Automation Engineer - PLC / Plant Control (m/f/d)

About Us

METYCLE - where innovation meets sustainability. We are building the B2B online platform to accelerate the global circular flow of secondary metals. By connecting buyers and sellers of scrap metal globally, we enable efficient trade of secondary metals and drive the seamless flow of recycling material, essential for reducing CO2 emissions by up to 95% compared to primary metal production.

We are pioneering an innovative Smart Sorting Facility that leverages AI, machine learning, and robotics to transform how scrap metal is processed, enhance material quality, improve traceability, and drive the recycling industry into the digital era.

Ready to Make an Impact?

If you are passionate about industrial automation, solving complex technical challenges, and building something from the ground up, join our team as an Industrial Automation Engineer.

The machinery is the easy part to buy. The control system that turns it into a plant - and the standards, documentation, and data that keep it running - is what we are hiring you to own.

We are looking for an experienced Industrial Automation Engineer to take ownership of our plant's control systems from design through commissioning and into stable production. You bring deep hands-on experience in programming and commissioning industrial control systems and are comfortable taking responsibility for the PLC, safety systems, HMI, industrial networking, and interfaces between multiple machine suppliers.

Your Mission

• PLC & Plant Control: Design, write, and own the PLC program using Siemens TIA Portal / S7-1200 & S7-1500, including control logic, sequencing, fault handling, and HMI
• Commissioning & Production: Take the plant from design through commissioning to a stable, running line, owning the full journey through FAT/SAT
• Plant Availability: Design stop and interlock behaviour to minimise unnecessary downtime
• Machine Safety: Implement the machine-safety control concept on a fail-safe F-CPU with F-I/O, including the hardwired e-stop loop, PLC-enforced zone isolation, guard interlocks, and controlled, sequenced shutdown
• Safety & Compliance: Be the in-house technical counterpart on EN ISO 13849 performance-level determination and the CE file
• Machine Integration: Integrate control systems from several different machine suppliers into one coherent line
• Supplier Management: Hold machine builders and panel builders to specification, including unlocked code, complete documentation, and standards compliance
• OT / IT & Industrial IoT: Get plant data out over OPC UA / MQTT / Modbus TCP into internal systems, so stoppage reasons, energy use, and throughput become actionable data

Your Profile

• 5+ years of hands-on experience programming and commissioning industrial control systems, with a track record of bringing production equipment or complete lines into stable operation
• Deep Siemens TIA Portal / S7-1200 & S7-1500 experience, with strong skills in SCL, LAD/FBD, HMI/SCADA, industrial networking (PROFINET, PROFIBUS, Modbus TCP), drives/VFDs, and fault-finding
• Strong machine safety competence, including F-CPU / Safety Integrated and EN ISO 13849
• Comfortable reading electrical schematics and troubleshooting cabinets, hardware, signals, wiring, and control behaviour directly on the shop floor
• Experience working with machine and panel builders
• Experience with brownfield projects and legacy migration (STEP 7 Classic → TIA); experience in bulk material handling, recycling, sorting, or minerals processing is a plus
• Experience with PLC version control, simulation / digital twins, or structured automation approaches is desirable. Additional IT/OT skills such as Python, C#/TIA Openness, SQL, Linux, Docker, MES/IIoT, OT network segmentation, or IEC 62443 are a plus
• Fluent in English; German and/or Dutch is a plus. Ideally based in or near Cologne or the Benelux/border region, with valid EU work authorisation and the willingness to travel to the Smart Sorting Facility in Belgium, Maasmechelen

Why Join Us?

• Opportunity to challenge the status quo and work on an innovative venture with significant impact
• Take ownership and shape the future of metal recycling and green energy solutions at an early stage
• Competitive salary including virtual company shares
• Flat hierarchies and a steep learning curve with exciting growth opportunities
• Flexible working hours and the opportunity to work remotely or from a shared office location
• Inclusive, diverse and supportive work environment