How to hire a manufacturing controls engineer

How to hire a manufacturing controls engineer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step manufacturing controls engineer hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a manufacturing controls engineer job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new manufacturing controls engineer
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a manufacturing controls engineer do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your manufacturing controls engineer job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a manufacturing controls engineer for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A manufacturing controls engineer's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, manufacturing controls engineers from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   This list presents manufacturing controls engineer salaries for various positions.

   Type of Manufacturing Controls Engineer	Description	Hourly rate
   Manufacturing Controls Engineer	Industrial engineers find ways to eliminate wastefulness in production processes. They devise efficient systems that integrate workers, machines, materials, information, and energy to make a product or provide a service.	$35-60
   Supplier Quality Engineer	A Supplier Quality Engineer ensures that the supplier's quality standards are in accordance with the requirement of the organization. They also report supplier performance and quality to management.	$30-51
   Engineer	Engineers are highly trained professionals who determine the feasibility of various projects, usually related to the construction industry. They are considered experts in mathematics and science, two disciplines that they need to use in designing and coming up with plans for projects... Show more	$31-62

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • PLC
   • CNC
   • Lean Manufacturing
   • HMI
   • Control Systems
   • FANUC
   • CAD
   • Technical Support
   • Product Quality
   • Financial Statements
   • Sigma
   • OSHA
   • Internal Controls
   • CPA

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Lead ERP implementations, cost conversions and system upgrades.
   • Lead systems integration for existing equipment involving PLC code, HMI development and motion control system modifications.
   • Manage all aspects of weekly payroll processing and internal allocations.
   • Lead several independent, cross-functional projects and improve manufacturing quality, reduce cost, ensure environment are supported and FDA compliant.
   • Perform troubleshooting and programming on high speed digital vision inspection systems, robotic machinery, and PLC I/O control systems.
   • Certify in OSHA rules and regulations.

   More manufacturing controls engineer duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your manufacturing controls engineer job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A manufacturing controls engineer salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a manufacturing controls engineer in South Dakota may be lower than in Washington, and an entry-level manufacturing controls engineer usually earns less than a senior-level manufacturing controls engineer. Additionally, a manufacturing controls engineer with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average manufacturing controls engineer salary

   $96,327yearly

   $46.31 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level manufacturing controls engineer salary

   $73,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 22, 2026

   Average manufacturing controls engineer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$135,642	$65
   2	Nevada	$110,204	$53
   3	Massachusetts	$109,090	$52
   4	New Mexico	$104,697	$50
   5	Wyoming	$104,587	$50
   6	Texas	$104,410	$50
   7	Georgia	$100,870	$49
   8	Arizona	$100,008	$48
   9	North Carolina	$99,951	$48
   10	Oklahoma	$98,381	$47
   11	Oregon	$97,689	$47
   12	Connecticut	$96,808	$47
   13	Utah	$95,714	$46
   14	Missouri	$95,021	$46
   15	Colorado	$93,037	$45
   16	New Jersey	$92,996	$45
   17	Pennsylvania	$92,209	$44
   18	Mississippi	$91,258	$44
   19	Michigan	$88,123	$42
   20	Illinois	$87,927	$42

   Average manufacturing controls engineer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	JUUL	$109,271	$52.53
   2	Faraday Technology	$105,948	$50.94
   3	Tesla	$103,619	$49.82	21
   4	Corning Incorporated	$103,350	$49.69	71
   5	Lucid Motors	$101,277	$48.69	32
   6	Ricoh	$100,761	$48.44	1
   7	PPG	$100,152	$48.15	6
   8	Form Energy	$98,706	$47.45	16
   9	TRW Automotive Holdings	$98,149	$47.19
   10	Thermo Fisher Scientific	$97,562	$46.90	105
   11	CyberCoders	$94,783	$45.57
   12	ICONMA	$93,090	$44.75
   13	Siva	$92,390	$44.42
   14	Jabil	$91,091	$43.79	84
   15	Engineering Resource Group	$91,041	$43.77
   16	Saint-Gobain	$90,832	$43.67	49
   17	Logical Systems	$90,460	$43.49	3
   18	Emerge	$90,232	$43.38
   19	B. Braun Medical	$89,017	$42.80
   20	BrassCraft	$89,001	$42.79

4. Writing a manufacturing controls engineer job description

   A job description for a manufacturing controls engineer role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a manufacturing controls engineer job description:

   Manufacturing controls engineer job description example

   Are you ready to rise to the challenge of climate change with the team that will deliver? Form Energy is a U.S. technology and manufacturing company that is developing and commercializing pioneering energy storage technologies to enable the electric grid to run on 100% renewable energy, every day of the year.
   
