Industrial Instrumentation Technician – Process Controls
Location: River Rouge, MI
Job Type: Full-Time, Direct Hire
Pay: $36.15 per hour, plus overtime and bonus opportunities
Schedule: Monday through Friday, 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM
About the Opportunity
A heavy industrial operation in River Rouge is seeking an experienced Industrial Instrumentation Technician to maintain, calibrate, troubleshoot, and repair process instrumentation throughout a continuous-production facility.
This position is best suited for someone with hands-on instrumentation experience in a steel mill, refinery, chemical plant, power plant, paper mill, mining operation, foundry, or another continuous-process industrial environment.
This is not an automotive assembly, vehicle electronics, robotics, dyno-testing, or laboratory calibration position. Candidates whose instrumentation experience is limited to automotive manufacturing or automotive testing will generally not have the process instrumentation background required for this role.
The successful candidate will be comfortable working directly in the plant, responding to equipment issues, calibrating field instruments, troubleshooting control loops, and supporting the systems that keep production operating safely and reliably.
What You’ll Do
- Calibrate, troubleshoot, maintain, and repair pressure, flow, temperature, and level instrumentation
- Perform field calibration of transmitters, switches, sensors, and other process-control devices
- Troubleshoot instrumentation loops from the field device through the control system
- Inspect, test, maintain, and repair control valves, actuators, positioners, and related equipment
- Support Distributed Control Systems, programmable logic controllers, and other industrial control systems
- Diagnose instrument, electrical, pneumatic, signal, communication, and process-control issues
- Read and interpret P&IDs, loop diagrams, electrical schematics, instrument drawings, and equipment manuals
- Use calibration and diagnostic equipment such as process calibrators, communicators, multimeters, pressure sources, and loop-testing devices
- Perform preventive and predictive maintenance on plant instrumentation
- Respond to equipment failures and production-related instrumentation issues
- Document calibration results, repairs, inspections, and completed maintenance work
- Coordinate with operations, electricians, engineers, maintenance personnel, and outside contractors
- Follow all plant safety procedures, lockout/tagout requirements, and environmental regulations
Required Qualifications
- At least three years of hands-on industrial instrumentation experience
- Field experience calibrating pressure, flow, temperature, and level transmitters
- Experience troubleshooting industrial process-control loops
- Experience working with Distributed Control Systems, programmable logic controllers, or comparable industrial control systems
- Experience with control valves, valve positioners, actuators, and pneumatic instrumentation
- Ability to read P&IDs, loop diagrams, schematics, and technical documentation
- Ability to use industrial calibration and diagnostic equipment
- Ability to work safely and independently in an operating industrial facility
- Valid driver’s license
- Authorization to work in the United States without sponsorship
Preferred Background
Experience in one or more of the following industries is strongly preferred:
- Steel or metals processing
- Chemical or petrochemical processing
- Oil and gas or refining
- Power generation
- Paper or pulp manufacturing
- Mining or material processing
- Foundry or forging operations
- Food, pharmaceutical, or other continuous-process production
Important Experience Requirement
This role requires process instrumentation experience involving field-mounted industrial equipment and continuous production systems.
Automotive instrumentation experience by itself does not usually translate well to this position. Candidates whose backgrounds are limited to the following are unlikely to be a fit unless they also have significant industrial process instrumentation experience:
- Automotive assembly equipment
- Vehicle electrical or electronic systems
- Engine dyno or test-cell instrumentation
- Laboratory-only calibration
- Robotics or automation integration without field instrumentation experience
- Machine building or commissioning without ongoing plant maintenance experience
Candidates should have direct experience calibrating and troubleshooting industrial transmitters, control loops, valves, and field instrumentation in an operating process facility.
Work Environment
Candidates should carefully consider the work environment before applying.
This is a heavy industrial production facility and is not a clean, climate-controlled automotive plant. The position requires working throughout active plant areas that may be hot, dirty, dusty, noisy, smoky, and physically demanding.
Employees may be required to work:
- Around extreme heat, industrial equipment, moving machinery, and active production processes
- In areas containing dust, smoke, fumes, grease, dirt, and strong industrial odors
- Outdoors during hot, cold, rainy, or snowy weather
- At heights, on stairs, ladders, platforms, and elevated walkways
- In confined spaces when properly trained and authorized
- While wearing fire-resistant clothing, safety glasses, hard hats, hearing protection, respirators, and other required PPE
Applicants must be comfortable working in this type of environment on a daily basis.
Compensation and Benefits
- $36.15 per hour
- Overtime opportunities
- $2,500 sign-on bonus
- Additional $2,500 payment after completing 1,040 hours
- Quarterly performance bonus opportunities
- Medical, dental, vision, and prescription coverage beginning on the first day of employment
- 401(k) with company match
- Company pension contribution
- Paid vacation
- Company-provided uniforms
- Annual safety boot allowance
Who Will Be Successful
You may be a strong fit if you are an experienced plant instrumentation technician who enjoys hands-on troubleshooting, understands process-control systems, and is comfortable working in a demanding heavy industrial environment.
Applicants should clearly describe their experience calibrating industrial transmitters, troubleshooting control loops, working with DCS or PLC systems, and maintaining control valves.
Pay: $36.15 per hour
Benefits:
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
- Professional development assistance
- Vision insurance
Application Question(s):
- Have you personally calibrated pressure, flow, temperature, or level transmitters in the field?
- Have you troubleshot complete industrial control loops from the field instrument through a PLC or DCS?
- Do you have hands-on experience with control valves, actuators, or valve positioners?
- Are you comfortable working daily in a facility that can be hot, dirty, dusty, smoky, noisy, and require respirator use?
Experience:
- hands-on industrial process instrumentation: 3 years (Required)
Work Location: In person
