Plant Controls Engineer - Gypsum (Savannah, GA)

Your Job

Georgia-Pacific Gypsum is seeking a Plant Controls Engineer to serve as the site technical authority for process control and industrial automation systems at our Savannah, GA facility. This role is intentionally designed as a plant-embedded engineering position, not a pure controls developer role.

The successful candidate will initially function similarly to a Plant Engineer with controls specialization, owning system reliability, safety, lifecycle decisions, and capital execution. Over time, this role is expected to grow into broader technical leadership.

This position has direct impact on safety, reliability, cost reduction, and production availability.

The successful candidate will be provided a $5,000 signing bonus 120 days after starting the new role. External candidates and internal Koch company employees moving to the new location when hired are considered eligible.

Our Team

At Georgia-Pacific, we don't believe that a job is just simply a job. We see each role as a career and a way to advance your skills to not only better your life but the community as well.

What You Will Do

Plant Ownership & Reliability:

• Act as the site technical authority for process control, instrumentation, and automation systems.
• Support production operations through hands-on troubleshooting, root cause analysis, and system optimization with a focus on reliability and availability.
• Evaluate existing control systems and make risk-based recommendations for upgrades, replacements, or standardization.
• Balance technical rigor with real-world production, safety, and maintenance constraints.

Project Engineering & Leadership:

• Lead controls and electrical scope for capital and expense projects, including project definition, design, procurement, construction support, and commissioning.
• Develop engineering deliverables such as functional design specifications, control narratives, electrical drawings, and construction documentation.
• Prepare project cost estimates and execution plans.
• Provide technical leadership to contractors, system integrators, and internal resources, ensuring quality and standards compliance.

Controls & Automation Systems:

• Design, implement, and maintain electrical and control system architectures.
• Participate in PLC, HMI, and SCADA development as needed, with emphasis on system integrity and long-term maintainability rather than routine programming.
• Serve as an escalation point for complex controls issues involving PLCs, HMIs, drives, networks, and servers.

Leadership Development & Collaboration:

• Develop strong partnerships with production, maintenance, and engineering teams to identify improvement opportunities.
• Mentor and support electricians, technicians, and less-experienced engineers.
• Partner with corporate engineering teams to align with standards, share lessons learned, and evaluate new technologies.
• Support site safety programs through effective application of automation and control system solutions.

Who You Are (Basic Qualifications)

• Experience working in an industrial manufacturing environment.
• Strong, senior-level knowledge of Allen-Bradley ControlLogix PLC systems.
• Experience with Ignition SCADA systems.
• Ability to develop and interpret electrical and controls drawings using AutoCAD.
• Demonstrated experience leading technical projects or workstreams.
• Willingness to operate as a plant-embedded engineer, prioritizing reliability, safety, and operational outcomes.

What Will Put You Ahead

• Broad industrial electrical knowledge, including power distribution and field instrumentation.
• Experience with Allen-Bradley drives (PowerFlex VFDs and Kinetix servo systems).
• Experience with GE iFIX.
• Industrial networking experience (EtherNet/IP, DeviceNet, ControlNet, Profibus, Modbus, RS-485).
• Server and PC operating system knowledge (Windows and Linux environments).
• SQL Server or industrial data systems experience.
• Exposure to Industry 4.0, IIoT, and data-driven manufacturing initiatives.
• Demonstrated interest or experience in technical leadership, mentoring, or organizational development.

At Koch companies, we are entrepreneurs. This means we openly challenge the status quo, find new ways to create value and get rewarded for our individual contributions. Any compensation range provided for a role is an estimate determined by available market data. The actual amount may be higher or lower than the range provided considering each candidate's knowledge, skills, abilities, and geographic location. If you have questions, please speak to your recruiter about the flexibility and detail of our compensation philosophy.

Hiring Philosophy

All Koch companies value diversity of thought, perspectives, aptitudes, experiences, and backgrounds. We are Military Ready and Second Chance employers. Learn more about our hiring philosophy here.

Who We Are

Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia-Pacific is one of the world's leading manufacturers and marketers of building products, tissue, packaging, paper, cellulose and related chemicals. The company employs more than 30,000 people at approximately 300 locations in North and South America. Georgia-Pacific creates long-term value by using resources efficiently to provide innovative products and solutions that meet the needs of customers and society, while operating in a manner that is environmentally and socially responsible and economically sound. Georgia-Pacific is an independently managed and operated company of Koch Industries, Inc., a private company headquartered in Wichita, Kansas.

At Koch, employees are empowered to do what they do best to make life better. Learn how our business philosophy helps employees unleash their potential while creating value for themselves and the company.

Our Benefits

Our goal is for each employee, and their families, to live fulfilling and healthy lives. We provide essential resources and support to build and maintain physical, financial, and emotional strength - focusing on overall wellbeing so you can focus on what matters most. Our benefits plan includes - medical, dental, vision, flexible spending and health savings accounts, life insurance, ADD, disability, retirement, paid vacation/time off, educational assistance, and may also include infertility assistance, paid parental leave and adoption assistance. Specific eligibility criteria is set by the applicable Summary Plan Description, policy or guideline and benefits may vary by geographic region. If you have questions on what benefits apply to you, please speak to your recruiter.

Additionally, everyone has individual work and personal needs. We seek to enable the best work environment that helps you and the business work together to produce superior results.

Equal Opportunities

Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability and protected veteran status. Except where prohibited by state law, some offers of employment are conditioned upon successfully passing a drug test. This employer uses E-Verify. Please click here for additional information.

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