Automation Engineer

About the role

Operations is at the heart of Amazon’s business, delivering tens of thousands of products to hundreds of countries daily. The Reliability & Maintenance Engineering (RME) team partners with fulfillment centers to drive continuous improvement and maintain robotics and material handling equipment (MHE). As an Automation Engineer you will maximize equipment reliability and operational performance by providing proactive controls automation, technical support, troubleshooting complex control systems, analyzing performance metrics, and collaborating with cross‑functional teams to optimize MHE systems and implement innovative projects.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the site expert for maintaining the automation systems that are critical for operations.
• Understand, maintain, and troubleshoot material handling control systems, including PLC/PC controllers and industrial networks such as Ethernet, ControlNet, DeviceNet, Profibus, motor control systems, servo drives, frequency drives, and electrical distribution systems.
• Monitor MHE metrics and partner with maintenance/operations to address system performance issues and provide analysis across all operations.
• Provide first‑level escalation support for site technicians, both locally and remotely.
• Perform and analyze building system assessments to enhance material handling system performance.

Basic qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, electrical engineering, automation engineering, or equivalent.
• 2+ years of PLC programming or automation engineering experience.
• 2+ years of process or production environment related PLC‑controlled automation and issue‑diagnosis experience.
• 2+ years of robotics work‑cell and control‑systems experience.
• 2+ years of electrical theory, robotics, controls components, and automated equipment experience.
• 2+ years of Ladder Logic and structured programming experience with Siemens, Allen‑Bradley, or Codesys PLCs.
• Willingness to work a flexible schedule/shift, including weekends, nights, and holidays.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience maintaining, troubleshooting, programming, and designing HMI and control‑network components.
• Experience identifying, maintaining, troubleshooting, and modifying motor controls, including motor starters, variable frequency drives, DC drives, and standard electrical components.
• Experience with preventive‑maintenance procedures, industrial electrical, industrial controls, and industrial electronics & robotics.
• Ability to interpret and modify mechanical and electrical drawings.
• Programming experience with RSLogix5000, Studio 5000, FT View, and other controls software platforms.

Benefits

• Comprehensive healthcare benefits starting on Day 1 (medical, dental, vision, prescription, basic life & AD&D insurance, supplemental life options, EAP, mental‑health support, medical advice line, flexible spending accounts, adoption and surrogacy reimbursement).
• 401(k) matching program.
• Up to 20 weeks of paid parental leave.
• Lightweight fire‑resistant daily wear and composite‑toe safety shoes.
• Sign‑on payments and restricted stock units (RSUs) as part of the compensation package.

Pay

USD 90,000 – 112,500 annually (USA, VA, Fredericksburg).

Schedule

Flexible schedule/shift work, including weekends, nights, and holidays.