Senior Controls / Emulation Engineer – Automated Material Handling

Our client, an industry leader in automated material handling systems, is expanding their advanced automation team and adding a Senior Controls / Emulation Engineer. This role will serve as the technical owner of the emulation and virtual commissioning platform, helping drive a simulation-first approach that improves quality, reduces risk, and minimizes on-site commissioning time.

Position Summary

Under minimal supervision, the Senior Controls Engineer – Emulation & Virtual Commissioning serves as the technical owner of the emulation platform and associated practices. This position is responsible for building and maintaining reusable Emulate3D (or equivalent) component libraries, defining the PLC-to-emulation I/O interface, and establishing virtual commissioning as the standard approach for FAT, code validation, training, and design verification.

The role also provides hands-on support for PLC/HMI development (Rockwell/Beckhoff and Ignition) as needed, mentors engineering teams on model-driven testing, and partners cross-functionally with Mechanical and Electrical teams to reduce project risk, cost, and field implementation time.

Key Responsibilities

Emulation Platform Ownership

• Define and maintain the I/O interface between PLC libraries (UDTs, AOIs, DUTs) and emulation models, including virtual mode functionality and diagnostic structures.
• Develop and manage a reusable emulation component library (e.g., conveyor systems, merges, gapping, scanning, divert/confirm, recirculation, with future expansion to sorter technologies).
• Establish model fidelity standards—focusing on critical factors such as timing, throughput, and divert accuracy—while documenting assumptions and limitations.
• Implement automated FAT capabilities, including scripted test scenarios, pass/fail criteria, and reporting aligned with project requirements and KPIs.
• Create tools and workflows that enable rapid model configuration using ECAD/CAD inputs.

Controls Engineering Support (as needed)

• Contribute to PLC and HMI development, including encoder/position tracking, device-level AOIs, diagnostic structures, and Ignition Perspective applications.
• Support bench testing, I/O validation, and select FAT/SAT activities, ensuring alignment between emulation models and live system performance.

Standards, Architecture & Tooling

• Collaborate with Controls leadership to evolve standard PLC/HMI libraries and maintain alignment with emulation components (including version control and migration documentation).
• Support Git/GitHub development practices, including branching strategies, pull requests, release documentation, and CI validation processes.
• Define CAD data requirements (e.g., mass, friction, materials, sensor placement, elevations) to improve model accuracy and reduce rework.

Cross-Functional & Customer Collaboration

• Coordinate technical integration across Mechanical, Electrical, and Software teams, ensuring alignment between emulation models and system design.
• Partner with Sales and Project Management to scope pilot efforts, define deliverables and acceptance criteria, and present results to internal and external stakeholders.

Team Development & Mentorship

• Develop training materials, best practices, and “gold standard” examples to enable broader team adoption of emulation tools.
• Mentor Controls Engineers on building and extending models while promoting a scalable, team-based approach.
• Champion a simulation-first, standards-driven culture focused on measurable outcomes such as reduced commissioning time, improved quality, and defect prevention.

Qualifications

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Controls Engineering, Mechatronics, Computer Science, or a related field (Master’s preferred).
• 7+ years of experience in industrial controls and/or virtual commissioning, including hands-on PLC/HMI development and model-based testing.
• Proven experience leading emulation or virtual commissioning initiatives tied directly to live PLC systems (beyond visualization-only models).

Technical Skills

• Emulation: Strong experience with Emulate3D or similar platforms, including custom component development and automated test scenarios.
• PLC: Rockwell Studio 5000 (AOIs, UDTs, Structured Text) required; Beckhoff TwinCAT experience a plus; strong understanding of diagnostics and safe-state design.
• HMI/SCADA: Experience with Ignition (Perspective/Vision), alarm management, historian fundamentals, and security integration.
• Networks & Interfaces: Familiarity with OPC UA, EtherNet/IP (preferred), Profinet, and common industrial devices (scanners, drives, motion systems, safety controls).
• Tools & Automation: Experience with Git/GitHub, version control best practices, and scripting/automation (C# or Python) for testing and data processing.
• Data & Analytics: Comfortable working with system KPIs (throughput, gap analysis, divert accuracy, MTBF) and basic SQL or time-series data queries.
• Advanced knowledge of distribution center operations

Travel

• Target 15–30% annual travel with short, purposeful trips; surge windows (up to ~1–2 weeks, 1–3×/year) around go-lives may include evenings/weekends. Actual travel varies by project readiness and customer constraints.

Compensation is DOE: 130k-160k