Controls Engineer

Job Posting Start Date 03-23-2026 Job Posting End Date 05-23-2026

Flex is the diversified manufacturing partner of choice that helps market-leading brands design, build and deliver innovative products that improve the world.

A career at Flex offers the opportunity to make a difference and invest in your growth in a respectful, inclusive, and collaborative environment. If you are excited about a role but don't meet every bullet point, we encourage you to apply and join us to create the extraordinary.

Job Summary

JOB DESCRIPTION

The Controls Engineer will provide leadership and technical expertise in the areas of controls and electronic circuitry to achieve launch date, as well as safety, quality, and productivity targets in a new medical device manufacturing plant.  Initial focus will be specification through commissioning of new high volume medical device assembly equipment, machine networks and SCADA system.  Role will transition to focus on controls improvements and troubleshooting of high volume automated medical device assembly equipment and associated electrical wiring/devices, instrument, embedded systems, motion control and inspection systems.  In addition, it is expected that this individual will assist and provide training to maintenance, production or other personnel as needed with technical or troubleshooting. The selected candidate will be skilled in the design/specification, installation, and upkeep of PLC and PC based controls in a manufacturing environment.

What you will be doing:

• Developing specifications and user requirements for controls, communication and SCADA systems for high volume medical device assembly and material handling equipment.
• Oversee electrical/controls design and build by machine OEMs to assure machine is built to specifications and meets safety and performance requirements.  
• Support installation, FAT/SAT, validation and commissioning of assembly and material handling equipment.
• Lead or support maintenance teams in troubleshooting problems resulting in downtime or quality issues.  Identify and correct causes of chronic equipment failures or issues.
• Develop and implement plan to achieve highly effective controls troubleshooting and repair, minimizing downtime.
• Manage control of machine software, firmware and user access security.
• Propose, evaluate risk and implement PLC program and other software/firmware or hardware changes needed to improve safety, yield and productivity.
• Completing change control documentation, including change documentation, risk assessment and justification.
• Optimize and/or improve human machine interfaces, SCADA systems and MES interfaces.
• Troubleshooting and optimizing performance of vision inspection systems
• Define equipment maintenance/preventative maintenance requirements and procedures.
• Identify root-causes of equipment failures, develop and implement corrective actions.
• Develop troubleshooting and repair skills of Controls and Automation Technicians.
• Provide expert on call support for system outages and major incidents.
• Work with Automation and Validation Engineers to develop test scripts to validate software/firmware updates for controls related changes.

Qualifications:

• A Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering or equivalent coupled with 7+ years of experience in high volume industrial or manufacturing environment.  
• Proficiency programming and troubleshooting Allen Bradley Control Logics PLCs and Human Machine Interface (HMI / GUI )
• Proficient user of: RSLOGIX5000, Logix Designer, Studio 5000, Factory Talk SE, Ignition and Cognex
• Demonstrated ability to design fault-tolerant systems with error handling and recovery.
• General understanding of factory LAN/WAN ethernet networks and ability to setup devices with IP addresses or nodes Experience setting up/tuning and troubleshooting Allen Bradley Power-Flex variable frequency drives and Kinetix multi-axis servo drives.
• Solid working knowledge of:
  • Field bus Networks (ProfiNet,DeviceNet, Ethernet/IP, Safety rated field bus networks).
  • Radio frequency identification devices (RFID) and all the accompanying components (Receiver, antenna, puck, reader)
  • PID tunning and closed feedback loops
  • Serial communication (RS-232, RS-422, RS-485, ProfiBus, Modbus RTU, Data Highway) between PLCs, instruments and microcontrollers
  • Ethernet communications between machine PLCs and embedded data collection systems
• Proficiency selecting appropriate circuit protectors, wire and cable, sensors, safety hardware, PLC hardware, remote I/O, VFD and instrumentation.
• Broad knowledge of controls devices and experience troubleshooting.
• Effective written and verbal communication skills.

Preferred Skills:

• Equipment engineering experience within the medical device industry is highly desirable.
• Experience with Vision systems is a plus (Cognex, Keyence, Fanuc) is a plus
• Experience programming/troubleshooting Beckman or B&R (ABB) PLCs.

MF15

What you'll receive for the great work you provide:

• Full range of medical, dental, and vision plans
• Life Insurance
• Short-term and Long-term Disability
• Matching 401(k) Contributions
• Vacation and Paid Sick Time
• Tuition Reimbursement

Pay Range (Applicable to Illinois)$119,300.00 USD - $164,100.00 USD Annual

Job CategoryProduction Engineering

Is Sponsorship Available?

No

Flex is an Equal Opportunity Employer and employment selection decisions are based on merit, qualifications, and abilities. We do not discriminate based on: age, race, religion, color, sex, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, disability, pregnancy status, or any other status protected by law. We're happy to provide reasonable accommodations to those with a disability for assistance in the application process. Please email [email protected] and we'll discuss your specific situation and next steps (NOTE: this email does not accept or consider resumes or applications. This is only for disability assistance. To be considered for a position at Flex, you must complete the application process first).