Senior Automation Engineer

Position Overview

Novelis is one of the world leaders in aluminum recycling and rolling and a leading sustainable aluminum solutions provider. Driven by our purpose of “shaping a sustainable world together” we work alongside our customers to provide innovative solutions to the aerospace automotive beverage packaging and specialty markets. Headquartered in Atlanta Georgia Novelis has approximately 13000 employees in 32 operating facilities on 4 continents.

Responsibilities & Qualifications

The Novelis Richmond, VA team is seeking an Automation Engineer to work on site. The person in this role will report to the 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

• 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, 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. Collaborate with the Information Technology department on regular maintenance and upgrade of PC’s, servers, software, and other associated equipment.
• 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.
• Influence regional and/or global decision-making by preparing and presenting technical information to senior management on matters with significant business impact, such as regional/multi-site capital expenditures or regional process/product improvements
• 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 to resolve and prevent maintenance and engineering problems and to develop training programs on processes and equipment for the maintenance staffs.
• Application of innovative technology and techniques to resolve sophisticated problems related to Automation, Process Control and Rolling applications.
• Review site equipment and technology for robustness, reliability and obsolescence. Where necessary, develop plans for modifications and/or upgrades. Constantly search for innovations and continuous improvement.
• Resolve and implement automation solutions for monitoring of environmental regulations and process and/or system improvements.
• Develop and maintain relationships with suppliers and other technical resources inside and outside of the Site and Company
• Lead 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.
• Anticipate and lead capital projects from conceptual to implementation phases. Prepare and present robust capital expenditure estimates, schedules and requests, including sound financial analysis/justification, for management approval.
• 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.
• 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 as digitalization and Industry 5.0.

Qualifications

• Bachelor or Master of Science degree in Electrical, Mechatronics, or Automation Engineering.
• 7+ years of experience in the field of factory automation, network, controls, and instrumentation.
• Experience with design and program logic for PLCs, HMIs and VFDs (Studio 5000 preferred).
• Good methodical