Controls Engineer (Industrial Automation)

Location: Research Triangle Park, North Carolina; begins in Durham, NC and is expected to move to Benson, NC after completion of the new facility. Regular production-floor presence and up to approximately 50% domestic travel to OEM factory acceptance tests are required.

Company

hirify.global manufactures American rare-earth permanent magnets for defense, aerospace, automotive, and other critical industries.

What you will do

• Own controls execution for magnet manufacturing equipment from design review through factory acceptance testing, site commissioning, and sustaining support.
• Program, debug, and commission Siemens and Allen-Bradley/Rockwell PLCs and HMIs.
• Integrate robotics, conveyors, servos, VFDs, and automated material-handling systems.
• Configure PLC/HMI connectivity with SCADA and batch systems, including tag mapping, alarming, and data acquisition.
• Review vendor schematics, controls architectures, and logic; support FATs and SATs against functional and safety requirements.
• Diagnose complex issues involving industrial networks, motion systems, instrumentation, and communication protocols.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in electrical engineering, automation engineering, mechatronics, or a related field.
• 3+ years of direct industrial automation and controls engineering experience.
• Hands-on Siemens and Allen-Bradley/Rockwell PLC and HMI programming and commissioning experience.
• Strong understanding of servos, VFDs, high-speed conveyors, robotic cells, automated material handling, analog loops, gas analyzer integration, and loop tuning.
• Proficiency with Ethernet/IP, Profinet, EtherCAT, OPC UA, and similar industrial communication standards, plus the ability to read and validate safety-rated circuits and safety PLCs.
• Must be a U.S. Person due to required access to U.S. export-controlled information or facilities.

Nice to have

• Experience with multi-axis robotics, Cognex or Keyence machine vision, and AGVs.
• Experience in heavy industrial, greenfield, chemical, metallurgical, defense, aerospace, or automotive manufacturing.
• SCADA application development with Ignition, Wonderware, or similar platforms.
• Experience with powder or bulk-solids handling, hazardous or reactive-material environments, and furnace, vacuum, or thermal process controls.
• Familiarity with Python, C++, or other high-level languages for automation or data analytics.

Culture & Benefits

• Work is performed in a large manufacturing facility expansion supporting critical industrial applications.
• Regular production-floor work may involve hot, humid, noisy, and changing conditions.
• Personal protective equipment, including respirators, is required where applicable.
• Required fit testing and compliance with safety policies, procedures, and regulatory requirements apply.