What are the responsibilities and job description for the Controls and Automation Engineer position at Synthomer?
Chester Controls & Automation Engineer
Position Summary
The Controls & Automation Engineer is responsible for supporting, maintaining, and improving the automated control systems that operate our chemical manufacturing processes. This role provides technical expertise in PLCs, DCS platforms, instrumentation, and system integration to ensure reliable, safe, and efficient plant operations. The ideal candidate has 3 years of hands-on experience in industrial automation within a manufacturing or chemical processing environment.
Key Responsibilities
Candidates should have experience with programming and the ability to learn the following systems:
Position Summary
The Controls & Automation Engineer is responsible for supporting, maintaining, and improving the automated control systems that operate our chemical manufacturing processes. This role provides technical expertise in PLCs, DCS platforms, instrumentation, and system integration to ensure reliable, safe, and efficient plant operations. The ideal candidate has 3 years of hands-on experience in industrial automation within a manufacturing or chemical processing environment.
Key Responsibilities
- Provide day-to-day support for plant automation and control systems to maximize uptime and production efficiency.
- Troubleshoot, diagnose, and resolve issues with PLCs, DCS, HMI systems, instrumentation, and networked control equipment.
- Develop, modify, and optimize automation logic, sequencing, and control strategies to improve safety, quality, and throughput.
- Maintain and update system documentation, including logic diagrams, network drawings, and functional specifications.
- Lead or support capital projects involving automation upgrades, equipment installation, or process improvements.
- Ensure compliance with safety, environmental, and regulatory requirements in all automation-related work, including, but not limited to, participation in process hazard analyses for hazardous processes, design of layers of protection barriers, auditing barriers, and development of preventive maintenance routines related to safety critical barriers.
- Collaborate with Maintenance, Engineering, Operations, and external vendors to support system reliability.
- Participate in root cause analysis (RCA) and corrective action implementation for control system failures.
- Provide training and technical guidance to maintenance technicians and operations personnel.
- Maintain backup procedures, version control, and cybersecurity best practices for all control platforms.
- Participate in group network calls and audits with primary focus of managing the site cybersecurity for OT infrastructure.
- Develop preventive maintenance activities for control systems to guarantee full reliability of system. Manage spare part inventory and strategy.
- Manage controls documentation and instrument loop sheets.
- Ensure compliance and continuous improvement with safety, environmental, and regulatory requirements in all automation-related work, including, but not limited to, participation in process hazard analyses for hazardous processes, design of layers of protection barriers, auditing barriers, and development of preventive maintenance routines related to safety critical barriers.
Candidates should have experience with programming and the ability to learn the following systems:
- Modicon PLC systems
- Siemens PCS7 Distributed Control System
- Allen-Bradley (Rockwell Automation) PLC Platforms (ControlLogix, CompactLogix, etc.)
- Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, Chemical Engineering, Automation/Controls Engineering, or related technical field.
- Minimum 3 years of controls/automation engineering experience in a manufacturing or chemical processing environment.
- Proficiency with ladder logic, function block, and structured text programming.
- Strong understanding of industrial instrumentation, control loops, and process automation.
- Experience with industrial networks (Ethernet/IP, Profibus, Modbus, etc.).
- Ability to read and interpret P&IDs, electrical schematics, and system drawings.
- Excellent troubleshooting, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
- Strong communication and collaboration skills across multidisciplinary teams.
- Experience in a chemical or batch-processing environment.
- Knowledge of safety instrumented systems (SIS) and related standards (ISA/IEC 61511).
- Familiarity with HMI/SCADA configuration and development.
- Understanding of industrial cybersecurity principles.
- Experience managing small-to-mid-size automation projects.
- Ability to work in a chemical plant environment, including climbing stairs/ladders and exposure to varying temperatures.
- Ability to provide off-hours support as needed.