Solutions Architect - Food & Beverage

Solutions Architect - Food & Beverage

Do you want the opportunity to develop control systems for some of the nation’s greatest companies? Would you relish the chance to tackle a problem a customer is having with their manufacturing process and come up with a solution using your passion for automation and controls? If PLC, HMI, and SCADA are normal acronyms in your vocabulary, I invite you to come be a Control Freak with us.

Who We Are

At Vertech, not only do we develop world class industrial automation solutions for some of the top US companies, we also strive to be the team of choice for the best and brightest talent. I mean, we call ourselves control freaks for a reason. The passion (and intelligence) our employees have is truly mind-blowing. In turn, we work hard to take care of our own with excellent benefits and pay, personal development, and transparent communication. We also know that you can be great at what you do and still have fun. If that sounds like a good fit, help us bring the next generation of automation solutions to nearly every industry, including manufacturing, food and beverage, renewable energy, water and wastewater and more.

Top Reasons to Work with Us

• Flexible work schedule with work from home options for numerous roles

• Weekly communication from management in our internally famous Friday morning meeting

• Competitive Compensation including a bonus plan

• No more than a 4 week waiting period on all benefits including the 401k

• A really rad Christmas Party each year

• A manager that is cool…most of the time, because no one is perfect

• A path for growth, a great culture, PTO, AND MORE!

What You Will Be Doing

• Architect the best solution for each customer’s requirements, schedule, and budget, from the first conversation through prototyping and final sign-off

• Work with the sales team on proposals and estimates, and justify the right technology for each application

• Design the control system architecture: PLC and SCADA platforms, networks, I/O, and how data moves from the plant floor to MES and the business systems

• Shape MES and SCADA solutions for dairies, breweries, distilleries, beverage plants, and co-packers, including OEE and downtime tracking, track and trace, and ISA-88 batch control

• Be the go-to food and beverage expert for Vertech staff and customers whenever a project needs it

• Act as the tech lead early on: break the scope into tasks and deliverables, keep project managers and customers current on scope changes, and hand off once the project is mapped out and underway

• Jump in hands-on when staffing calls for it, from high level PLC programming to SCADA development and HMI design

• Create in-house training through Vertech University and mentor integrators at every level

• Write blog posts, white papers, and case studies for Vertech’s website and marketing

• Deliver a new product, service, or process each year that adds to Vertech’s mission (and ultimately the bottom line), and help grow our food and beverage team

What You Need for this Position

• BS in computer science, math, software, chemical, mechanical, or electrical engineering preferred, or relevant experience

• 12 or more years in industrial automation, much of it at the senior level, including 10 or more years of PLC and SCADA development

• Proven, recognized expertise in food and beverage automation, from raw ingredient receiving through processing and packaging

• A track record of architecting control systems and helping sales scope, estimate, and win projects

• Subject matter expert in at least one of ladder logic, structured text, or function block, with working knowledge of at least one more

• Hands-on PLC and SCADA expertise across multiple major platforms, such as Rockwell, Siemens, Ignition, AVEVA/Wonderware, and FactoryTalk View SE

• Proficiency with industrial networks and protocols, including EtherNet/IP, Profinet, Modbus, OPC UA, and MQTT

• Able to design complex plant networks and set up virtual machines and cloud services on Azure or AWS

• Experience with ISA-88 batch control, Sepasoft MES, or Canary historians is a big plus

• Certified in at least two of Ignition Gold, Wonderware Certified Developer, or WinCC OA Certified Engineer, or willing to earn them within your first year

• Knowledge of industry standard software design practices, including Agile and Scrum

• Excellent oral and written communication skills

• Ability to travel up to 20%