   Supported by leading investors such as Breakthrough Energy Ventures, ArcelorMittal, TPG Rise, MIT's The Engine, and others, we share a common belief that low-cost, multi-day energy storage is the key to enable tomorrow's zero carbon electric grid. Driven by our core values of humanity, excellence, and creativity, we are deeply motivated and inspired to create a better world. We need talented, hardworking individuals who share our goal of tackling the challenge of climate change. Do you want to work with us today to build a better tomorrow?
   Role Description
   We are looking for an experienced controls engineer to join the new and growing Advanced Manufacturing team, responsible for developing novel equipment used to manufacture electrodes for Form Energy's commercial product. This role offers an exciting opportunity to bring novel manufacturing equipment to life while doing your part to help combat climate change! Reporting to the Manager of Advanced Manufacturing, you will lead a quickly-growing controls group while focusing on creating equipment for manufacturing and its sub-assemblies. In this role, you will build control systems for PLC driven robotic cells, servo actuated mechatronic systems, and high volume automated process equipment, with an initial focus on subsystem development and later on system integration in a manufacturing environment.
   
   Bringing your experience in control system design, programming, commissioning, and equipment hand off to manufacturing operations, you will work closely with a wide variety of teams both on the technical and operational sides of Form. You can expect to become deeply entrenched in the intersection of critical functions including control system design, process engineering, and manufacturing operations as the team works toward a common goal of manufacturing high performance electrodes in high volume.
   What You'll Do:Lead and grow a world-class team of controls engineers that deliver on key objectives toward advancing Form Energy's manufacturing equipment development efforts.Develop company level controls standards and specifications for application by the internal equipment development team and external partners.Create controls system architecture and logic for manufacturing equipment and production lines.Participate in initial equipment conceptual development and carefully balance product specifications, process requirements, layout complexity, cost, and lead-time limits.Lay out new industrial electrical control panels which are NFPA79/NEC/UL508A compliant, and create electrical, pneumatic and fluid schematics.Architect, write, and debug PLC controls logic with an emphasis on generating code that is organized, structured, documented, maintainable and reusable. Work with cross-functional teams throughout the entire lifecycle of the manufacturing equipment development.Characterize and validate new automated process equipment for deployment into production.
   What You'll Bring:5+ years of experience as a hands-on Controls Engineer or Robotics Engineer working on automation and/or electromechanical systems.Proficiency with electromechanical / mechatronic system design and motion control as well as process automation. Advanced proficiency in programming industrial equipment in all IEC 61131-3 languages with a focus on structured text and ladder logic.Experience developing the controls system logic for industrial equipment including, Safety PLCs, Human Machine Interface, Field bus Networks, Serial and ethernet communication between PLCs and instruments, and database systems.Experience programming 6-Axis industrial robots (Fanuc, Kuka, ABB, etc).Proficiency selecting and integrating hardware for industrial automation and sensing, including but not limited to appropriate circuit protectors, wire and cablings, sensors, safety hardware, PLC hardware, motor controls elements.Proficiency creating detailed electrical and fluid schematics in CAD (AutoCAD Electrical preferred).Proven ability to design fault-tolerant systems with error handling and recovery.Strong technical communication skills, both written and verbal.Excitement and willingness to lead a rapidly growing multi-disciplinary engineering team.BS degree or higher in Electrical Engineering (or equivalent).
   #LI-DL1
   
   Besides joining a community of people working to make the world better, Form Energy commits to you equitable compensation, stock options, and offers a generous benefits package to make sure you have the support you need to thrive.
   
   We cover 100% of employee premiums and 80% of dependent premiums for medical, dental, and vision insurance for full time employees. We offer a flexible Paid Time Off program and every employee, regardless of gender identity or expression, is eligible for 12 weeks of paid parental bonding leave. A full listing of our benefits is available on our careers page.
   
   At Form Energy, we are working toward a 100% renewable energy future for everyone in the world. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all our employees and are seeking to build a team that reflects the diversity of the people we hope to serve with our revolutionary products. Form Energy is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find manufacturing controls engineers for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any manufacturing controls engineers they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level manufacturing controls engineers with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your manufacturing controls engineer job on Zippia to find and recruit manufacturing controls engineer candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit manufacturing controls engineers, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new manufacturing controls engineer

   Once you've decided on a perfect manufacturing controls engineer candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new manufacturing controls engineer. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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