Automation Engineer - Life Sciences

At Excel Engineering, we are the power behind our clients’ processes.

We are a full-service engineering consulting firm specializing in electrical engineering, industrial automation, and power systems. For over 30 years, we’ve partnered with leading companies across industries to deliver solutions that improve safety, efficiency, and performance.

Our work spans sectors including life sciences, consumer goods, chemical, oil & gas, and utilities, giving our team the opportunity to work on complex, high-impact projects.

What sets us apart is our approach, we build long-term partnerships by understanding our clients’ operations and acting as an extension of their team. If you’re looking to grow your skills, take on meaningful challenges, and make a real impact, Excel Engineering offers the opportunity to do just that.

Excel Engineering is seeking an Automation Engineer for its Life Sciences division located in our main office in Mounds View, MN. This position will execute projects both independently and in a team structure, delivering engineered industrial control & automation solutions to our clients in support of their manufacturing processes. Knowledge of PLCs, HMI/SCADA, VFDs, P&IDs, Good Manufacturing Practices, and validation workflows within the pharmaceutical/biotech industries is fundamental to this role. This position works closely with other engineers, project managers, vendors, contractors, and client team members in support of both capital and operational improvement projects.

Role Overview

• Understand client manufacturing processes to support the design of associated control systems and automation integration.
• Develop functional specification and design specification documents for client review and subsequent code development.
• Create programmable logical controller (PLC) programs, HMI applications, and batch recipes from user requirements and functional specifications.
• Perform control system validation based on specification documents and project requirements, either developing and executing directly or as automation support for designated validation resources.
• Develop project scopes and estimates based on discussions with clients. Develop and issue proposals in response to client requests.
• Specify, configure, and commission variable frequency drives (VFDs) based on project scope.
• Design network layout and analyze data traffic and server requirements to support the control system design.
• Perform calculations for power, heat dissipation, wire sizing, fusing, and other activities required for control panel design.
• Delegate and assign work to team members on larger-scope projects and independently execute multiple concurrent small projects as needed.