Manager Controls Engineering

MetOx International, Inc. • Houston, TX

3d • Onsite

About The Position

Based at MetOx International’s global headquarters in Houston, Texas, the Manager of Controls Engineering leads the team responsible for the architecture, development, implementation, and continuous improvement of industrial automation and control systems across HTS wire manufacturing operations, including MOCVD deposition, buffer-layer coating, lamination, and related vacuum process equipment. The role owns controls engineering strategy for new capital equipment integration, including imported tools, and directs day-to-day sustaining engineering, troubleshooting, and reliability improvement work.

The position owns and enforces MetOx’s Instrumentation, Electrical, and Control Systems engineering standard; represents Controls Engineering in capital planning and vendor negotiations; and develops team capability through coaching, hiring, and development planning. This is a hands-on technical leadership role combining the design, programming, commissioning, and troubleshooting of control systems with management and development of the team.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Controls Engineering, Automation Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related technical discipline, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• At least 7 years of progressive experience in industrial controls, automation, or electrical engineering in a manufacturing or industrial environment.
• Prior experience managing controls or automation engineers.
• Demonstrated experience owning controls architecture strategy and leading complex capital equipment integration projects.
• Demonstrated experience with Allen-Bradley ControlLogix/CompactLogix, Studio 5000 Logix Designer, and EtherNet/IP-based industrial networking.
• Deep hands-on experience programming, troubleshooting, and commissioning PLC-based control systems across multiple equipment platforms.
• Extensive experience with industrial HMIs, SCADA systems, motion control, sensors, instrumentation, and industrial communication networks.
• Experience leading root cause investigations and corrective actions that measurably improved equipment reliability at scale.
• Expert-level technical knowledge of industrial automation, control systems, electrical schematics, and applicable safety requirements.
• Working knowledge of ISA-95, IEC 61131, NFPA 79, and ISO 13849.
• Knowledge of HMI design and alarm management standards, including ISA-101 and ISA-18.2.
• Understanding of UL-508A industrial control panel standards sufficient to review and approve vendor panel designs.
• Ability to set technical direction and engineering standards while balancing hands-on technical leadership and people management.
• Strong leadership and coaching skills, including the ability to assess development needs, improve performance, and build high-performing teams.
• Effective communication and interpersonal skills for working with cross-functional stakeholders, vendors, and executive leadership.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and project leadership skills, including the ability to manage multiple complex technical initiatives and capital projects.
• High degree of ownership, sound judgment under ambiguity, and resilience under production pressure.
• Ability to sit at a desk and view a computer screen for extended periods, work on a manufacturing floor around industrial and electrical equipment, lift up to 20 lbs., and move around a clean, climate-controlled manufacturing environment.
• May be required to respond to critical equipment issues outside standard business hours.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Controls Engineering, Automation Engineering, or a related discipline.
• Experience in superconductor, semiconductor, thin-film, or advanced materials manufacturing.
• Experience with Rockwell Automation/Allen-Bradley, Siemens, Beckhoff, or comparable industrial automation platforms, including sustaining and troubleshooting mixed-vendor equipment fleets.
• Experience with Inductive Automation Ignition for HMI/SCADA implementations.
• Experience with Beckhoff TwinCAT as a secondary or interfacing PLC platform for EtherCAT-only instrumentation.
• Experience with advanced manufacturing technologies, including roll-to-roll processing, web handling, thin-film deposition, vacuum systems, or semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
• Experience with vacuum/process instrumentation relevant to MOCVD or thin-film deposition systems, such as mass flow controllers, capacitance manometers, and vacuum gauges.
• Familiarity with SEMI, ISA, and IEC standards for semiconductor-adjacent manufacturing equipment, such as SEMI E56, ISA-95, IEC 61131, ISA-18.2, and ISA-101.
• Direct experience integrating equipment controls with MES, historians, or plant intelligence/analytics platforms.
• Experience managing capital equipment imports, FAT/SAT, and vendor controls audits for custom or international equipment builds.
• Experience building or scaling a controls engineering function during a manufacturing ramp-up.

Responsibilities

• Own the controls engineering architecture strategy across manufacturing equipment, including PLCs, HMIs, SCADA systems, industrial networks, and related automation technologies.
• Personally design, program, and review PLC and HMI/SCADA code for the most technically complex systems.
• Maintain and enforce MetOx’s Instrumentation, Electrical, and Control Systems engineering standard, ensuring internal teams, OEM vendors, and integrators comply with approved architecture, components, and documentation requirements.
• Enforce standardized control system architecture, including Allen-Bradley ControlLogix/CompactLogix PLCs programmed in Studio 5000 Logix Designer, Inductive Automation Ignition for HMI/SCADA, and EtherNet/IP, while supporting deployed Siemens and Beckhoff platforms.
• Ensure equipment has independent hard-wired safety systems separate from the process control PLC, including compliant Emergency Shutdown circuits.
• Serve as the final escalation and decision-making authority for complex controls-related equipment issues.
• Identify and prioritize automation investments that improve equipment monitoring, process control, data collection, and manufacturing efficiency.
• Lead controls strategy and resourcing for capital equipment acquisition, specification reviews, vendor controls audits, and commissioning of imported and domestic equipment.
• Own capital equipment controls requirements and specifications in partnership with internal stakeholders and suppliers.
• Direct complex controls engineering projects from scope and scheduling through resourcing and budget, while participating in programming, wiring checkout, and commissioning.
• Oversee controls design reviews, factory acceptance testing, site acceptance testing, and operational readiness assessments.
• Ensure suppliers provide complete controls documentation, including state diagrams, alarm lists, control narratives, I/O lists, instrument indexes, and network architecture diagrams.
• Review and approve supplier controls designs and deliverables for alignment with MetOx standards and manufacturing requirements.
• Partner with Finance and Procurement on capital equipment controls budgets, timelines, and risk assessments.
• Troubleshoot complex or recurring controls-related failures on the manufacturing floor and in code; lead root cause investigations and sustainable corrective and preventive actions.
• Oversee recipe and run-configuration management architecture, including validation controls and integration with plant-level data and recipe databases.
• Lead controls and automation upgrades to improve equipment uptime, process repeatability, operational efficiency, and reliability.
• Own standards for software version control, system backups, configuration management, and disaster recovery of critical automation systems.
• Partner with Maintenance and Operations leadership on predictive and preventive maintenance strategies for industrial control systems.
• Evaluate and recommend automation technologies, control platforms, and industrial communication protocols to support production scaling.
• Partner with EHS and operational leadership to promote safe equipment operation and compliance with applicable standards.
• Manage the daily activities and performance of the Controls Engineering team.
• Set team and individual objectives aligned with departmental and company priorities, monitor progress, and hold the team accountable for results.
• Plan and prioritize team work across manufacturing support, capital projects, and continuous improvement.
• Coach and develop Controls Engineers through feedback, technical mentorship, and career development support.
• Assess team strengths, skill gaps, and development needs, and implement individual development plans.
• Lead hiring, onboarding, and succession planning for the Controls Engineering function.
• Evaluate team capacity and recommend staffing, training, and resourcing needs to departmental leadership.
• Resolve operational and technical challenges within the team’s scope and escalate broader cross-functional issues to the CIO as appropriate.
• Represent Controls Engineering in cross-functional leadership forums and drive alignment with Manufacturing, Process Engineering, Equipment Engineering, and IT/Data teams.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Health insurance available on the first day of the month following the start date.
• Dental insurance available on the first day of the month following the start date.
• Vision insurance available on the first day of the month following the start date.
• 401(k) match.
• Paid parental leave.
• Adoption assistance.
• Educational reimbursement.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager