Controls Engineering Manager

About the role

Join our team and do work that matters. As a Controls Engineering Manager at Orenco Systems, you will lead, manage, and direct a diverse workforce of engineers, technicians, and programmers to design, optimize, and enhance electronic control systems and instruments that automate and monitor industrial processes.

Responsibilities

• Safeguard Orenco's safety, cultural, and professional standards by maintaining a positive safety culture and ensuring a safe work environment.
• Manage the deployment and integration of EPLAN Engineering Configurator (EEC) to automate engineering design and manufacturing workflows.
• Ensure seamless design-to-manufacturing execution by integrating EPLAN, EEC, CPQ, Quoter, and shop floor operations.
• Develop and implement Engineering Design Guidelines to standardize custom controls while embedding continuous improvement into Orenco's standard panel lines.
• Collaborate across various departments to align SOP's, testing procedures, and quality documentation with standardized design and production.
• Oversee revision control and approval processes, ensuring accurate, up-to-date documentation that supports efficiency throughout the product lifecycle.
• Develop, program, and troubleshoot PLC and HMI systems from various manufacturers (Allen-Bradley, Siemens, Schneider, etc.).
• Lead rapid prototyping efforts for control panels utilizing new component configurations, ensuring feasibility before full production.
• Collaborate with the engineering team to evaluate new customer and OEM needs, providing value-engineered solutions that optimize design, cost, and manufacturability.
• Support customers in scaling their panel volume, ensuring that Orenco's control solutions help drive efficiency, reliability, and business growth for their operations.
• Work closely with engineering and production teams to successfully integrate new component configurations into Orenco's existing control panel product lines.
• Develop and maintain a preferred components library, streamlining engineering design and manufacturing workflows.
• Collaborate with quality control staff to establish best practices, failure analysis protocols, a feedback loop, and preventive measures to reduce defects and production errors.
• Enhance engineering efficiency by reducing customization bottlenecks and driving standardization in control panel design.
• Design and develop scalable control panel solutions using the EPLAN suite and integration with corporate enterprise solutions, ensuring reliability, manufacturability, and compliance with industry standards.
• Specify and select electrical components, sensors, drives, and instrumentation for control systems.
• Act as the technical expert and trusted advisor for sales, distributors, and OEMs, providing deep insights into control panel capabilities and configurations.
• Support sales and business development teams in positioning Orenco's control solutions competitively in the market.
• Develop and maintain a customer support knowledge base, ensuring field engineers and end users have access to clear troubleshooting guides and product documentation.
• Conduct technical training sessions for internal teams and key external partners to enhance product knowledge and adoption.
• Cross-functional leadership and coordination with sales, operations, engineering, product management, and manufacturing to ensure product offerings meet market demands and are feasible with Orenco's operational capabilities.
• Set departmental goals in support of corporate objectives, establish metrics and measurements for department work standards, ensure each employee has a training plan and is fully trained to perform their job, conduct goal setting, quarterly evaluations, and annual employee performance appraisals.
• Maintain staffing levels based on workload forecasting and succession planning, provide feedback, coaching, and direction via frequent interactions with employees as they perform their work, and provide training and development opportunities that assist employees to develop leadership skills.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, controls engineering, automation engineering, mechatronics, or related field required.
• Minimum ten years of experience in control panel design, industrial automation, and product management (controls manufacturing experience is preferred).
• Three to five years of experience managing a team of engineers and technicians in a control panel design and manufacturing environment.
• One to three years of project management experience.
• Proficiency in EPLAN, including schematic design, component libraries, and automation tools is preferred but high-level skills in AutoCAD Electrical or SolidWorks Electrical are considered.
• Demonstrated experience deploying and managing a software application for engineering standardization.
• Strong understanding of motors, VFDs (Variable Frequency Drive), instrumentation, and industrial control circuits.
• Experience with SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition), remote telemetry, DCS (Distributed Controls Systems), IIOT (Industrial Internet of Things), and industrial communication protocols.
• Experience with cyber security strategies and standards for connected products in industrial environments.
• Familiarity with Intellectual Property (IP) protection, search, and filing is a plus.
• Experience in go-to-market strategies, or product portfolio management with focus on SKU (stock keeping unit) complexity management helpful.
• Excellent communication and leadership skills, with a talent for mentoring and influencing teams.
• Ability to balance multiple projects, meet deadlines, and thrive in a fast-paced environment.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite and related business software.