Automation Engineer job description, written by automation engineers
A copy-ready automation engineer job description for India, with the salary band, the screening questions that separate hands-on engineers from keyword CVs, and the mistakes that fill your inbox with the wrong people. An industrial automation engineer designs, programs and commissions the control systems that run machines and plants — PLC logic, HMI/SCADA screens and the field I/O between them. This template is for the plant-floor role, not software test automation or RPA, which share the title and nothing else.
Automation Engineer job description template
Job title
Automation Engineer — [platform family] · [city / site]
About the role
We are hiring an Automation Engineer to program, test and commission PLC and HMI/SCADA systems for [machines / process lines] at [site / customer sites]. You will work from functional specification to site handover, on [Siemens TIA Portal / Rockwell Studio 5000 — name one family], and travel to site for commissioning about [x]% of the time.
What you will do
- Write and test PLC logic in IEC 61131-3 languages (ladder, function block, structured text) against the functional design specification
- Build and configure HMI/SCADA screens, alarms and trends
- Check panel drawings and I/O lists; carry out I/O checkout and loop checks
- Run FAT with the customer, then SAT and commissioning on site
- Fault-find on live systems — field wiring and communications as well as logic
- Hand over as-built documentation, backups and operator training
What you must have
- [2–5] years of hands-on PLC programming and commissioning on [one named platform family]
- At least one project taken through to site start-up — name the plant and the scope at interview
- Industrial networks used on real sites: PROFINET or EtherNet/IP, plus Modbus RTU/TCP
- Ability to read electrical schematics and P&IDs
- B.E./B.Tech or Diploma in Electrical, Electronics, Instrumentation or Mechatronics
Good to have
- A second PLC family (one more, not five more)
- SCADA platform experience — WinCC, FactoryTalk View, AVEVA InTouch or Ignition
- Drives and motion: VFD parameterisation, servo
- Machinery safety basics (ISO 13849 / IEC 62061)
Salary band (India, 2026)
- Entry · 0–2 yrs: ₹2–4 L a year
- Mid · 3–6 yrs: ₹5–9 L a year
- Senior · 7 yrs+: ₹12–24 L a year
Questions that separate real experience from a listed skill
Tell me about a fault that took you more than a day to find. What fixed it in the end?
Real answers land in the physical layer — a shield not bonded, a connector, a cable run beside a VFD — and say what was ruled out first. Pretenders stay in software: “we reloaded the program”.
Which tool did you program that controller in?
Tool and vendor must match: Studio 5000 is Rockwell, TIA Portal is Siemens, Control Expert is Schneider, GX Works is Mitsubishi. A mismatch is an automatic flag.
What did you do at SAT that you could not do at FAT?
Real commissioners talk about live field devices, loop checks with the instrument technician and the customer’s operators; listed-only candidates repeat the definition.
These are the lines our engineers listen for when we screen for client mandates. See how TVP screens a candidate end to end.
Three mistakes that attract the wrong CVs
- Writing “automation engineer” alone. In India that title pulls Selenium and RPA CVs. Say industrial, PLC and the platform in the first line.
- Listing eight platforms. A real engineer has deep hands on one or two. Eight attracts keyword-stuffed CVs and puts off the real ones.
- Hiding site travel. State the percentage. Commissioning-heavy roles fail late when travel surfaces at offer stage.
More templates: PLC Programmer job description · Instrumentation Engineer job description · all automation job description templates.
Automation Engineer — questions answered
What does a automation engineer do?
An industrial automation engineer designs, programs and commissions the control systems that run machines and plants — PLC logic, HMI/SCADA screens and the field I/O between them. This template is for the plant-floor role, not software test automation or RPA, which share the title and nothing else.
What is the salary of a automation engineer in India?
Indicatively ₹2–4 L a year at entry, ₹5–9 L at 3–6 years and ₹12–24 L at senior level — about ₹42k–₹75k gross a month in the middle band.
Hiring a automation engineer? Post the role on the TVP portal.
Paste this description into a new requirement. Every candidate you see has passed engineer-led screening on questions like the ones above, and you decide who to interview.