Manufacturing Controls Engineer

Your Career Begins at Timken
If you're ready for a challenging career that provides you with the ability to advance personally and professionally, look to Timken. Our associates make the world more productive by improving the efficiency and reliability of the machinery that keeps industry in motion.
Job Title: Senior/ Principal Process Engineer – NA Rail Services
Overall Purpose:
The Process Engineer – Automation & Controls is responsible for improving safety, quality, productivity, equipment reliability, and profitability within Timken's North America Rail Services manufacturing and bearing reconditioning operations. This role serves as the facility's technical lead for electrical systems, controls, automation, data collection, and equipment optimization.
The position leads projects from concept through implementation, including scope development, capital planning, equipment specification, commissioning, training, troubleshooting, and documentation. The Process Engineer applies electrical engineering principles and automation technologies to improve manufacturing performance and support highly automated production operations.
The successful candidate will possess strong technical expertise in industrial controls, PLCs, HMIs, automation systems, motion control, and manufacturing processes, while effectively partnering with operations, maintenance, quality, and external suppliers to deliver sustainable business results.
Key Responsibilities:
Safety, Quality & Compliance
Lead initiatives that improve electrical safety, machine safeguarding, and risk reduction.
Ensure compliance with OSHA, NFPA, and applicable electrical standards.
Support incident investigations, root cause analysis, and corrective actions.
Maintain compliance with lockout/tagout and machine safety programs.
Process Improvement & Manufacturing Support
Improve throughput, quality, equipment uptime, and operating efficiency through process optimization and automation.
Analyze equipment and process data to identify and implement performance improvements.
Lead continuous improvement activities utilizing Lean, root cause analysis, and reliability methodologies.
Support plant productivity, capacity, cost reduction, and operational excellence initiatives.
Controls & Automation Engineering
Design, program, troubleshoot, and support PLC, HMI, SCADA, motion control, and industrial network systems.
Integrate and optimize robotics, machine vision, sensors, drives, and automated equipment.
Diagnose and resolve controls-related issues involving PLCs, VFDs, servo systems, CNC equipment, and inspection systems.
Develop and maintain electrical schematics, standards, bills of material, and technical documentation.
Capital Projects
Lead capital and improvement projects from conception through startup and operational handoff.
Develop project scopes, schedules, budgets, technical specifications, and appropriation requests.
Coordinate contractors, suppliers, maintenance, and operations resources throughout execution.
Deliver projects that meet safety, quality, schedule, and cost objectives.
Reliability & Technical Leadership
Improve equipment reliability through preventive, predictive, and reliability-centered engineering practices.
Conduct failure analysis and implement sustainable corrective actions.