Electronic Controls Engineer

Hood Industries, Inc. is a diversified wood products company with manufacturing and distribution operations across the United States. Our operations include plywood plants, lumber manufacturing facilities, and specialty wood products distribution locations serving customers throughout the Northeast, Southeast, and Southwest.

If you are a high-performing, motivated, results-driven professional with a passion for helping people, the Electronic Controls Engineer role within our corporate Technology department in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, may be right for you.

The Electronic Controls Engineer is a corporate-level role that is responsible for designing, implementing, troubleshooting, and continuously improving industrial control systems across multiple mill locations. This position supports both capital projects and existing operations involving PLCs, SCADA systems, Ignition software, HMIs, industrial networking, instrumentation, robotics, and electrical controls. The ideal candidate combines strong technical expertise with a hands-on approach to problem solving, plant support, and collaboration with mill maintenance and operations teams.

Essential Functions:

• Design, program, troubleshoot, and support PLC, HMI, SCADA, and Ignition applications
• Develop automation solutions that improve equipment uptime, safety, reliability, and production efficiency
• Design and maintain operator interfaces, dashboards, alarm management systems, historian platforms, and reporting tools.
• Oversee and collaborate with vendors and equipment OEMs to support equipment needs, resolve issues, and ensure successful project execution.
• Provide advanced technical support for PLC systems, instrumentation, industrial networks, and electrical equipment.
• Configure and troubleshoot industrial communication networks including EtherNet/IP, ControlNet, DeviceNet, OPC UA, Modbus TCP, and MQTT
• Support the development of work scopes, testing procedures, commissioning plans, and operational documentation.
• Modify control system logic and industrial machinery to optimize equipment performance and control.
• Lead control system upgrades, modernization projects, commissioning activities, and OEM integrations.
• Provide corporate controls support to multiple mill locations, partnering with local maintenance and operations teams to troubleshoot issues, standardize solutions, and improve system reliability.
• Support, troubleshoot, and coordinate improvements for Fanuc and ABB robotic systems, including robot interfaces, safety circuits, controls integration, and production-related automation issues.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory, company, and industry standards
• Test, inspect, and adjust control instrumentation to determine causes of instrument malfunction.

Education and Experience:

A degree in electrical engineering, Controls Engineering, Automation Engineering, or a related technical field with at least 7 years of controls engineering experience; or equivalent industrial automation experience.

Skills and Knowledge Areas:

• PLC-based automation and machine control platforms, including Allen-Bradley/Rockwell ControlLogix and Siemens systems.
• Enterprise and plant-level process monitoring and visualization platforms, including Ignition by Inductive Automation, FactoryTalk View SE/ME, and AVEVA System Platform/Wonderware.
• Industrial robotics systems including Fanuc and ABB, supporting robotic cell and continuous line integration, robot programming, vision-guided robotics, robotic safety systems, and integration with PLC-based automation environments.
• Machine vision and automated inspection technologies, including Cognex, Keyence, and Omron; used for edge detection, product inspection, defect detection, barcode/OCR scanning, alignment verification, and vision-guided robotics applications.
• Industrial networking and communication protocols, including Ethernet/IP, PROFINET, Modbus TCP/RTU, OPC UA/DA, DeviceNet, and ControlNet.
• Industrial data collection and historian platforms, including Ignition Historian, OSIsoft PI/AVEVA PI, Canary Historian, or related systems.
• Industrial condition, machine health, and sensor monitoring platforms, including Augury, SKF Enlight, Emerson AMS, Siemens Senseye, and Fluke Reliability.
• Ability to read and interpret electrical schematics, drawings, and technical documentation.
• Familiarity with conveyors, short-cycle press systems, drying equipment, pumps, gearboxes, and related manufacturing equipment.
• Knowledge of pneumatic and hydraulic system operation, troubleshooting, and integration with industrial equipment.

**What you bring to the team:

• Strong organizational, leadership and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Strong leadership, excelling in teamwork.
• Excellent technical aptitude.
• Good knowledge of plant processes.
• Good judgement with the ability to make timely and sound decisions.
• Proven safety and quality record.

Travel:

This position is based out of the Hattiesburg office and includes day trips to our local mills to provide support as needed.

Salary Range: $86,000 - $104,000Additional Information:

Hood Industries offers a competitive salary and an excellent benefits package including medical, employee assistance program, dental, vision, cancer, flexible spending account, life, 401k, and LTD, available first of the month following completion of one month of continuous full-time employment.

Hood Industries requires that applicants consent to a background check and a drug screen to continue in the selection process. All employment offers are contingent on meeting our background check standards and successful passing of required drug test. If hired, you will be required to provide documentation indicating your legal right to work in the U.S.

An Equal Opportunity Employer