Electrical Controls Manager

About the Company

U.S. Sugar is one of the nation’s largest fully integrated producers of sugarcane, a leading provider of fresh vegetables and citrus products, and a regional short-line railroad operator. Headquartered in Clewiston, Florida, the company farms more than 200,000 acres in Hendry, Glades, Martin, and Palm Beach counties and employs approximately 3,000 people, including many high-skilled, high-wage jobs in automated environments. U.S. Sugar produces 650,000–700,000 tons of cane sugar annually, providing nearly 8% of the nation’s sugar production.

Employees are the company’s most valuable asset. Many have an ownership stake through the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). The company rewards employees with challenging work, opportunities for growth, competitive compensation, a comprehensive benefits package, and a supportive work environment where safety is the top priority.

About the Role

The Electrical Controls Manager provides strategic and operational leadership for all electrical, instrumentation, automation, and process control systems supporting U.S. Sugar’s manufacturing operations. This role ensures the reliability, availability, safety, and continuous improvement of plant electrical and control systems through effective leadership, engineering expertise, capital project execution, asset management, and technical governance. The manager leads a multidisciplinary team while partnering with Operations, Maintenance, and Reliability to optimize plant performance, implement innovative solutions, and support long-term business objectives.

Responsibilities

• Abide by all company, local, state, and federal safety regulations and participate in required training sessions and safety meetings.
• Lead and oversee all Electrical, Instrumentation & Controls (E,I&C) operations across the manufacturing facility.
• Directly manage salaried engineering and supervisory personnel while providing leadership and technical oversight to hourly E&I technicians.
• Serve as the plant’s subject matter expert for electrical, instrumentation, automation, and control systems.
• Provide technical leadership in troubleshooting complex electrical, instrumentation, and process control issues to maximize plant reliability.
• Develop, engineer, and implement electrical, controls, and instrumentation solutions that improve safety, reliability, efficiency, and operational performance.
• Lead the design, procurement, installation, commissioning, and startup of electrical and automation components for capital improvement projects.
• Partner with Operations, Maintenance, Reliability Engineering, Project Engineering, and external consultants to support manufacturing objectives.
• Ensure electrical and automation documentation, including drawings, P&IDs, schematics, SOPs, IO lists, and standards, remains accurate and up to date.
• Establish and maintain engineering standards and change management processes for all electrical, instrumentation, and automation systems.
• Develop strategic equipment lifecycle plans, modernization initiatives, and technology roadmaps to keep plant systems current with industry best practices.
• Evaluate equipment performance and identify opportunities to improve system reliability, maintainability, and lifecycle cost.
• Support Reliability Excellence initiatives through preventive maintenance strategies, predictive technologies, criticality analysis, and asset management planning.
• Manage E&I maintenance programs, maintenance metrics, and spare parts strategies to reduce downtime and improve equipment availability.
• Collaborate with Information Technology to maintain secure, reliable industrial control systems, plant networks, and manufacturing interfaces.
• Develop and implement technical training programs and career development plans for E&I personnel to strengthen technical capability and succession planning.
• Promote a culture of continuous improvement, operational excellence, safety, and technical innovation throughout the department.
• Ensure compliance with all applicable electrical codes, regulatory requirements, company policies, and safety standards.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a related engineering discipline.
• Eight (8) or more years of progressive experience in industrial electrical, instrumentation, and control systems within a manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated leadership experience managing engineering, maintenance, or technical teams.
• Strong knowledge of medium- and low-voltage electrical distribution systems (13.8kV, 4.16kV, and 480V).

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Allen-Bradley PLC platforms (ControlLogix, PLC-5, SLC) and industrial HMI systems.
• Experience with industrial communication networks including Ethernet/IP, ControlNet, DeviceNet, and AS-i.
• Working knowledge of PID process control and industrial automation systems.
• Experience with Reliability Engineering principles, preventive and predictive maintenance programs.
• Experience utilizing SAP or a comparable CMMS/ERP system.
• Strong project management, budgeting, and capital project execution experience.

Working Conditions

80% of the work environment involves office-based activities including reporting, planning, and meetings. Regular requirements include walking production areas and elevated platforms, climbing stairs and ladders, and the ability to respond to site emergencies at any hour.

20% of the work environment is conducted in an open outdoor or partially enclosed industrial setting, exposed to extreme heat, high humidity, blowing dust and bagasse particles, steam, and chemical process environments. Personal protective equipment (hard hat, safety glasses, hearing protection, chemical-resistant footwear) is required at all times in production areas.