Hiring Automation Engineers: What Manufacturers Should Look for Beyond the Technical Checklist

As manufacturers invest in smarter equipment, connected production systems, and more automated processes, Automation Engineers play an increasingly important role in keeping those investments productive.

But hiring an Automation Engineer isn’t simply a matter of finding someone who has worked with the right hardware or software. The strongest candidates understand how automated systems interact with real production environments, and how to troubleshoot, improve, and integrate those systems without losing sight of uptime, safety, quality, and the people operating the equipment.

Here’s what manufacturing employers should consider when hiring Automation Engineers.

What Does an Automation Engineer Do in Manufacturing?

Automation Engineers help design, implement, integrate, troubleshoot, and improve automated manufacturing systems.

Depending on the facility and role, their responsibilities may overlap with controls engineering, systems engineering, manufacturing engineering, and equipment support. Their work can involve everything from introducing new automated equipment to diagnosing problems with an existing production system.

That makes context especially important when hiring.

A candidate who looks strong on paper may have experience with very different equipment, production environments, or levels of responsibility than your position requires. Before beginning a search, employers should define what they actually need the new hire to accomplish.

Start With the Problems You Need Them to Solve

Rather than building the job description around a long list of technologies, begin with your manufacturing challenges.

Are you adding new automated equipment?

Trying to reduce unplanned downtime?

Integrating systems that currently don’t communicate effectively?

Improving an existing production process?

Expanding capacity?

Looking for someone who can troubleshoot equipment directly on the manufacturing floor?

The answers help determine what kind of Automation Engineer you actually need.

For example, a company implementing new automation may prioritize system integration and commissioning experience. A manufacturer with mature automated lines may place greater emphasis on troubleshooting, reliability, and continuous improvement.

Clearly defining the expected outcomes can make it easier to identify candidates whose experience translates to your environment.

Look Beyond Individual Technologies

Technical proficiency matters, but manufacturing automation rarely exists in isolation.

Automation Engineers may need to understand how controls, equipment, software, sensors, networks, mechanical systems, and production processes interact. When something goes wrong, the obvious symptom may not reveal the actual cause.

That’s why strong troubleshooting ability can be as important as familiarity with a particular technology.

During interviews, ask candidates to describe a real automation problem they encountered. Have them explain:

• What was happening on the production floor?

• How did they isolate the problem?

• What information did they gather?

• Which teams did they involve?

• What was the root cause?

• What did they change?

• How did they verify that the solution worked?

You’re not just evaluating whether they reached the correct technical answer. You’re learning how they think when production is on the line.

Manufacturing Experience Changes the Equation

An engineer can have excellent automation skills without having worked extensively in a production environment.

That distinction matters.

Manufacturing introduces constraints that don’t always appear in a development or laboratory setting. Production schedules, equipment availability, safety requirements, maintenance windows, operator workflows, quality expectations, and downtime costs can all influence how an automation project is implemented.

Candidates with relevant manufacturing experience may already understand these tradeoffs.

For candidates coming from adjacent environments, explore how they would adapt their technical approach when changes have to be implemented without unnecessarily disrupting production.

Communication Skills Matter on the Plant Floor

Automation Engineers rarely work alone.

They may collaborate with:

• Manufacturing Engineers

• Mechanical and Electrical Engineers

• Maintenance Technicians

• Equipment Technicians

• Production Supervisors

• Operators

• Systems and Software Engineers

• Vendors and equipment manufacturers

A technically correct solution still has to work for the people responsible for operating and maintaining the system.

Look for candidates who can explain complex technical problems clearly, listen to input from operators and technicians, and collaborate across engineering and production teams.

An Automation Engineer who can bridge those groups can become particularly valuable when diagnosing recurring problems or introducing process changes.

Ask About Improvement, Not Just Repair

Troubleshooting is important, but the strongest Automation Engineers don’t necessarily stop once the equipment is running again.

They look for ways to prevent the same issue from returning.

In an interview, ask candidates about an automation or equipment problem they solved and what happened afterward.

Did they document the solution?

Identify the root cause?

Recommend a design or process change?

Improve monitoring?

Help maintenance or production teams recognize the issue earlier?

Those examples can reveal whether a candidate approaches automation reactively or thinks about long-term reliability and continuous improvement.

Evaluate Their Experience With Integration

Modern manufacturing environments can contain equipment and systems introduced at very different times.

One of the challenges for Automation Engineers is making those pieces work together.

When integration is central to the position, ask candidates about projects where they connected new equipment or technology with an existing manufacturing environment.

Useful follow-up questions include:

• What compatibility issues did you encounter?

• How did you test the integration?

• How did you minimize disruption to production?

• Who else was involved?

• What would you do differently on the next implementation?

Specific examples are usually more revealing than asking candidates to rate their proficiency with a list of tools.

Build a More Practical Interview Process

For a technical position like Automation Engineer, consider structuring interviews around realistic scenarios rather than relying exclusively on résumé experience.

Give candidates a hypothetical production problem and ask them to talk through their approach.

For example:

An automated process begins experiencing intermittent stoppages after a new piece of equipment is introduced. Production needs the issue resolved, but the source isn’t immediately clear.

Ask the candidate what they would investigate first, what information they would gather, who they would involve, and how they would determine whether the corrective action worked.

There doesn’t have to be one perfect answer. The exercise gives your team insight into the candidate’s troubleshooting process, communication style, manufacturing awareness, and ability to work through ambiguity.

Define Success Before You Start Recruiting

Automation Engineer can mean different things from one manufacturer to another.

Before opening the position, align your hiring team on a few essentials:

1. What systems or processes will this person support?

2. What problems should they be able to solve independently?

3. How much hands-on manufacturing-floor work is expected?

4. Which technical skills are genuinely required on day one?

5. Which skills can be learned after hiring?

6. Who will this person work with most frequently?

7. What should they accomplish in their first six to twelve months?

Those answers can help your recruiter distinguish between candidates who simply match keywords and those whose experience aligns with the work your facility actually needs done.

Finding Automation Engineering Talent

Automation Engineers sit at the intersection of engineering, technology, and manufacturing, which can make recruiting the right person particularly challenging.

Techneeds recruits Automation Engineers as part of its broader Engineering staffing and recruitment capabilities, alongside Systems Engineers, Embedded Systems Engineers, Integration Engineers, Industrial Automation Specialists, Manufacturing Engineers, Process Engineers, and other specialized engineering professionals.

When you’re hiring, the goal shouldn’t simply be to find someone with the longest technical skills list. It should be to find an engineer whose technical background, troubleshooting ability, manufacturing experience, and collaborative approach fit the problems your operation needs to solve.

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