First Solar · 1 day ago
Engineer- Controls II USA (1 Shift) MES
Gaffney, SC
Full-time
Onsite
Mid, Senior Level
$67K/yr - $96K/yr
6+ years expFirst Solar is a leading company in the solar energy sector, and they are seeking a Mid-level Controls Engineer to lead the global implementation and development of electrical controls systems. The role involves responsibilities such as troubleshooting equipment controls issues, maintaining electrical drawings, and ensuring compliance with corporate controls standards.
Clean EnergyManufacturingSolar
Responsibilities
Responsible for global support of manufacturing facilities
Responsible for assisting with global coordination of new equipment installation and implementation
Responsible for assisting with global communication between manufacturing process equipment and SQL database
Responsible for maintaining and updating manufacturing process tool electrical drawings globally, ensuring the tracking of equipment changes is documented and drawings are kept current
Responsible for the successful design and theory behind the majority of manufacturing control systems, ensuring new process tools adhere to corporate controls standards and best practices
Responsible for global troubleshooting and problem-solving equipment controls related issues and recommending controls policy/standard changes, if possible, to prevent future issues with new manufacturing process tools
Responsible for interfacing with multiple departments within the organization and external suppliers to ensure corporate controls policies/standards are understood and enforcing compliance
Evaluates new proposed equipment controls systems to MES requirements and provides recommendations to vendor and/or internally
Maintain an effective global communication cadence, foster team building and promote collaboration
Ensures adherence to all safety procedures and good housekeeping standards
Responsible for designing, programming, and coordination of small, mid, and some large-scale control systems and projects
Qualification
Required
Associate's degree in engineering technology or a related field of study with equivalent years of work experience required
Minimum 6 years of manufacturing equipment controls engineering experience
Proven understanding/knowledge and experience in controls engineering techniques and practices which would be required for global facilities including North America, Asia, and Europe
Proven understanding/knowledge and ability to trouble-shoot electrical/electronic control systems
Proven understanding/knowledge of global manufacturing processes and safety requirements
Proven experience using Auto Desk AutoCad drafting software to create electrical schematic and panel layouts
Good understanding/knowledge programming of Rockwell Automation Logix platform PLC's, including ladder, structured text, and function block diagram
Good understanding/knowledge programming Rockwell Automation Human Machine Interfaces (HMI) including PanelView Plus, PanelView Plus CE, and Factory Talk View ME & SE
Good understanding/knowledge designing, programming, and commissioning at least two control networks including EtherNet I/P, DeviceNet, ProfiNet, ControlNet, Profibus and Ethernet TCP
Proven understanding/knowledge of robotic systems including programming, safety requirements, and optimization practices
Good understanding/knowledge of motion controls including Servo Controllers, Variable Frequency Drives, and Stepper controllers
Good understanding/knowledge of vision inspection configuration and programming experience (Cognex & Keyence)
Proven understanding of computer hardware, controls applications and the Microsoft Office family
Knowledge of working in server environment
Knowledge of Microsoft SQL Server Database navigation, data inquiry, and configuration experience
Experience in at least one multi-tiered architecture using C#, VB.NET, HTML, XML and SQL
Understanding/knowledge of Ethernet network architectures and configuration
Excellent oral and written communication skills
Proven problem-solving skills utilizing structured methods
Preferred
Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering or a related field of study preferred
Experience in an industrial, high volume manufacturing facility is desirable
Company
First Solar
First Solar manufactures thin film photovoltaic modules and provides PV power plants and supporting services.
5001-10000 employees
H1B Sponsorship
First Solar has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (57)
2024 (34)
2023 (19)
2022 (15)
2021 (7)
2020 (16)
Funding
Current Stage
Public CompanyTotal Funding
$2.17BKey Investors
U.S. International Development Finance CorpMizuho Corporate Bank
2023-07-06Post Ipo Debt· $1B
2021-12-07Post Ipo Debt· $500M
2021-04-01Undisclosed
Leadership Team
Mark Widmar
CEO
Angela Younes
Office Manager/Assistant to the CTO
Recent News
2026-01-03
2026-01-03
2025-12-25
Company data provided by crunchbase