Industrial Automation Recruitment in Southern Ontario

Controls, robotics and automation engineering talent — for the integrators who build the line and the manufacturers who run it.

Automation Hiring Is Its Own Search

The engineer who can stand in front of a panel, read the logic and tell you why the line stopped is not the same hire as an operations manager, and the search doesn’t work the same way either. These people are employed, they are not browsing job boards, and the good ones field approaches constantly. Reaching them takes a recruiter who can hold a real conversation about the work.

Industrial automation is a practice area at The STORY Group alongside finance and accounting, supply chain and procurement. We keep it separate because technical hiring in this space rewards specialists and punishes generalists.

Roles We Recruit

Engineering & Controls

  • Automation Engineers — system design, integration and commissioning
  • Controls Engineers — panel design, control system architecture, plant floor troubleshooting
  • PLC & HMI Programmers — Allen-Bradley, Siemens, Rockwell, Beckhoff and the platforms your line already runs
  • Robotics Engineers — robot programming, cell design, vision and end-of-arm tooling
  • Machine, Electrical & Mechanical Designers — equipment and panel design through to build

Manufacturing & Process

  • Manufacturing Engineers — process improvement, line performance, capital projects
  • Process & Continuous Improvement Engineers — throughput, quality and downtime
  • Maintenance & Reliability Leaders — keeping automated equipment running

Leadership

  • Engineering Managers & Directors — leading controls and design teams
  • Technical Operations & Plant Leadership — owning the automated environment end to end
  • Project & Applications Managers — scoping and delivering integration work

Who We Work With

Anyone hiring the people who design, build, program or look after automated equipment. That covers systems integrators and machine-build OEMs, manufacturers automating their own lines, and distribution and warehousing operations adding conveyance, sortation or robotics. If the role touches the controls side of the business, it is a search we can run.

The hiring bar is not the same across them. An integrator needs engineers who travel, scope a job in a customer’s plant and commission it on someone else’s schedule; an operator needs someone who will live with that equipment for years. We screen for the distinction rather than sending one shortlist to both.

The Automation Corridor

Our coverage follows where the work is: Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and Guelph, through Hamilton, Burlington, Oakville and Mississauga, and across the wider GTA. We watch that corridor closely enough to know which firms are growing, which have just won capital work, and where the talent is likely to move next.

How We Work

The STORY Group has been placing professional and technical talent across Southern Ontario since 2014. Our process is the same one our finance, procurement and supply chain clients rely on: we learn the role properly before we source, we work a mapped market rather than a keyword search, and we present a short list of people who can do the job and will actually take it.

Every search runs through a named consultant. You will know who is working your role, what the market is telling us, and where the search stands — without having to chase an update.

Market Intelligence

We review hiring activity across Southern Ontario’s systems integrators and automation OEMs every week — who is growing, who has just won capital work, and which teams are being built.

When you call us about a search, we are not starting from a blank page.

Hiring Automation Talent?

Tell us about the role and the plant, and we'll tell you honestly what the market looks like for it.

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FAQ

Industrial Automation Recruitment FAQ

What industrial automation roles do you recruit for?

Automation and controls engineers, PLC and HMI programmers, robotics engineers, machine designers, electrical and mechanical designers, manufacturing and process engineers, and the engineering managers and technical operations leaders above them. We work both permanent and contract searches, on the integrator side and the end-user side.

Do you work with systems integrators as well as manufacturers?

Yes, and the two hire differently. A systems integrator needs engineers who can move between customer sites, scope a job and commission it. A manufacturer running its own lines needs people who will own and improve that equipment for years. We source and screen for the difference rather than sending the same shortlist to both.

Where in Ontario do you recruit automation talent?

Across Southern Ontario, with the heaviest coverage in the automation corridor: Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and Guelph, through Hamilton and Burlington, Oakville and Mississauga, and the wider GTA. We track hiring activity across the region's integrators and automation OEMs every week.

Explore Our Other Specializations

Supply Chain Recruitment Finance Recruitment Procurement Recruitment All Services

Need an Automation Hire?

Whether it’s one controls engineer or a team to run a new line, let’s talk about what you’re building and who it takes.

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