Senior Automation and Operations Technician in WA

Major responsibilities:

• Acts as a technical resource for electrical and electronic systems to the plants and engineering group to support and deliver technical services and controls automation solutions to resolve manufacturing issues and improve operational performance.
• Experience with both Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC), Windows-based PC’s / VM’s, and industrial network architectures and ability to effectively apply these technologies in a manufacturing environment.
• Actively collaborates as a team member in a high-performance cross-functional work team environment, including plant and regional manufacturing technical resources, engineering, and IT.
• Acts as a leader to support and drive IT/OT standards adoption and implementation across the manufacturing enterprise.

Essential Duties (other duties as assigned):

• Provide first-class technical support to the manufacturing enterprise, supporting plant operations and personnel to ensure a safety-first environment that delivers value to our producers and the highest quality products to our customers.
• Background in instrumentation, electrical, and automation controls systems, equipment and machinery, in a processing environment.
• Lead troubleshooting and root cause analysis to effectively resolve issues and deliver sustainable solutions in collaboration with plant technical peers.
• Facilitate and support the numerous manufacturing process and control systems within Operations, collaborating with Engineering, IT, Operations and Corporate management, and vendor resources.
• Provide production support and maintenance for enterprise systems including Environmental Health & Safety, OEE, and Plant Key Performance Metrics, Process Controls and Automation, reporting and analytics systems for Operations, and others as directed. Ability to develop, plan and execute technical solutions including equipment bills of materials, the scope of work, estimates, participate in proposal review, and provide timely status updates.
• Perform preventive maintenance (PM) checks on process control equipment including instrumentation, VFD’s and electric motors.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Track record of strong people collaboration and cross-functional team engagement.
• Strong background in Food or Pharma product processing systems including HTST, UHT, Filling and Packaging systems.
• Ability to establish and maintain strong, effective team relationships with multiple organizational levels.
• Strong written and verbal communication, including documentation standards.
• Ability to consistently meet deadlines and see projects through completion.
• Ability to travel up to 30%.

Education, Experience, and Certifications:

• 2+ years of experience supporting Food or Dairy process controls networks, infrastructure, and security systems.
• Strong troubleshooting and root cause analysis skills with electrical and controls systems and associated programming
• Experience in maintaining PLC and HMI solutions (Allen Bradley / FactoryTalk preferable), specifying hardware and software for controls and automation projects.
• Experience with controls power distribution layouts, panel layouts, hardware specifications.
• Experience in specifying, configuring, and maintaining VFDs.
• Perform Preventative Maintenance (PM) tasks on instrumentation and automation equipment.