Project Engineer / Safety Engineer

Automation & Machine Safety Engineer

Location: Greater Atlanta Area

Employment Type: Full-Time

Travel: Approximately 30–40%

Position Overview

Our client, an established engineering and industrial automation organization, is seeking an Automation & Machine Safety Engineer to support automation projects and machine-safety initiatives across manufacturing environments.

This opportunity can accommodate two types of candidates:

• An Automation or Project Engineer with 3+ years of hands-on automation design and delivery experience who has exposure to machine safety and wants to specialize further in functional/machine safety.
• A more experienced Automation/Safety Engineer who already has significant machine-safety, risk-assessment, validation, or functional-safety experience.

For the developing engineer, prior safety certification is not required. The organization is willing to invest in training and support the successful candidate in pursuing a recognized machine/functional safety certification.

The key is having a strong industrial automation foundation, experience actually designing and delivering systems, an interest in the safety/compliance side of engineering, and the ability to work effectively with customers in active manufacturing environments.

What You'll Be Doing

You will work across the lifecycle of industrial automation and machine-safety projects, combining hands-on engineering with field assessments, customer interaction, technical documentation, and project execution.

Responsibilities may include:

• Design and support industrial automation and control systems for manufacturing, packaging, processing, or automated equipment.
• Develop functional specifications, system architectures, control strategies, and technical documentation.
• Program, modify, troubleshoot, test, and commission PLC/PAC and HMI systems.
• Participate in equipment design, testing, FAT/SAT, installation, commissioning, and startup activities.
• Conduct machine hazard audits and machinery risk assessments in operating manufacturing environments.
• Evaluate machinery for hazards involving operators, maintenance personnel, stored energy, motion, guarding, and automated equipment.
• Review and develop machine-safety circuits, safety controls, guarding concepts, safety I/O, and related risk-mitigation solutions.
• Perform or support machine-safety validation to confirm systems meet applicable requirements.
• Perform or support SISTEMA analyses, safety-distance calculations, and functional-safety evaluations.
• Review machinery documentation and safety PLC/control-system designs.
• Develop functional requirements for machine guarding and safety-control solutions based on risk-assessment findings.
• Produce clear technical reports documenting hazards, findings, applicable requirements, and recommended corrective actions.
• Work directly with operators, maintenance teams, engineers, and customer stakeholders to understand how machinery is actually being operated and maintained.
• Communicate safety concerns and required changes professionally, including situations where equipment may need to be stopped or modified.
• Coordinate with internal engineering resources, vendors, contractors, and customer teams throughout project execution.
• Help mentor junior engineering resources and contribute to engineering best practices.

What We're Looking For

Core Engineering Background

• Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, Computer Engineering, or a related engineering discipline.
• 3+ years of engineering experience involving industrial automation, automated machinery, controls, or manufacturing systems.
• Hands-on experience designing and delivering automation systems, rather than solely operating or maintaining equipment as an end user.
• Experience working in an OEM, systems integrator, engineering services, machine builder, or similar project-based engineering environment is strongly preferred.
• Experience supporting systems through design, build, testing, FAT/SAT, commissioning, or startup.
• Working knowledge of PLC-based automation and industrial controls.
• Understanding of industrial machinery and the interaction between controls, electrical systems, sensors, actuators, motors, drives, and safety devices.

Machine Safety

You do not need to be a career Safety Engineer to qualify.

Candidates should have some exposure to one or more of the following:

• Machinery risk assessments
• Machine-safety circuits
• Safety relays, controllers, or safety I/O
• Machine guarding
• Safety PLCs
• Safety validation
• Functional-safety concepts
• SISTEMA
• Safety-distance calculations
• Lockout/energy-control considerations
• Machinery safety standards and engineering best practices

Familiarity with standards and regulatory frameworks such as ISO 13849, ISO 12100, ISO 13855, ANSI, NFPA, OSHA, or related machinery-safety standards is highly desirable.

Experience with SISTEMA is particularly valuable, even if your experience is limited to understanding what the tool does and how it is used within machinery-safety analysis.

Automation & Controls Experience

Strong candidates may also bring experience with:

• Rockwell Automation / Allen-Bradley platforms
• ControlLogix or CompactLogix
• PLC and HMI programming
• Industrial Ethernet and controls networks
• Variable-frequency drives
• Motors and motor-control systems
• Sensors, relays, safety switches, valves, instrumentation, and other industrial control devices
• Electrical schematics and control-panel design
• Equipment installation and commissioning
• Troubleshooting industrial automation systems

You do not need to check every technical box. The combination of automation design experience, machinery knowledge, and genuine interest in machine safety is more important than having every individual technology.

The Right Personality

This role is particularly well suited for an engineer who enjoys the structured side of engineering.

You should be someone who appreciates:

• Technical standards and engineering best practices
• Risk mitigation
• Rules and compliance
• Detailed technical documentation
• Understanding why a system is safe—not simply whether it operates
• Investigating how machinery is actually being used in the field
• Finding practical solutions to safety concerns

Strong communication skills are equally important.

You will sometimes need to tell a customer that equipment presents a safety concern, requires modification, or needs to be shut down temporarily for an assessment. The successful engineer must be able to stand behind technical requirements while maintaining a productive customer relationship.

You don't need to be a salesperson or an extreme extrovert. You do need to be comfortable asking operators and maintenance personnel probing questions, challenging unsafe practices diplomatically, and explaining technical findings clearly.

Career Development Opportunity

For an Automation/Project Engineer looking to specialize, this position offers an opportunity to develop expertise in the increasingly specialized field of machine and functional safety.

Candidates who do not currently possess a formal machine-safety certification may be supported in pursuing an applicable third-party certification after joining the organization.

For an experienced Safety Engineer who already possesses certification and deeper functional-safety expertise, the position offers the opportunity to take on more advanced assessments, validation work, and customer-facing technical responsibility.

Travel & Work Environment

Travel is expected to average approximately 30–40%, primarily to customer manufacturing facilities.

Most trips are relatively short—often 2–3 days at a time during the normal workweek—rather than extended field assignments. Weekend travel is generally limited.

Work environments will vary between professional office settings and active manufacturing facilities. Field activities may require walking production floors, climbing stairs or ladders, working around industrial equipment, and following customer-specific safety and security requirements.

Ideal Candidate

The sweet spot is an engineer with roughly 3–7+ years of experience who has worked for a systems integrator, OEM, machine builder, or engineering services organization and has helped design, build, test, and deliver automated manufacturing equipment.

You may have participated in machinery risk assessments or safety reviews without having "Safety Engineer" as your title. If you understand automation, have some machine-safety exposure, enjoy the standards/risk/compliance side of engineering, and want to build deeper expertise in functional safety, this could be an excellent next step.

More senior engineers with dedicated machine-safety experience, advanced SISTEMA knowledge, or an existing functional/machinery safety certification are also strongly encouraged to apply.