Your next automation client just posted a job for a Controls Engineer.
Manufacturers post Controls Engineer and PLC Programmer roles they can't fill. The controls shortage is real, and that work goes to integrators. Every morning by 7am, we send you the companies that just posted, with a decision-maker contact and outreach drafted in your voice.
Our first client got 109 qualified leads across 88 companies in six weeks. Read the case study
Why a Automation Engineer posting is your best lead signal
A manufacturer posting for a Controls Engineer just told you three things. Budget is approved, they set aside a full salary for the work. The need is public, it's on their careers page. And nobody is hired yet. With controls engineers this scarce, many of those postings never fill, and the work goes to an integrator instead. We watch job postings on LinkedIn and the hiring systems companies post through, then filter out staffing agencies, recruiters, reposted ghost listings, and competitor firms posting the same titles.
Automation Engineer
Cascade Packaging Industries
“Cascade Packaging Industries is seeking an Automation Engineer to lead the integration of new robotic palletizing systems across our three production lines. The role will require PLC programming, HMI development, and coordination with our OEM vendors and internal maintenance team.”
Why this is a lead:
Cascade has a defined project with specific scope: robotic palletizing across three lines. They budgeted $90K to $150K a year for someone to run it, and that person does not exist yet. An integration firm can deliver the whole project for a defined price, start in weeks instead of months, and bring the OEM coordination experience a single hire rarely has. The technical specificity in the posting means they know what they need, which makes outreach easy to write.
Job titles we monitor:
Sound familiar?
- 1
Controls engineer searches drag on six months or more while the project sits stalled
- 2
Manufacturers often do not know integrators take project work, so the job posting is the only public sign of the need
- 3
BD in this space runs on referrals and trade shows, which dry up without warning
- 4
By the time an RFQ goes out, three other integrators are already bidding on it
- 5
Automation projects stall when one internal hire owns scope, vendors, and execution all at once
The math: hiring vs. your firm
Hiring full-time
Automation Engineer
$90K-$150K/year
- 60 to 90 day recruiting timeline
- Benefits cost on top of salary
- Single point of failure
- Stuck with headcount when things slow down
Your firm instead
Automation Firms
$50K-$500K per project
A full-time Automation Engineer costs $90K-$150K per year and may not have expertise across all the platforms and vendors a given project requires. A systems integration firm brings multi-platform expertise, project management, and vendor coordination under one engagement. Clients get the full project done, not just an employee who is learning on the job.
See the leads in your market before you pay for anything.
We'll run the real engine on your market, free, for seven days. Real reports, real postings, real contacts. Then it stops.
One firm per market
We only work with one automation firm firm per market.
Every lead in your market goes to you and nobody else. When your metro is taken, we turn the next firm away. That keeps the leads worth having, and it's the honest reason to decide before a competitor does.
$497 a month. That's the whole pricing page.
Daily Lead Delivery
$497/monthEvery morning: the companies that just posted for a role you replace, with the decision-maker's contact and outreach drafted in your voice. No setup fee. No contract, cancel anytime. And one firm per niche per market. If you're the fractional CFO firm in Denver, nobody else gets Denver fractional CFO leads.
60-day money-back guarantee. Not satisfied? Full refund, no questions asked.
One client covers years of this. One owner's rep project, one CFO retainer, one managed IT contract. Any single one pays for Hidden Client many times over.
Get Started Risk-FreeFrequently asked questions
Why would a manufacturer hire my firm instead of the Controls Engineer they posted?
A Controls Engineer runs $90K to $150K a year plus benefits, and the search often takes six months or more. Many of those searches never fill at all. Your firm can start in weeks and deliver the whole project for a defined price, usually $50K to $500K depending on scope. The posting proves they already approved a full salary for exactly the work you sell. You just need to show up before the hire does.
What about ghost jobs and reposted listings?
Some manufacturers keep evergreen postings up for roles they always want. We check posting dates and filter out reposts, ghost listings, staffing agencies, and recruiters posting on someone else's behalf. If a lead still looks stale, one tap on the feedback link in your morning email tells the engine, and we make config changes same day by email.
How many leads will I actually get?
Most mornings 2 or 3. Some mornings 6, some mornings 1. If you serve a manufacturing-heavy metro you will see steadier flow than a rural territory. We would rather send you 2 real projects than pad the list with postings you will delete.
What does the outreach look like, and who sends it?
Every lead comes with a message drafted in your voice that references the exact posting, like the palletizing lines or the PLC platform they named. You send it from your own email, so replies come straight to you. Technical specificity is what gets answered in this space, and the draft is built around it. Vague automation pitches do not land here.
Do you work with my competitors too?
No. One firm per niche per market. If we work with an automation integrator in your region, we will not sign your competitor. First come, first served.
What does it cost, and what if it does not work?
$497 a month, no setup fee, no contract, cancel anytime, with a 60-day money-back guarantee. You can also try the free week first: we run the same engine for 7 days with real reports, then it stops unless you sign up. Signup takes about 5 minutes and your first report arrives tomorrow morning.
Also works for:
From the Founder
Why I built this
I built Hidden Client because I kept seeing the same thing: a company posts a job, interviews for two months, and the firm that could have done the work never hears about it. That felt fixable with software, so I fixed it.
It's just me here, and I read every reply. If your leads are off, email me and your setup gets corrected the same day. That's the whole support department, and it's faster than most.
Jeremy Olken
Founder, Hidden Client · jeremy@hiddenclient.com
The postings are already up. The clock is already running.
Somewhere in your market, a company posted the role you replace this week. Signup takes about five minutes, and your first report lands tomorrow by 7am.
$497/mo. 60-day money-back guarantee.
Not ready yet? See a sample first.
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