We recruit controls engineers, mechanical and electrical designers and field service engineers for machine builders and OEMs across North America, on retained, contingency and contract terms. That includes packaging machinery, custom automation, robotics cells, skids and process equipment.
Machine builders are busy. US packaging machinery shipments reached $11.7 billion in 2025 according to PMMI, food alone made up about 44% of it, and the major players announced 48 plant investments that year. Reshoring and foreign investment added 247,063 announced manufacturing jobs in 2025, and North American robot orders rose 6.6% to 36,766 units. In the 2026 USA Reshoring Survey, 36% of OEMs had reshored or were reshoring, up from 29% a year earlier, and 63% plan US capital spending in 2026 or 2027. All of that ends up as machines that someone has to design, program, build, test and install.
The people side is where it gets hard. In PMMI’s research, 61% of respondents named a lack of technicians as the top challenge in OEMs’ aftermarket business, and end users say most of their aftermarket service is done on site, which puts field service engineers on the road. Nearly two thirds of OEMs say their customers often or always raise workforce issues with them. A machine builder is hiring for its own shop and for its customers’ sites at the same time.
Controls roles at a machine builder ask for a mix that’s hard to find. The engineer writes the PLC code, often does the panel design, gets the motion working and then goes to the customer for the install. Travel is where most of these hires are won or lost. We put the travel in front of candidates as a number of days, with where the installs usually are, before the first interview, so the engineers who say yes have already agreed to it.
We look for engineers with machine building backgrounds within reach of your shop first, because the engineer who lives near the build floor stays longer than one who has moved for the job. Plenty of good machine controls engineers have never thought of themselves as candidates, and they’re found by asking about the machines they’ve built rather than searching for a job title.
A custom machine builder in Massachusetts hired a controls engineer with Rockwell PLC, panel design and servo and stepper motion, with up to 30% travel for installs, 21 days after the brief (Case 04 on our Results page). On field service and commissioning we place contractors for the busy months before a run of installs.
If you’re hiring at a machine builder or OEM, book a call and we’ll tell you what the market is paying and how long the search should take.
Questions
What roles do you recruit for machine builders?
Controls engineers, mechanical and electrical designers, field service engineers, project engineers and technical sales.
Can you find controls engineers willing to travel for installs?
Yes. We agree the travel in days and locations with candidates before they interview, so the shortlist is people who’ve already said yes to it.
Do you recruit field service contractors?
Yes, on W2 or 1099, for install seasons and commissioning.
Related
Sources: PMMI, 2026 Packaging State of the Industry. PMMI, 2026 State of the Industry press release. PMMI, finding skilled workers remains a major challenge. OEM Magazine, four biggest challenges OEMs face in aftermarket. Reshoring Initiative, 2025 Annual Report. Automation.com, 2026 USA Reshoring Survey. A3, robot orders 2025.
