Controls Engineer in Manchester
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Job Description
Job title: Controls Engineer\n\nLocation: Greater Manchester (predominantly office based; UK site travel for commissioning)\n\nSalary: £55,000–£60,000 + accelerated overtime pay\n\nAbout the role\n\nA well-established, privately held engineering company specialising in bespoke automation and special-purpose machinery is recruiting a Controls Engineer to join a small, experienced controls team. The company delivers end-to-end automation (mechanical, electrical, controls, software and commissioning) across multiple industries and values hands-on problem solving, clear documentation and high quality commissioning.\n\nWhat you’ll do\n\n * Design, develop and commission PLC and HMI software from scratch for bespoke machines and automated systems.\n\n * Lead motion control and servo programming tasks — select axes, tune loops and implement coordinated multi-axis motion profiles.\n\n * Work primarily with Siemens S7 / TIA Portal and Allen-Bradley (Studio 5000/RSLogix) environments.\n\n * Integrate PLC control with drives, servos, HMIs, I/O racks and field networks (Profinet, EtherNet/IP, etc.).\n\n * Collaborate with mechanical, electrical and robotics engineers to create robust integrated solutions.\n\n * Attend factory acceptance tests and perform on-site commissioning and customer handovers (UK travel required).\n\n * Produce and maintain documentation: I/O lists, functional descriptions, wiring interfaces and commissioning notes.\n\n * Provide technical support and troubleshooting during installation and post-install warranty period.\n\nEssential experience & skills\n\n * Strong, demonstrable experience programming Siemens S7 / TIA Portal and Allen-Bradley PLCs — able to build control systems from first principles.\n\n * Proven experience in motion control and servo programming (designing trajectories, tuning, homing, backlash compensation, following error management).\n\n * Excellent fault-finding, logical thinking and ladder/structured/textual programming skills.\n\n * Experience with HMIs (WinCC/FactoryTalk or similar) and panel design.\n\n * Comfortable with on-site commissioning and client-facing activities.\n\n * Good documentation skills and an organised approach to software versioning and backups.\n\n * Team player with strong verbal/written communication.\n\nDesirable (not essential)\n\n * Exposure to industrial robots (ABB / KUKA / Fanuc / Universal Robots) or robot integration projects.\n\n * Background in special-purpose machinery, machine tending, assembly lines or packaging equipment.\n\n * Familiarity with industrial networks (Profinet, EtherNet/IP) and drive brands (Siemens drives, Allen-Bradley Kinetix, Bosch Rexroth, SEW, Yaskawa, etc.).\n\n * Electrical wiring/termination experience and reading schematics.\n\nWhat’s on offer\n\n * Competitive salary: £55k–£60k (dependent on experience).\n\n * Accelerated overtime pay for extra hours (above standard working hours).\n\n * Varied, technically interesting projects across multiple industries.\n\n * Hands-on role with a senior engineering team and clear career progression.\n\n * Predominantly office-based with planned travel for commissioning and FATs
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