We're looking for a Lead Industrial Automation Engineer to join our team at Technopark, Kazhakkoottam, in Thiruvananthapuram. This is a full-time, on-site position at the senior end of our embedded systems and automation group, overseeing PLC and SCADA work across live production environments. The team supports a handful of manufacturing clients across the region, so the work moves between different plant layouts and control system generations rather than staying fixed to one setup.
Experience and background
Candidates should bring 132 months of hands-on experience in embedded systems or industrial automation. At this level, we're really looking for someone who has already led a plant-floor rollout from design through commissioning, not just contributed to one as part of a larger team. At minimum, you'll need a bachelor's degree, and it should come from an electronics or electrical engineering program rather than a general technical track. What we've noticed over the years is that the degree matters less as a filter and more as a floor; the real differentiator between candidates at this stage is almost always the specific systems they've owned end-to-end.
Beyond the degree, familiarity with industry-standard hardware design tools is expected, along with strong practical experience across circuit design, embedded programming, and hardware prototyping. These aren't separate boxes to check; they tend to overlap in practice, since a firmware bug often traces back to something in the board design, and vice versa. Someone who has only ever worked on one side of that boundary, pure software or pure hardware, usually needs a stretch of adjustment time before they're fully effective in this role.
Responsibilities
- Own the architecture and configuration of PLC and SCADA systems used across client production lines
- Write and maintain ladder logic for control systems, with an eye toward what a plant technician can realistically troubleshoot without escalating every time
- Design and test firmware for the hardware devices tied into these control systems, then debug circuit-level and system-level issues when something doesn't behave as expected
- Set up and maintain industrial networking between controllers, sensors, and supervisory systems on site
- Document technical specifications thoroughly enough that another engineer could pick up the system a year later without needing you in the room
- Review the design and code work of junior engineers on the team, and sign off on architecture decisions before they go to a client site
Commissioning weeks look different from the rest of the schedule. You're often on-site at a client's facility, working around their production windows rather than a standard office day, and issues that show up during commissioning tend to need same-day resolution because a stalled line has real cost attached to it. A control cabinet that was tested clean in the lab can still throw unexpected faults once it's wired into a live production line with its own noise and grounding quirks, and part of the job is knowing how to isolate that quickly instead of re-tracing the entire design from scratch.
Skills
The core technical requirements are PLC and SCADA systems, ladder logic programming, and industrial networking. These three come up in nearly every project this team takes on, so depth here matters more than breadth across other tools.
On top of that baseline, we'd value someone comfortable with circuit design software such as Altium or Eagle, since board-level troubleshooting is part of the job at this seniority. Embedded C experience is a genuine plus, particularly for anyone who's had to chase a timing bug that only shows up under real load. Knowledge of industrial safety standards, IEC 61508 in particular, would also help, though we don't expect every candidate to have formal certification. A working understanding of safety instrumented systems tends to matter more once a project moves toward client sign-off, since that's usually where an auditor starts asking questions.
What the role looks like day to day
Technopark's automation sector has grown fast over the past few years, and Naukri Mitra has seen a steady rise in listings like this one across the park. On our team, a typical week splits between design review sessions, hands-on debugging when a client escalation comes in, and mentoring conversations with the two junior engineers who report to this role. There isn't a single template week, since client timelines drive most of the schedule rather than an internal roadmap. Some months are heavier on documentation and design sign-off; others are almost entirely spent on-site chasing down a commissioning issue, and the split shifts depending on which client projects are active at the time.
Compensation and benefits
This role pays ₹153,000 per month.
- Health insurance coverage
- Paid time off
- Performance-linked bonuses tied to project delivery and client outcomes
- Relocation assistance for candidates moving to Thiruvananthapuram
- Accommodation support during the transition period
Given that this is an on-site lead role, we've structured the relocation package to cover both the move itself and a reasonable settling-in window, rather than a single lump-sum payment that has to stretch across both. Performance bonuses are reviewed against actual project milestones, not a subjective annual rating, which tends to matter more at this experience level than earlier in a career.
Location details
The position is based at Technopark, Kazhakkoottam, one of the more established tech corridors in Thiruvananthapuram, and it's an on-site role without a remote or hybrid arrangement. For anyone specifically searching for industrial automation engineer jobs in Thiruvananthapuram aimed at experienced professionals, this one sits toward the senior end of that range both in scope and in pay. Salary at this level in Thiruvananthapuram varies fairly widely depending on how much of the role is design-focused versus client-facing, and this one leans toward the latter. Technopark itself has good access to the rest of the city, which makes the commute manageable for anyone not planning to relocate directly into Kazhakkoottam.
How to apply
Interested candidates should submit their application along with recent examples of PLC or SCADA implementations they've led. Given the seniority of this role, we'll ask for references from at least one previous employer or client during the later stages, and the interview process includes a technical discussion focused on a past project where something didn't go according to plan and how it was resolved on-site.
