Control System Engineer

Hampton Lumber is a thriving family-owned company aspiring to beNorth Americas preferred source for responsibly-sourced wood solutions. Headquartered in Portland Oregon we operate nine sawmills in Western Oregon Washington and British Columbia. We also manage timberland and operate a wholesale and import/export division.

Our mission is togrow manufacture and market renewable wood products and deliver innovative solutions for a more sustainable built environment. At Hampton Lumber we accomplish this through our own operations as well as those of our affiliatesTrapa Forest Products Idaho Timber and RedBuilt. Our tagline Find a better way every day encapsulates our commitment to innovation and improvement across all operations.

We are guided by our core values:

• Safety Prioritize safety across all operations.
• Integrity & Authenticity Operate honestly and ethically while preserving our distinctive family-owned brand.
• Responsible Stewardship Endeavor to balance and maintain economic social and environmental values in everything we do.
• Tenacity Embrace challenges with grit determination and a can-do spirit.
• Continuous Improvement Strive to enhance our processes products and people.
• Customer Satisfaction Be nimble responsive and solutions-oriented.
• Community Engagement Be a responsive supportive and respected member of the community.

With over 80 years in the sawmill business we are proud to have cultivated the knowledge and experience needed to grow and prosper even in challenging times. We always look to the future and invest in our people new technologies and continuous improvement processes and techniques.

The Control System Engineer provides senior technical leadership for industrial control and machine safety systems across sawmill operations. This role is responsible for driving strategic mill-level controls improvements that enhance safety reliability and operational performance across multiple sites.

Working closely with mill leadership and engineering management this role evaluates existing systems applies advanced engineering tools and experience to identify opportunities and defines the best path forward for controls improvements. Once aligned with management teams this role plans and executes the engineering scope to deliver continuous improvement.

Capital project support remains part of the role but is secondary to leading proactive strategic mill-focused initiatives and establishing long-term technical direction for control systems.

• Substantial company-paid assistance for Medical and Dental insurance premiums; mental health coverage; cost effective co-pays and deductibles
• 401(k) with 5% annual company contribution and generous company matching contributions vested over three years
• Paid time off including eight paid holidays
• Opportunity to earn bonuses
• Employee wellness program that includes free counseling sessions financial and legal guidance and more
• Opportunities for paid training to support career advancement and personal development

Strategic Mill-Level Controls Leadership

• Partner with mill and engineering leadership to identify evaluate and prioritize strategic controls opportunities across sites.
• Serve as a technical authority for assessing existing automation and safety systems identifying risks gaps and modernization needs.
• Define and recommend the best technical path forward considering safety reliability lifecycle cost standardization and maintainability.
• Develop clear engineering scopes and technical roadmaps for approved improvement initiatives.
• Lead planning and execution of aligned engineering scope including design implementation testing and commissioning.
• Drive continuous improvement in automation performance system consistency and long-term supportability.

Engineering Planning & Execution

• Establish and review PLC and Safety PLC architectures standards and design approaches for mill-level improvements and selected capital work.
• Coordinate controls implementation with operations maintenance and engineering teams to ensure safe and effective execution.
• Resolve complex high-impact automation and machine control issues affecting safety or production.
• Provide senior-level technical guidance during startup optimization and post-implementation phases.

Control System Safety & Compliance

• Act as a technical resource for machine safety systems and functional safety design.
• Lead or support hazard reviews risk assessments and safety evaluations.
• Ensure compliance with applicable standards while aligning safety concepts with long-term control system strategies.

Documentation Standards & Validation

• Define documentation change management and validation expectations.
• Review and approve functional descriptions control narratives PLC changes and I/O documentation as required.
• Plan and support acceptance test and safety validation activities for strategic improvements.
• Promote disciplined engineering practices and consistent standards across mills.

Capital Project Technical Support

• Provide technical input and oversight for control systems on capital projects when required.
• Ensure capital implementations align with mill standards strategic direction and long-term maintainability.

Coaching Influence & Collaboration

• Mentor and technically develop controls engineers and technicians.
• Align mill maintenance operations and engineering leadership around technical priorities.
• Act as a technical bridge between mill-level execution and enterprise engineering strategy.

• ABET accredited Bachelor of Engineering degree in Mechanical Electrical or Industrial Engineering
• Experience as the lead engineer developing PLC programs and control strategies for complete sawmill machine centers
• Experience as the lead engineer responsible for startup and meeting performance targets for complete sawmill machine centers
  Advanced Rockwell PLC programming expertise
• Advanced RMC motion control expertise including full application development as well as challenging axis configuration and tuning
• Design troubleshooting and commissioning of high-performance HMIs with preference for Ignition and Rockwell FactoryTalk View SE.
• Design and development of effective alarm management and reporting strategies
• Design and development of functional safety systems
• Experience reviewing operation of existing sawmill equipment and preparing modernization and improvement strategies; demonstrated experience operationalizing these strategies to provide financial return to the company

Learn more at or follow us on Facebook:@HamptonLumber. You can also learn about our company and our priorities by visiting our blog.

Hampton Lumber is an equal opportunity employer: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race/ethnicity color religion sex sexual orientation gender identity national origin disability protected veteran status age or any other status protected by law.

Disability accommodation available: If you are an individual with a disability and need a reasonable accommodation in the application or hiring process please contact the Human Resources Office for the location that you are applying.

Women and minorities are encouraged to apply.

For more information about our commitment to equal employment opportunity please see these government posters: EEO is the Law and its accompanying temporary supplement.