Automation Engineer

Position Overview

Novelis is the world leader in aluminum rolling and recycling, producing an estimated 19 percent of the world's flat-rolled aluminum products. We work alongside our customers to provide innovative solutions to the aerospace, beverage can, automotive and high-end specialty markets.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, Novelis has approximately 11,600 employees in 33 operating facilities on four continents and is investing $2.5 billion to build a new low-carbon recycling and rolling plant in Bay Minette, Alabama. The highly advanced facility will serve growing demand for aluminum beverage can sheet in North America. The new facility will also serve the automotive market, where aluminum is the fastest growing material as automakers make plans to achieve their sustainability goals. It will aim to be net carbon neutral for Scope 1 and 2, be powered primarily by renewable energy, use recycled water and be a zero-waste facility.

 

The Novelis Bay Minette, AL team is seeking a Hot Mill Automation Engineer to work on site. The person in this role will report to the Hot Mill EMRA Leader. The ideal candidate will be responsible for leading systems engineering and providing support in the areas of automation and computer systems to contribute to the achievement of the plant’s safety, quality, sustainability and budget objectives. This position will guide and manage the activities of others related to reliability/maintenance, Information Technology (IT), Industry 5.0 and keep current with the constantly evolving technology, balancing it with the needs of the operations to bring forth improvements in automated systems and methods.

Responsibilities & Qualifications

Responsibilities:

• Embrace the Novelis Safety Principles to build a zero-injury culture and the Novelis cultural beliefs of Be Open, Build Trust, Say Anything and Be Authentic!
• Assist in troubleshooting, advanced analysis and identify areas of potential advancements in the processes, equipment, and facilities to achieve increased profitability through reduced costs, increased efficiency, improved quality, increase production output and optimized equipment uptime.
• Support the aluminum manufacturing process by working closely with the Operations, Engineering, Administrative, and Process groups.
• Work closely with the Automation, Reliability & Engineering Managers, develop conceptual and functional requirements for short- and long-term process and equipment development (facility planning) consistent with the business plan.
• Assignment to an on-call rotation to provide after-hours and weekend support as the need arises to assist maintenance in the troubleshooting and resolution of issues having an immediate impact on plant performance. This can involve providing direction/mentorship remotely and/or onsite.
• Technically lead maintenance technicians and engineers as needed- to resolve and prevent maintenance and engineering problems and to develop training programs on processes and equipment for the maintenance staffs.

• Application of state-of-the-art technology and techniques to resolve complex problems related to Automation, Process Control and Rolling applications.
• Training teams on subject relates to Automation, Process Control and Rolling applications.

• Develop and maintain relationships with suppliers and other technical resources inside and outside of the Site and Company
• Is responsible for the full scope of the automation and controls projects including budget control, schedule, and compliance with safety, environmental and sustainability requirements, to assure performance against expectations.
• Review Site equipment and technology for robustness, reliability and obsolescence. Where necessary, develop plans for modifications and/or upgrades.
• Prepare and present robust capital expenditure estimates, schedules and requests, including sound financial analysis/justification, for management approval.
• Constantly search for innovations and continuous improvement.
• Anticipate and lead capital projects from conceptual to implementation phases
• Lead development of Level 0 (sensors and actuators), Level I and Level II (process automation) and to support the plant and personnel in a timely manner.
• Communication interface with plant utilities (power distribution, water, compressed air, etc.).
• Interface with the Information Technology department on regular maintenance and upgrade of PC’s, servers, software, and other associated equipment.
• Drive the deployment of digital capabilities via Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and incorporate industry best practices. Expand the application of data capturing & contextualization to the next level by embracing the latest trends in manufacturing such a