Automation Engineer

Automation Engineer is a full-time opening at SADAFCO in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, for a hands-on plant automation specialist who can keep a busy food manufacturing plant running safely with as little downtime as possible. You will look after automation systems from processing and filling through packaging, conveying, and palletizing, working with PLCs, SCADA, and modern industrial networks every day. The salary is not disclosed in the listing, and this is a mid-career role for a candidate with at least five years of experience.

Key Responsibilities

• Attend automation breakdowns and bring equipment back into safe, efficient operation as quickly as possible.
• Troubleshoot PLCs, HMIs, SCADA systems, control panels, drives, servo systems, sensors, instruments, robots, vision systems, and industrial communication faults.
• Support production equipment across processing, mixing, UHT, CIP, filling, packaging, inspection, conveying, wrapping, and palletizing.
• Coordinate with production, mechanical, electrical, quality, IT/OT, OEMs, and contractors during complex breakdowns.
• Support equipment start-up, shutdown, cleaning, product changeovers, trials, and new product introductions.
• Record, escalate, and hand over unresolved issues with clear actions, ownership, and operational status.
• Represent the automation team in the plant's daily manufacturing meeting and report automation downtime, improvement projects, and changes to automation assets.
• Monitor and troubleshoot PLC programs, sequences, interlocks, alarms, safety conditions, and machine communication.
• Maintain Siemens WinCC and Wonderware/AVEVA InTouch SCADA and HMI systems, including servers, operator stations, tags, alarms, trends, and communication with PLCs.
• Make authorized minor modifications to PLC, HMI, SCADA, drive, and machine-control applications through the approved change process.
• Troubleshoot sensors, transmitters, control valves, weighing systems, flowmeters, temperature and pressure instruments, and other field devices, and verify their signals, scaling, calibration, and communication with PLC and SCADA systems.
• Troubleshoot industrial networks and protocols such as Profinet, Profibus, Ethernet/IP, Modbus TCP, OPC UA, AS-i, and IO-Link, using only approved software backups and versions.
• Carry out preventive maintenance for automation systems, control panels, instrumentation, industrial networks, drives and remote I/O, and power supplies.
• Review downtime, alarm history, and repeated faults to find root causes and permanent fixes, and propose improvements that raise reliability, safety, and production availability.
• Recommend critical spare parts, report obsolete or unsupported automation components, and support the implementation and validation of approved automation improvements and upgrades.
• Support installation, testing, commissioning, and start-up of new machines and automation systems, and keep electrical drawings, I/O lists, network diagrams, software records, and equipment manuals up to date.
• Record breakdown details, corrective actions, root causes, preventive maintenance work, and software changes in the approved maintenance system.
• Follow electrical safety, lockout/tagout, permit-to-work, machine-safety, food-safety, hygiene, and Good Manufacturing Practice requirements, never bypassing safety circuits or affecting product quality, recipes, or traceability.
• Report to the Manufacturing Automation Engineer, coordinate with the Automation Systems Specialist when needed, and give clear daily updates on breakdowns, production impact, actions completed, and shift handover status.

Requirements

• MSc in Electrical Engineering, Diploma, or comparable relevant experience.
• Sophisticated knowledge of PLC systems, with hands-on experience of PLCs, HMIs, and SCADA.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in plant or industrial automation.
• Working knowledge of Siemens WinCC and Wonderware/AVEVA InTouch SCADA and HMI systems.
• Familiarity with industrial networks and protocols such as Profinet, Profibus, Ethernet/IP, Modbus TCP, OPC UA, AS-i, and IO-Link.
• English required; male, per the listing; based in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. No nationality requirement is stated.

Salary & Benefits

The salary for this role is not stated in the SADAFCO listing, so no figure is published here. SADAFCO is one of Saudi Arabia's leading food companies, an FMCG business based in Jeddah with well-known brands such as Al-Saudia and Crispy, and this is a full-time, mid-career role in a modern manufacturing plant in Dammam.

How to Apply

This is a full-time, employee role based in Dammam, and the SADAFCO listing expires on 30 November 2026, so apply promptly. Use the Apply button on this page to open the official SADAFCO careers posting and submit your application there.