Senior Electrical Engineer

Senior Controls Engineer

Salary range: $85k-$110k

Location: Buffalo, NY

We are seeking a Senior Controls Engineer to provide technical leadership for the plant’s electrical power distribution, control systems, and process automation technologies. This role is instrumental in improving equipment reliability, optimizing manufacturing performance, ensuring electrical safety and regulatory compliance, and developing the technical capabilities of the plant’s Electrical & Instrumentation (E&I) team.

The Senior Controls Engineer will serve as a key member of the plant’s technical leadership team, providing expertise in electrical and controls system design, equipment specification, maintenance strategies, troubleshooting, and system optimization. This individual will lead initiatives to modernize plant infrastructure, establish and maintain engineering standards, support capital projects, and drive continuous improvement across manufacturing and packaging operations.

The ideal candidate combines strong technical expertise with a proactive, hands-on approach to problem-solving, project execution, and team development.

Key Responsibilities

Electrical Power & Controls Engineering:

• Serve as the primary technical resource and administrator for plant electrical power distribution and control systems, providing leadership in troubleshooting, maintenance, optimization, and system reliability.
• Develop, maintain, and implement plant electrical and controls engineering standards, ensuring consistent application across capital projects, equipment upgrades, and system modifications.
• Lead execution of the site’s electrical power and controls master plan, including assessment of the installed equipment base, identification of obsolete technologies, and development of equipment replacement and modernization strategies.
• Provide engineering support for electrical power systems, instrumentation, machine controls, process automation, and industrial networking.
• Support the design and implementation of machine control and process automation applications, including control strategies, HMI design, Manufacturing Execution System (MES) applications, and key performance indicator (KPI) development.
• Evaluate and apply control technologies, simulation tools, and process modeling techniques to improve manufacturing and packaging performance.

Reliability & Continuous Improvement:

• Identify and prioritize losses related to safety, quality, reliability, and cost, developing and implementing strategies to eliminate root causes and improve overall plant performance.
• Drive improvements in equipment reliability, process efficiency, system availability, and maintenance effectiveness.
• Collaborate with Operations, Maintenance, Process Engineering, and plant leadership to identify opportunities for automation, process optimization, and operational improvement.
• Support the specification, selection, installation, commissioning, and startup of new equipment, serving as the technical subject matter expert for associated electrical and control systems.

Electrical Safety, Compliance & Quality:

• Ensure electrical systems, maintenance practices, and technician qualifications comply with applicable codes, standards, and regulatory requirements, including NFPA 70, NFPA 70E, NFPA 79, and OSHA 1910.
• Lead and support key electrical safety programs, including lockout/tagout (LOTO), electrical personal protective equipment (PPE), energized electrical work permits, and low-voltage electrical qualifications.
• Support compliance with plant quality requirements and Critical Control Point (CCP) programs involving checkweighers, metal detectors, vision inspection systems, ingredient flows, temperature controls, and other process-critical systems.
• Promote a strong safety culture through sound engineering practices, preventive measures, and continuous improvement of electrical and controls systems.

Data Integrity & Process Optimization:

• Own the validation and integrity of Manufacturing Execution System (MES) data generated by plant PLCs.
• Partner with Process Engineers to condition, structure, and validate PLC data to enable effective analysis, process monitoring, and application development.
• Support the development and implementation of control system applications that improve visibility into manufacturing performance and enable data-driven decision-making.

Technical Leadership & Team Development:

• Develop and maintain a sustainable training and skills-development program for plant E&I technicians.
• Provide technical coaching and guidance to technicians on electrical power systems, instrumentation, process controls, troubleshooting, and repair techniques.
• Establish technical standards and best practices that improve consistency, troubleshooting effectiveness, and long-term system maintainability.
• Coordinate the technical training and knowledge transfer required for new equipment, technologies, and control system upgrades.

Capital Projects & Engineering Support:

• Serve as project manager for initiatives ranging from targeted electrical and instrumentation improvements to larger capital projects.
• Provide electrical power and controls engineering expertise throughout project development, equipment specification, design, installation, commissioning, and startup.
• Collaborate with plant and engineering leadership to evaluate equipment alternatives, define technical requirements, manage project execution, and ensure successful implementation.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering.
• At least 2 years of experience in controls engineering, electrical engineering, or a related industrial engineering discipline.
• Working knowledge of machine and/or process control hardware, instrumentation, and industrial automation software.
• Experience with industrial PLC platforms, particularly Allen-Bradley PLCs and ControlLogix.
• Familiarity with HMI and SCADA platforms, such as Wonderware and Rockwell FactoryTalk.
• Strong troubleshooting, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with Operations, Maintenance, Engineering, and plant leadership.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with industrial electrical power distribution, instrumentation, and process automation systems.
• Familiarity with electrical safety programs, NFPA standards, and OSHA requirements.
• Experience supporting capital projects, equipment installations, commissioning, and startup.
• Experience developing technical training programs or mentoring maintenance and engineering personnel.
• Exposure to MES applications, manufacturing data analytics, process simulation, and process modeling technologies.

Ready to make an impact?

Join a team focused on advancing manufacturing reliability, strengthening electrical safety, developing technical talent, and delivering innovative automation solutions. In this role, you’ll have the opportunity to influence plant-wide engineering standards, lead meaningful improvement initiatives, and help shape the future of manufacturing operations.