Controls Engineer at HydraForce Hydraulics Ltd, Perry Barr

Controls Engineer
Birmingham
Permanent 

HydraForce, operating from our purpose-built facility in Birmingham, UK, is a global designer and manufacturer of motion control systems and the world’s leading manufacturer of hydraulic cartridge valves and custom hydraulic integrated circuits, as well as electronic controls for a variety of off-highway industries

Key Responsibilities for Controls Engineer

● Develop and manage programming standards and methodology for manufacturing & testing control systems.

● Design, Develop, Document and Deliver internal training programs for LabView and PLC control systems, to ensure sufficient technical competence across the business to support production.

● Design and develop programs for LabView and PLC control systems to sequentially test and evaluate component performance.

● Design and develop control systems for production testing equipment for existing and new product, working with the designs engineers.

● Working with the automation teams, both internal and external, on the development of automated test solutions.

● Produce required relevant internal documentation to company standards on a timely basis, ensuring accuracy is maintained.

● Liaise with suppliers to determine product specifications and arrange for purchase of equipment, material’s and parts, and evaluate products according to specifications and quality standards

● Design and develop electro-hydraulic control systems for hydraulic machinery and equipment.

● Develop system architectures incorporating hydraulic, electrical, electronic and software components.

● Produce and review control system specifications, schematics, wiring diagrams and system documentation.

● Select and specify appropriate sensors, valves, controllers, PLCs, HMIs and associated control hardware.

● Develop, modify and troubleshoot PLC, embedded or machine-control software.

● Support software version control, testing and documentation.

● Diagnose software and control-system faults during development, commissioning and production.

Testing & Commissioning

● Design, build, test and commission control systems and hydraulic equipment.

● Develop and execute system test plans.

● Conduct functional, performance and validation testing.

● Troubleshoot complex electrical, electronic, software and hydraulic issues.

● Analyse test data and implement corrective actions where required.

Product Development

● Work closely with Mechanical, Hydraulic, Electrical, Software and Manufacturing Engineers on new product development.

● Translate customer and application requirements into practical engineering solutions.

● Support the development of prototypes and proof-of-concept systems.

● Identify opportunities to improve product performance, efficiency, reliability and manufacturability.

● Provide engineering support to manufacturing and production teams.

● Investigate and resolve technical issues affecting production.

● Develop test procedures and production test equipment where required.

Qualifications

Essential for Controls Engineer:

● Degree, HND/HNC or equivalent qualification in Control Systems Engineering, Electrical/Electronic Engineering, Mechatronics, Automation or a related discipline.

● Proven experience in controls, automation or systems engineering within an engineering/manufacturing environment.

● LabVIEW Developer or PLC programmer advantageous

● Strong understanding of hydraulic, electro-hydraulic or automated systems.

● Experience developing and troubleshooting control systems.

● Experience with PLCs, controllers or embedded control systems.

● Ability to read and understand electrical and hydraulic schematics.

● Strong fault-finding and analytical/problem-solving skills.

● Experience taking engineering projects from concept through to testing and implementation.

● Good understanding of sensors, actuators, valves and control hardware.

Desirable for Controls Engineer:

● Experience within mobile hydraulics, industrial hydraulics, off-highway, construction, agricultural, automotive, manufacturing or heavy engineering.

● Experience with LabVIEW / PLC programming and HMI development.

● Experience with embedded C/C++ or other programming languages.

● Experience with electro-hydraulic proportional and servo control systems.

● Experience with data acquisition, power BI, instrumentation and system diagnostics.