Process Control Engineer 

Shell · Monaca Chemical, PA

Level: Engineer
Team: Controls
Base pay: $124k–$186k
Degree: Required
Experience asked: 5+ years
Industry: Chemicals
Posted: 7 days ago

The role in 30 seconds

An engineer-level controls role at Shell (chemicals) in Monaca Chemical, PA. Design, review, test, and implement automation changes through the Management of Change process.

They ask for: 5+ years · degree required
Tools it names: PLC, Automation
Base pay: $124k–$186k
Day to day: some off-shift / weekend coverage

Read from the posting. The full description is below.

From the plant jobs report · week of November 2, 2026

Controls Engineer roles in Pennsylvania: typical posted base $88k–$133k. This one lists $124k–$186k.

Median of the low and high ends of 10 live postings that list pay, out of 29 controls engineer openings in Pennsylvania, read from manufacturers' own careers sites.

Pennsylvania plant jobs report →Pay by team and state →What moves pay →

How this role compares

Against 28 other live controls postings in Pennsylvania.

Base pay: About 41% above similar roles
Experience asked: Typical (5+ years)

Skills these teams ask for most

✓ PLC 72%
✓ Automation 72%
Root cause 28%
Validation (IQ/OQ/PQ) 24%
Lean 21%
Robotics 21%

✓ = this posting asks for it too. % = share of similar postings that mention it.

It asks for 5+ years. If you're close, apply anyway: requirements are a wish list. Talk to someone doing this work there first.

At a glance

Off-shift / weekend coverage

Pulled from the posting text. If it's not listed here, the posting didn't say.

How to get in at this plant

Five moves over a week or two. The first one takes ten minutes.

1
Pick 2–3 people on the Controls team at Shell
Engineers who joined in the last year or two reply the most. Use the team search on this page to find them.
2
Send a short, curious note
One real question about their work. No favors yet. Each person gets a different note, written for this role.
3
Turn a reply into a short call
Questions worth asking about this team:
- What does a normal week look like on your team?
- How does off-shift and weekend coverage work?
- How did you land the job? What stood out in your interviews?
4
Apply with someone vouching for you
If the call went well, ask whether they’d pass your résumé to the hiring manager. Send your résumé link, apply that day, and let them know.
5
Bring proof to the interview
One page of before-and-after numbers from projects you led: scrap, OEE, cycle time, cost. Plant managers hire on results.

This plant: Shell in Monaca Chemical

1 other open role at this site.

Rotating Equipment Engineer · Manufacturing

Full description from ShellAs posted on their careers site.Show

What’s the role

Shell Polymers Monaca is hiring experienced Process Controls Engineers to take ownership of the systems that support safe, reliable, and efficient plant operation. This role offers the opportunity to solve complex plant problems, improve automation reliability and control performance, and influence the long-term direction of a highly integrated automation environment.

Process Controls Engineers work directly with Operations, Maintenance, Engineering, and Projects. We are not looking for experience with every platform at our site. We are looking for an accomplished process automation professional who can troubleshoot integrated systems, learn unfamiliar technologies, and turn recurring problems into sustainable improvements.

This role requires strong process automation experience across DCS, PLCs, equipment-control systems, and industrial communications. Experience with rotating-equipment control or monitoring systems is especially valuable. The role also includes opportunities to support and develop broader SIS and functional-safety responsibilities.

What you’ll be doing

Preferred Qualifications

✓Experience in petrochemical, chemical manufacturing, refining, LNG, or a similar process industry.
✓Experience supporting a large continuous-process manufacturing facility.
✓Experience with rotating-equipment controls, machinery-protection systems, data acquisition, or condition-monitoring technologies.
✓Experience with process control optimization, alarm management, advanced process control, or automation reliability improvement.
✓Experience leading technical investigations or supporting startups, commissioning, turnarounds, shutdowns, or major outages.
✓Knowledge of SIS lifecycle management, IEC 61511, PHA, HAZOP, or LOPA methodologies.
✓Functional safety certification or experience with SIS lifecycle tools such as SIFPro is preferred but not required.

What we offer

For regular full-time or regular part-time employees of the Company (participating companies as listed in the Summary Plan Description), insurance coverage options include medical, dental, vision coverage, life Insurance, Business Travel Accident Insurance, and Occupational Accidental Death Benefit programs. Employees also participate in a company pension plan and a 401(k) plan. Paid leave includes up to 6 weeks of paid vacation time, up to 11 paid holidays, and parental leave offering 16 weeks of paid leave for birthing parents, and 8 weeks of paid leave for non-birthing parents.

Additionally, employees are eligible for sho

Show full description ↓

Pennsylvania, United States of America

Job Family Group

Discipline Engineering

Worker Type

Regular

Posting Start Date

October 28, 2026

Business Unit

Downstream and Renewables

Process Automation & Production Support

•Provide technical ownership and support for DCS, PLC, equipment-control, HMI, machinery-protection, condition-monitoring, and industrial communication systems.
•Troubleshoot complex automation, instrumentation, alarm, control-performance, and system-integration issues.
•Improve plant performance through control tuning, alarm optimization, sequential control changes, control-strategy improvements, and recurring-problem elimination.
•Support rotating-equipment protection and monitoring platforms and their interfaces with plant control systems.
•Design, review, test, and implement automation changes through the Management of Change process.
•Support startups, shutdowns, commissioning, outages, and plant troubleshooting.
•Lead or participate in incident investigations and automation reliability improvements.
•Maintain configuration integrity and technical documentation while contributing to long-term automation, reliability, and process-safety priorities.
•Support SIS troubleshooting, modifications, investigations, and lifecycle activities within the site’s functional-safety processes.
•Investigate SIS trips, demands, and impairments for recurring reliability issues.
•Maintain Safety Instrumented Function documentation and support functional-safety assessments and audits.
•Develop working knowledge of IEC 61511 and assume greater SIS lifecycle responsibility as capability grows.

What you bring

•Must have legal authorization to work in the US on a full-time basis for anyone other than current employer
•Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Instrumentation Engineering, or a related technical discipline.
•Minimum of 5 years of experience in process controls, process automation, or industrial automation engineering within a continuous-process manufacturing environment.
•Hands-on experience troubleshooting, modifying, and improving DCS and PLC systems.
•Experience supporting equipment-control systems, HMIs, field devices, and industrial communication networks.
•Working knowledge of process operations, instrumentation, control systems, and process safety principles.
•Experience working within a Management of Change (MOC) process.
•Strong problem-solving, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills.

Technology Environment

Our environment includes the technologies below. Candidates are not expected to know all of them. Relevant experience with comparable systems and the ability to learn new platforms are what matter.

•Control Systems: Emerson DeltaV and DeltaV SIS; Rockwell CompactLogix, Studio 5000, RSLogix 500, and PanelView; Siemens SIMATIC S7 and PCS 7
•Equipment & Turbomachinery Controls: GE Mark VIe and Woodward systems
•Machinery Protection & Monitoring: Bently Nevada 3500, System 1, and Prognost Predictor
•Industrial Communications: Profibus, Modbus, OPC, and EtherNet/IP