposal, and value proposition.
Strong working knowledge of PLC, HMI, SCADA, DDC, BMS, or industrial control systems.
Working knowledge of IEC 61131-3 programming concepts and hands-on experience with at least one PLC development environment.
Experience integrating multiple equipment, controls, software, or communication platforms.
Experience producing and delivering technical presentations, demonstrations, proof-of-concepts, proposals, or customer training.
Experience in at least one relevant environment, including data centers, HVAC-R, electrical distribution, energy management, semiconductor, manufacturing, process industries, or other mission-critical infrastructure.
Working knowledge of industrial networking and protocols such as Modbus, BACnet/IP, OPC UA, EtherNet/IP, MQTT, or comparable technologies.
Excellent communication, facilitation, documentation, stakeholder-management, and problem-solving skills.
Demonstrated depth in at least two of the following areas: Data center cooling and mechanical systems; Electrical distribution, power monitoring, and energy management; PLC application architecture and CODESYS-based controls; SCADA, HMI, Ignition, or supervisory systems; Industrial networking and operational technology cybersecurity; IIoT, MQTT/Sparkplug B, edge, cloud, or enterprise integration; Technical sales, engineered proposals, and complex pursuit leadership.

Nice To Haves

Direct experience with hyperscale, colocation, or enterprise data center projects.
Advanced experience with CODESYS and IEC 61131-3 programming.
Experience designing or deploying Ignition or Ignition Edge solutions.
Experience with data center liquid cooling, cooling distribution units, or facility water systems.
Experience integrating PLC, SCADA, BMS, DCIM, cloud, and enterprise systems.
Knowledge of industrial cybersecurity, network segmentation, and secure remote access architectures.
Familiarity with Redfish, EtherCAT, MQTT, Sparkplug B, OPC UA, and REST APIs.
Experience with containerized applications, Docker, Kubernetes, Azure, AWS, or edge computing.
Knowledge of digital twins, predictive analytics, machine learning, or AI-enabled operations.
Relevant certifications in industrial automation, networking, cybersecurity, energy management, or data center operations.

Responsibilities

Lead technical discovery workshops, site assessments, architecture reviews, and solution-envisioning sessions with customers, consultants, system integrators, OEM partners, and internal stakeholders.
Qualify application, integration, cybersecurity, delivery, operational, and commercial requirements for complex opportunities.
Partner with account teams to develop technical win strategies, position differentiated value, address objections, and advance strategic pursuits.
Deliver executive and technical presentations, product demonstrations, proof-of-concepts, and customer training.
Develop solution narratives, technical scopes, bills of material, assumptions, and handoff criteria.
Develop PLC-based automation and control solutions for data center cooling, electrical monitoring, energy management, and related mission-critical applications.
Develop reference architectures, solution blueprints, and deployment standards that support scalable enterprise implementations.
Review and, when required, develop representative PLC applications to validate architecture, demonstrate capabilities, and reduce technical risk.
Apply IEC 61131-3 programming concepts, including Structured Text, Function Block Diagram, Sequential Function Chart, and Ladder Logic, as appropriate to the application.
Guide the integration of controls with field devices, equipment packages, supervisory systems, and enterprise data platforms.
Apply controls expertise to cooling towers, chillers and cooling plants, CRAH/CRAC equipment, pumping, water-side economization, FDU/CDU equipment, liquid cooling systems, electrical distribution monitoring, and critical alarming.
Help customers improve uptime, resilience, energy performance, operational visibility, and sustainability.
Assess sequence-of-operations, failure modes, redundancy requirements, alarming strategies, and operational constraints in mission-critical environments.
Engage adjacent applications in HVAC-R, electrical power, semiconductor, process, manufacturing, and other critical infrastructure where PLC-based solutions create value.
Design and validate interoperable architectures using relevant industrial and enterprise protocols, such as Modbus TCP/IP and RTU, BACnet/IP, EtherCAT, OPC UA, MQTT, Sparkplug B, Redfish, and REST APIs.
Connect PLC, SCADA, DDC, BMS, DCIM, Industrial IoT, cloud, and enterprise systems while maintaining clear ownership and data boundaries.
Identify technical and operational risks related to network segmentation, secure remote access, interoperability, availability, and lifecycle support.
Design supervisory monitoring and control approaches using platforms such as Ignition and Ignition Edge.
Use MQTT and Sparkplug B where applicable, to support scalable data collection and operational visibility.
Collaborate with software and product teams on edge-to-cloud integration, analytics, digital twins, and operational optimization use cases.
Create proof-of-concepts and reference applications that demonstrate solution value without replacing the project delivery team's production responsibilities.