Controls Engineer
Controls & Automation | Peoria, IL (In-Person) | Full-Time
Compensation: $90,000 – $135,000
Reports To: Controls and Automation Manager
Every machine we build is different, and every one needs a control system that makes it run safely and reliably. If you’d rather design that system from the ground up than tweak someone else’s, keep reading.
Rheo Engineering designs and builds powder handling equipment used to make life-saving medicine. As a Controls Engineer, you’ll design the controls for a wide variety of custom machines and mechanical systems — then see them built and tested right here in our Peoria facility.
What You’ll Do
- Review user requirements with Project Managers from an electronics and controls standpoint
- Develop functional logic flowcharts and functional design specifications with the Engineering and R&D teams
- Source control system components and build a complete bill of materials for each machine
- Design pneumatic and hydraulic circuits and complete line diagrams
- Create relay ladder logic (wiring) diagrams
- Design control panels for equipment
- Write PLC code for equipment
- Test and debug control systems on the equipment you design
- Support the Product Manager on product initiatives like improved functionality and cost reduction
- Lead client review meetings to assess product utility and gather customer feedback
What We’re Looking For
Experience
- Bachelor’s degree in a technical or engineering field
- 4+ years of relevant experience with PLC programming, debugging, and testing
- Experience with pneumatic systems
- Familiarity with Allen-Bradley PLCs or similar
Software
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, Visio, Teams)
- Proficiency in AutoCAD Electrical or another 2D CAD package
Traits
- Superb Communication — you get your ideas, instructions, and points across clearly and naturally
- Detail-Orientation — high attention to detail and highly organized
- Extreme Ownership — you see a project through from beginning to end, no matter the obstacle
- Mechanical Aptitude — you easily understand and navigate mechanical systems
- Team Focused — others find you easy to work with
- Self-Starter — you consistently take initiative
Values Alignment
- Initiative: instinct for taking action to improve, solve, and deliver.
- Collaboration: proactive communication with your stakeholders.
- Competence: ability to do your job well.
- Reliability: persistent follow-through on commitments.
- Bold Humility: courage to speak, act, and listen without arrogance.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with hydraulic systems
- Experience with touchscreen HMIs, VFDs, PLCs, and I/O modules
- Experience installing and wiring instrumentation
- Experience bench testing control systems
- Experience with Autodesk Inventor or another 3D CAD package
Why Rheo
- Privately owned and operated for 30 years and counting
- Excellent benefits – see section below
- Smaller team (~100 team members) with a strong, in-person work culture
- Unique, high-impact work — direct influence over the safe, reliable, and efficient production of medicine worldwide
- Real variety — custom machines, not the same control panel over and over
- Vertically integrated — see the systems you design get built and tested in the same building
- A growing company in a stable, regulated industry where precision engineering matters
Benefits
- Leading medical insurance — consistently low rates compared to other businesses in the area
- Health Savings Account with employer contributions (plan-dependent)
- Dental, vision, and life insurance
- Short-term and long-term disability
- Identity theft insurance
- 401(k) with 4% employer match
- Generous PTO
- Paid paternity and maternity leave
- Paid cell phone plan with stipend for a new phone every 2 years
- Employee referral program
Working Conditions — NEEDS REVIEW
Office-based with regular desk and computer work, plus regular time on the manufacturing floor for control system testing and debugging, and periodic visits to vendor and client sites. Must be able to lift up to 25 pounds at times and to bend/stoop, climb stairs and ladders, squat, kneel, and push/pull as needed. Appropriate PPE is required on the manufacturing floor and at vendor and client sites. Travel up to approximately 5–10% of the time. Standard 8-hour workday; occasional overtime as needed. The physical requirements described here are representative of those that must be met to perform the essential functions of this role, with or without reasonable accommodation.
Rheo Engineering is an equal opportunity employer.