Software Engineering Co-op

COALMONT ENGINEERING

Engineered Solutions for Industry

Software Engineering Co-op — Digital Systems

Extended Industry Experience & Career Growth

Full-Time Co-op (Semester or Multi-Semester)

Who We Are

Coalmont Engineering is a multi-disciplined Electrical & Mechanical Engineering firm specializing in complex industrial automation and power distribution systems. Since 1996, we've partnered with some of the most respected companies in heavy industry—steel, paper, mining, automotive, nuclear, and more—to solve challenging problems and keep their operations running at peak performance.

Our Birmingham-area facility (McCalla, AL) offers students the chance to live in communities ranging from vibrant city neighborhoods to quiet rural settings—all with a short, low-traffic commute. Our team culture emphasizes mentorship, collaboration, and growth, making this an ideal place to start building your career while you're still in school.

The Coalmont Difference

We're the firm that does the engineering. At many large manufacturers, engineers spend their time identifying work and managing the outside firms who execute it. At Coalmont, you'll be part of the firm that does it—designing, building, and commissioning real systems across steel, paper, mining, automotive, and more. That means real responsibility and real learning, not busywork.

Accelerate your growth. Our own engineers, two to four years in, describe advancing roughly 10x faster than the peers they graduated with—because of how much they were trusted with and how fast they grew. That head start begins in your internship or co-op.

Why Join as a Co-op?

A Co-op experience at Coalmont offers longer-term immersion than a summer internship. You'll become an integrated member of our engineering team, working on projects from initial design through testing, implementation, and commissioning. This isn't busywork—you'll be trusted with meaningful responsibilities that directly impact our clients. As a Co-op, you'll:

• Gain sustained experience building and shipping real internal software.
• Go deep on our Ignition platform, SQL data models, and integrations.
• Take on more ownership of features than a traditional internship.
• Build long-term mentoring relationships with our engineering team.
• Position yourself as a top candidate for full-time opportunities after graduation.

What You'll Do

Your Co-op Experience Will Include

• Building and extending modules on our Ignition (Perspective) platform.
• Writing SQL queries and views that power live dashboards and rollups.
• Contributing to the master-schedule and Gantt planning tools.
• Helping integrate job-costing data from our accounting system.
• Testing, debugging, and improving tools our project managers rely on.

What You'll Gain

• Real-world engineering experience with industrial-scale projects.
• Mentorship and guidance from senior engineers.
• Exposure to deadlines, customer needs, and industry standards.
• A stronger skill set and resume that sets you apart from your peers.

What We're Looking For

Qualifications

• Currently pursuing a B.S. in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, or Electrical Engineering with a software focus.
• Real programming ability—coursework or projects in software design, data structures, and databases.
• Curiosity, initiative, and attention to data integrity.
• Clear communication skills and a collaborative mindset.

Preferred (not required)

• Experience with SQL and a scripting language (Python, JavaScript, etc.).
• Exposure to Ignition, SCADA/HMI, dashboards, or database design.
• Interest in industrial and manufacturing operations.
• Examples of software projects—class, personal, or team.

Benefits & Perks

• $30/hour competitive pay.
• $500/month housing stipend for students relocating to Birmingham.
• Paid holidays (if scheduled during your term).
• Mentorship and training from experienced engineers.
• Long-term project involvement and deeper technical development.
• Potential for a return offer as a full-time engineer after graduation.

The Work You'll Impact

You'll be exposed to a wide range of industrial engineering projects, including:

• The internal “Manager” platform—time tracking, project assignment, and job costing.
• A live master schedule and Gantt planning across ~100 concurrent projects.
• Dashboards, reporting, and data integration.
• Industrial (OT) data and systems integration.

Ready to take your engineering education to the next level? Apply today and join Coalmont Engineering's Co-op program.