Senior Control Systems Engineer

About the role

Zutari, a management-owned engineering firm with almost 90 years' experience, is seeking a highly experienced and decisive Senior Control Systems Engineer to lead the design, development and execution of major industrial automation projects. The role covers engineering standards, custom integration solutions, large-scale automation projects and the commissioning and handover of complex manufacturing, process and distribution systems. It suits someone with 10-15 years of experience and advanced expertise in PLC, SCADA, HMI and MES platforms.

Key responsibilities

• Define and improve technical standards, frameworks and governance for PLC, SCADA, MES and OT architectures, aligned to ISA, IEC and ISA-88
• Lead the full control system lifecycle, from architecture and functional specifications to PLC/DCS logic, SCADA/HMI applications and MES integrations
• Integrate multi-vendor systems across electrical, mechanical and IT/OT domains
• Configure PLC, SCADA, HMI, DCS and MES platforms and implement industrial protocols
• Lead commissioning, FAT and SAT, validation, defect resolution, start-up, operator training and handover
• Manage project delivery (scope, schedule, cost, risk), coordinate teams and vendors, and act as the main technical interface with clients
• Design control panels, instrumentation, field devices and OT networks, and produce P&IDs, I/O lists, control narratives and architecture diagrams
• Analyse plant performance with historian data, perform root cause analysis and loop tuning, and support Industry 4.0 initiatives
• Mentor junior engineers and system integrators and plan site activities

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree or BTech in Mechatronic or Electrical Engineering or a closely related field
• Registered as a Professional Engineer/Technologist with the Engineering Council of South Africa
• 8-10 years of hands-on experience as an Automation Engineer or System Integrator in industrial environments
• Proven track record delivering large-scale automation and control system projects

Required skills

• Expert PLC programming: Siemens TIA/S7, Allen Bradley RsLogix/Studio 5000, Schneider Control Expert, Beckhoff and CodeSys
• SCADA and MES: Ignition, Wonderware InTouch/System Platform, Siemens WinCC, batch control, L1/L2/L3 architecture
• C#, Python, SQL (Postgres and MS SQL), REST APIs and JSON
• Industrial protocols: ProfiNet, EtherCAT, Modbus, Ethernet/IP and MQTT