NOW HIRING: MAINTENANCE CONTROLS TECHNICIAN IN NEWPORT NEWS, VA! Position: Maintenance Controls Technician
Location: Newport News, VA
Job Overview for Maintenance Controls Technician The Lee Group is seeking an experienced
Maintenance Controls Technician for a direct-hire opportunity with one of our valued manufacturing clients in Newport News, VA.
This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced industrial maintenance and controls professional who wants to combine hands-on technical work with greater ownership of equipment reliability and preventive maintenance. The Maintenance Controls Technician will work closely with plant leadership to improve equipment uptime, reduce unplanned downtime, strengthen preventive maintenance practices, and support production equipment throughout the facility.
The right candidate will bring strong hands-on experience with PLCs, HMIs, drives, sensors, I/O, industrial networks, and automated manufacturing equipment. This person must be comfortable connecting directly to PLCs and HMIs, reviewing PLC logic, tracing equipment faults, managing program backups, and making controlled program changes.
In addition to controls troubleshooting, the Maintenance Controls Technician will help build and manage preventive maintenance systems, CMMS records, equipment histories, critical spare parts, and reliability initiatives.
Job Responsibilities of Maintenance Controls Technician - Troubleshoot and repair mechanical, electrical, pneumatic, hydraulic, and automation-related issues on production equipment.
- Connect directly to PLCs and HMIs using applicable programming and diagnostic software.
- Review PLC logic, monitor inputs and outputs, trace alarms and interlocks, and diagnose equipment faults.
- Troubleshoot PLCs, HMIs, drives, sensors, I/O devices, motor controls, and industrial communication networks.
- Manage PLC and HMI program backups and perform controlled program changes, testing, and documentation.
- Coordinate preventive and predictive maintenance activities across production equipment, utilities, and facility assets.
- Help build, organize, and continuously improve the facility's preventive maintenance program.
- Maintain CMMS records, maintenance schedules, equipment histories, work instructions, service records, and related documentation.
- Monitor recurring failures, overdue PMs, equipment downtime, and chronic reliability issues.
- Support root cause analysis and corrective actions for recurring mechanical, electrical, and controls-related failures.
- Organize and maintain critical spare parts and help establish appropriate stock levels and reorder points.
- Coordinate maintenance vendors, contractors, service providers, and equipment manufacturers as needed.
- Support equipment installations, commissioning, startups, line changes, and new equipment introductions.
- Partner with Operations and Production leadership to identify opportunities to improve equipment reliability and OEE.
- Perform general facility maintenance and repairs as needed, with primary emphasis on equipment reliability, automation and controls, preventive maintenance, and maintenance systems.
- Perform other duties and projects as assigned.
Job Qualifications of Maintenance Controls Technician - Associate degree in automation, electrical, controls, mechatronics, or a related technical field required. Bachelor's degree in a related field preferred.
- Minimum of 5 years of industrial maintenance, reliability, maintenance planning, technical operations support, or related manufacturing experience.
- Proven hands-on experience troubleshooting PLCs, HMIs, drives, sensors, I/O devices, motor controls, and industrial communication networks.
- Must have experience directly connecting to PLCs and HMIs, reviewing PLC logic, troubleshooting equipment faults, managing program backups, and making controlled program changes.
- Experience with Allen-Bradley, Siemens, or similar PLC and automation platforms required.
- Experience building or managing a preventive maintenance program, CMMS records, equipment histories, and critical spare parts required.
- Strong working knowledge of industrial mechanical and electrical systems, including motors, drives, controls, conveyors, pumps, pneumatics, and hydraulics.
- Ability to read and interpret electrical schematics, blueprints, manuals, parts breakdowns, and other technical documentation.
- Working knowledge of lockout/tagout, machine safety, and industrial maintenance safety practices.
- Strong troubleshooting, problem-solving, organizational, documentation, and follow-through skills.
- Experience with equipment installation, startup, and commissioning preferred.
- Experience working in a regulated manufacturing environment preferred.
Working Conditions & Physical Requirements of Maintenance Controls Technician - Ability to work in an active manufacturing environment with exposure to machinery, forklift traffic, noise, changing temperatures, and production activity.
- Ability to regularly walk throughout the facility and perform a combination of hands-on floor support and maintenance coordination work.
- Ability to stand, bend, climb stairs and ladders, and lift up to 50 pounds with or without assistance as required.
- Schedule flexibility may occasionally be required to support equipment installations, startups, urgent repairs, vendor visits, and special projects.
Pay Details
- $80,000 - $100,000 annually, based on experience and qualifications.
- Direct-hire opportunity.
- Bonus potential.
- Competitive benefits package.
Shift Details
- Full-time, direct-hire position.
- Regular schedule: 1st Shift, 7:00am - 3:30pm with on-call availability
- Some schedule flexibility may be required to support equipment installations, startups, urgent repairs, vendor visits, and special projects
