Specialist Automation Solutions

Description

Location: To be determined within Ontario & Alberta

Under the direction of the Manager, Operations Systems, this role is responsible for supporting, maintaining, and enhancing automation and control systems used across operational facilities such as hubs and terminals. The position focuses on ensuring system availability, improving operational performance, and contributing to the development of scalable automation solutions.

Responsibilities

Operational Technology Support

• Adhere to all safety standards and operational policies.


• Ensure high availability and reliable performance of supervisory control systems (e.g., SCADA, HMI platforms).


• Perform on-site day-to-day OT maintenance activities.


• Troubleshoot end-to-end communication issues across devices, networks, and automation layers.


• Deploy system updates and patches, including rollback when required.


• Manage software and hardware version control for critical systems and devices.


• Upgrade firmware for controllers, label printers, handheld scanners, and other automation equipment.


• Execute planned preventive maintenance for vision systems, dimension-weight-scan tunnels, label printers, and handheld devices.


• Perform corrective maintenance to minimize downtime and restore system performance.

Industrial Automation & SCADA Development

• Develop, configure, and maintain industrial applications using Ignition (Perspective, Vision, Tags, Gateways, Scripting, Reporting).


• Create and maintain dashboards, HMIs, and data‑driven visualizations for operational insights.


• Participate in designing and validating automation workflows and logic for sortation and tracking.


• Build and execute comprehensive test plans, document results, and track issues through resolution.


• Perform system integration between controls, databases, APIs, and enterprise systems.


• Study sort plans and recommend modifications or improvements to enhance throughput and reliability.

Systems & Network Administration

• Maintain and troubleshoot network infrastructure.


• Monitor performance of servers, virtual machines, network devices, and storage systems; report abnormalities proactively.


• Recommend and implement network security enhancements within the OT environments.


• Maintain backup and restore configurations, including updating backup plans and testing recovery procedures.


• Manage host servers, virtualization environments (e.g., Hyper‑V), and supporting hardware.


• Coordinate service requests and vendor support when required.

Data & Infrastructure

• Work with relational database systems (e.g., SQL‑based platforms) for reporting, logging, and application integration.


• Maintain monitoring tools and dashboards (e.g., Grafana) for system health and KPIs.


• Support and maintain power protection systems (UPS) used for critical automation infrastructure.


• Manage spare parts inventory and coordinate procurement of required components.

Reporting & Analysis

• Conduct root-cause analysis for system, process, and automation failures.


• Document findings and recommend corrective and preventive actions.


• Provide ongoing performance improvement recommendations for both operational and technical systems.

Qualifications and Experience

• Post-secondary education in Computer Science, Electrical/Electronics Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related field.


• Minimum 5 years of experience supporting industrial automation, OT, or control systems.


• Certifications such as CompTIA Network+, CCNA, CAP or equivalent are considered assets.


• Experience with:
  
  
  
  • SCADA systems and industrial control platforms
  
  
  • Server hardware and OS
  
  
  • Virtualization architectures
  
  
  • Ethernet and industrial wireless networks
  
  
  • Vision systems and OCR technologies
  
  
  • Generic SQL-based database systems
  
  
  • Backup and restore tools (e.g., Veeam)
  
  
  • Monitoring tools
  
  
  • PLCs, industrial communication protocols, and field I/O
  
  
  • Label printers and handheld scanning devices
  
  
  • Ignition SCADA development
  
  
  • Data visualization (e.g., Power BI) for dashboards, reporting, and operational analytics
  
  
  
  


• Experience in instrumentation, automation, or process control networks.


• Experience with industrial communication protocols (e.g., Profinet, Modbus, OPC UA) is considered an asset.


• Experience in logistics, courier, or transportation operations is an asset.


• Experience leading or managing technical projects.


• Strong time management, communication, analytical, and problem‑solving skills.


• Proven ability in root‑cause analysis and technical troubleshooting.