Automation Systems Engineer

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Georgia Pacific is seeking an experienced Automation Systems Engineer to join our Manufacturing IT Automation team. This role is a handson technical position focused on the planning, design, implementation, integration and support of material handling and warehouse automation systems across manufacturing sites and remote distribution centers. The Automation Systems Engineer will be an integration expert for platforms that tie shopfloor PLCs and devices to MES, WM, ERP and automation orchestration systems (including AGV/robotic systems), and will enable reliable, maintainable, and scalable automation solutions for 24/7 operations.

• Serve as a technical leader and subject matter expert for material handling and warehouse automation platforms and integration frameworks.
• Design, develop, implement and support automation integrations between PLCs, MES, WM, AGV/robotic controllers, orchestration systems and ERP.
• Partner with Process Control, Engineering, Operations, manufacturing IT, architects and vendors to create and optimize common automation platforms and deployment patterns.
• Develop and maintain automation system and platform architectures, diagrams, runbooks and support documentation for triage and sustainment.
• Analyze manufacturing and system data flows to identify reliability, performance and optimization opportunities.
• Participate in QA/testing of automation functionality and drive defect resolution.
• Develop training materials and enablement content so site operations and local IT can act as first level support.
• Build and contribute to monitoring, alarming and troubleshooting tools and dashboards to accelerate incident resolution by onsite and remote staff.
• Provide 1st and 2nd level automation support; participate in an oncall rotation to support 24/7 operations.
• Facilitate issue resolution with vendors, site operations, and manufacturing IT teams.
• Drive continual improvement initiatives for AGV and other automation platforms from ideation through implementation.
• Travel to manufacturing and distribution sites for fieldwork and projects (see travel expectations below).

• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering or other STEM field, OR at least 4 years of equivalent technical experience.
• Demonstrated professional experience in industrial automation, manufacturing IT, or production operations (supporting industrial or warehouse automation).
• Handson experience with industrial automation systems or manufacturing application software.
• General familiarity with MES and WM systems and a clear understanding of data flows between MES, PLCs, AGV/automation systems and ERP.
• Basic PLC knowledge or experience (development, troubleshooting or integration).
• Experience learning new technologies, managing multiple projects/tasks, and working with dispersed/remote teams.
• Strong communication skills and ability to collaborate with operations, engineering and IT stakeholders.
• Willingness and ability to travel to sites (typically up to ~25-50% depending on role and projects).
• Ability to participate in an oncall rotation to provide 24/7 support.

• 5+ years of experience supporting or implementing automation within manufacturing environments.
• 2+ years implementing or supporting Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) or robotic automation systems.
• Experience with PLC development (ladder, structured text or equivalent).
• Experience with database query languages (e.g., Microsoft SQL).
• Prior experience in pulp & paper or related consumer products/manufacturing industries.
• Experience developing monitoring/alarming solutions and support dashboards for distributed automation systems.
• Demonstrated success developing training materials and enablement programs for site support teams.

At Koch companies, we are entrepreneurs. This means we openly challenge the status quo, find new ways to create value and get rewarded for our individual contributions. Any compensation range provided for a role is an estimate determined by available market data. The actual amount may be higher or lower than the range provided considering each candidate's knowledge,…