Senior Technical Recruiter – Controls & Automation
The Role
Prime Controls is looking for a Senior Technical Recruiter who knows how to find technical talent that is difficult to find and even harder to recruit.
This role will focus heavily on identifying and recruiting experienced Controls Engineers, Automation Engineers, Systems Integration professionals, and other senior technical talent within industrial automation.
This is not an applicant-processing role. We are looking for a recruiter who can map the market, identify passive candidates, understand technical backgrounds, and build relationships with experienced engineers who may not be actively looking for their next opportunity.
The ideal candidate understands that finding a senior Controls Engineer requires more than searching by job title. You should be comfortable sourcing based on technologies, project experience, industries, competitors, and technical capabilities.
What You'll Do
- Proactively source and recruit experienced Controls Engineers, Automation Engineers, and other specialized technical professionals.
- Build pipelines of passive candidates across the controls, automation, systems integration, and industrial engineering markets.
- Conduct targeted searches based on technical experience, including PLC, HMI, SCADA, DCS, instrumentation, industrial networks, and controls system integration.
- Identify candidates with experience across platforms such as Rockwell/Allen-Bradley, Siemens, Schneider Electric, Ignition, Wonderware/AVEVA, Emerson, Honeywell, and similar technologies.
- Develop sourcing strategies for difficult-to-fill and highly specialized engineering positions.
- Research target companies and develop talent maps for key markets and geographic locations.
- Engage experienced engineers who are not actively applying for jobs and create interest in Prime Controls opportunities.
- Conduct recruiter screens to evaluate technical background, project experience, career motivations, compensation expectations, travel requirements, and relocation considerations.
- Partner closely with engineering and operational leaders to understand what differentiates an average candidate from an exceptional technical hire.
- Present qualified candidates to hiring managers with clear summaries of their technical experience and fit for the opportunity.
- Maintain consistent candidate communication and drive candidates through the recruiting process.
- Build long-term relationships with high-value technical talent, even when an immediate opportunity is not available.
- Track sourcing activity, pipeline development, candidate movement, and recruiting results in iCIMS.
- Use LinkedIn Recruiter, sourcing platforms, professional networks, referrals, industry research, and creative sourcing techniques to identify talent.
- Continuously develop knowledge of the industrial automation and controls talent market.
What We're Looking For
- 5+ years of recruiting experience, preferably including engineering or highly technical positions.
- Demonstrated success recruiting passive candidates for difficult-to-fill roles.
- Strong sourcing skills with LinkedIn Recruiter and other candidate research tools.
- Experience developing Boolean searches and sourcing beyond traditional job-title searches.
- Ability to understand technical resumes and communicate credibly with experienced engineering candidates.
- Strong candidate outreach and relationship-building skills.
- Ability to independently develop a sourcing strategy rather than relying primarily on incoming applicants.
- Strong organization and follow-through across multiple searches and candidate pipelines.
- Comfortable partnering directly with senior hiring managers and technical leaders.
- Experience using an ATS and maintaining accurate recruiting activity and candidate records.
Highly Preferred
Experience recruiting within one or more of the following areas:
- Industrial automation
- Controls engineering
- Systems integration
- PLC/HMI/SCADA programming
- Instrumentation and controls
- Electrical engineering
- Industrial construction
- Manufacturing automation
- Data centers
- Semiconductor
- Water/wastewater
- Oil & gas
- Food & beverage or other process industries
Experience recruiting engineers with Rockwell/Allen-Bradley, Siemens, Ignition, Wonderware/AVEVA, Emerson, Honeywell, Schneider Electric, or similar controls technologies is a significant plus.