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Automation Project Manager | Industrial Controls

Sterling Engineering, Inc.

  • Salt Lake City, UT
  • 2 days ago
  • $130,000 Per Year

Highlights

The ideal candidate combines project management expertise with hands-on experience programming and troubleshooting PLC/HMI systems and working with control architecture, I/O, electrical drawings, process equipment, P&IDs, industrial networks, vendors, contractors, and customers. Job Summary: We are seeking an experienced Automation Project Manager to lead industrial automation and controls projects for customers across the food, beverage, dairy, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and brewing industries.

Numbers & Facts

LocationSalt Lake City, UT
IndustryStaffing/Employment Agencies
Company Size500 to 999 employees
Year Founded1969
Websitehttp://www.sterling-engineering.com

Description

Job Title: Automation Project Manager (Industrial Controls)
Location: Salt Lake City, UT area
Hire Type: Direct Hire
Target Salary: $130,000/year
Travel: Up to 30%
Benefits: PTO, paid holidays, medical/dental/vision insurance, 401(k) plan
 
Company Overview:
Our client is a global industrial engineering and construction company that designs and delivers process and automation systems for the food, beverage, dairy, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and brewing industries.
 
Job Summary:
We are seeking an experienced Automation Project Manager to lead industrial automation and controls projects for customers across the food, beverage, dairy, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and brewing industries.
This is a highly technical project management role for an automation/controls professional who has progressed into project leadership while maintaining strong hands-on technical knowledge. The position is responsible for leading automation projects from proposal and design through programming, integration, FAT, installation, commissioning, startup, and final customer handoff.
 
The ideal candidate combines project management expertise with hands-on experience programming and troubleshooting PLC/HMI systems and working with control architecture, I/O, electrical drawings, process equipment, P&IDs, industrial networks, vendors, contractors, and customers.
 
Job Duties:
  • Lead industrial automation and controls projects from proposal through final completion and customer acceptance.
  • Manage project scope, schedule, budget, resources, quality, safety, and overall project performance.
  • Develop project schedules, monitor critical milestones, identify risks, and implement corrective actions.
  • Manage project budgets, forecasts, change orders, and overall project financial performance.
  • Prepare and support quotations, proposals, technical alignments, and project kickoff activities.
  • Lead automation design and execution for process manufacturing projects.
  • Develop and review control architectures, I/O lists, functional descriptions, control narratives, and electrical drawings.
  • Lead PLC, HMI, SCADA, and industrial control system development and integration activities.
  • Work with Rockwell/Allen-Bradley, Siemens, Schneider/Modicon, or similar PLC platforms.
  • Support and troubleshoot PLC/HMI systems and controls during testing, commissioning, and startup.
  • Coordinate automation engineers, electrical engineers, programmers, vendors, contractors, and customer representatives.
  • Manage customer communication and expectations throughout the project lifecycle.
  • Coordinate equipment vendors, systems integrators, electrical contractors, and other project resources.
  • Support equipment selection, control panel requirements, instrumentation, electrical interfaces, and industrial communications.
  • Review P&IDs and engineering documentation to ensure automation and controls align with the overall process design.
  • Plan and support FAT, SAT, commissioning, startup, and field troubleshooting activities.
  • Coordinate onsite installation and integration of automation and controls systems.
  • Maintain project risk registers, issue logs, KPIs, non-conformities, and action plans.
  • Manage project punch lists, customer handoff, acceptance documentation, and final closeout.
Qualifications:
  • Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Controls Engineering, Automation Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
  • 5+ years of industrial automation and controls experience.
  • Demonstrated experience leading automation/controls projects or progressing from an engineering role into project leadership.
  • Experience within Food & Beverage, Dairy, Pharmaceutical, Cosmetics, Brewing, or another process manufacturing environment.
  • Hands-on experience with PLC programming and troubleshooting.
  • Strong experience with Rockwell/Allen-Bradley PLCs; Siemens or Schneider/Modicon experience is also valuable.
  • Experience with HMI/SCADA platforms such as FactoryTalk, Wonderware/InTouch, iFIX, WinCC, or similar systems.
  • Working knowledge of I/O lists, control architectures, functional descriptions, electrical drawings, and P&IDs.
  • Experience with industrial networking and communications, electrical panels, instrumentation, and automation system integration.
  • Experience managing project scope, schedules, budgets, resources, vendors, contractors, and customer communication.
  • Experience with FAT, SAT, commissioning, startup, and field troubleshooting.
  • Strong customer-facing communication, leadership, organization, and problem-solving skills.
  • Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications.
  • Ability to travel up to 30%.
Preferred Experience:
  • Rockwell Studio 5000 and FactoryTalk.
  • Food, dairy, beverage, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, or brewery automation projects.
  • Sanitary/hygienic process manufacturing.
  • Process equipment, skids, tanks, pumps, piping, and instrumentation.
  • Electrical control panels and industrial networking.
  • Systems integration, OEM, EPC, or design/build project environments.
  • Customer-facing project ownership from proposal through commissioning and final handoff.
  • Experience leading multi-disciplinary automation and process engineering projects.
 
Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or genetic information.

About Company

Sterling Engineering has been a trusted partner for engineering, project management, and staffing solutions for over five decades. We provide exceptional engineering/technical recruitment and engineering project services to clients nationwide:

 

  • Engineering & Technical Recruitment - With our focus on engineering, technical, and IT, Sterling has the in-depth knowledge, industry expertise, and robust employee pipeline it takes to rapidly find talent for even the most difficult to fill positions. Sterling’s extensive recruitment methodology allows us to engage the most talented employees in the marketplace. We offer exciting work and career-building opportunities for our candidates, along with expert support at every step of the process.

 

  • Engineering Project Services – Our experienced, multi-disciplined team of project managers, engineers, and designers, led by licensed Professional Engineers (PE), provide project management, engineering, design, and Commissioning, Qualification, and Validation (CQV) to manufacturing, OEM, and R&D customers. We work on complex, highly technical projects across a number of industry sectors, and our ability to scale and seamlessly integrate at multiple levels of your organization is what differentiates us.

 

Sterling offers a unique combination of engineering solutions and Best of Staffing level service to help our clients and talent achieve their goals.

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