Staff Controls & Automation Engineer

Design, build, and own controls architecture for pilot, demonstration, and commercial plants, including PLC and safety-PLC logic, state-based and advanced controls, soft sensors, diagnostics, commissioning, simulation, analysis, version control, documentation, and change management.

Responsibilities

• Architect the full control stack for pilot, demonstration, and commercial plants.
• Define the hierarchy linking base, supervisory, and advanced control.
• Develop modular control logic in PLCs and safety PLCs.
• Own interlocks, permissives, fail-safe behavior, alarm logic, and safety instrumented functions.
• Implement state-based control and state estimators.
• Build soft sensors, diagnostics, and anomaly and fault detection.
• Validate and tune advanced controllers through simulation, staged deployment, and field commissioning.
• Identify and implement model predictive control or other model-based controllers.
• Develop simulation or digital-twin models for new control strategies.
• Collaborate with process, mechanical, electrical, and operations teams.
• Support commissioning, plant bring-up, troubleshooting, and continuous optimization.
• Drive version control, documentation, and management-of-change practices.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree with 10+ years of experience designing and owning automation systems for continuous chemical or energy processes.
• Strong foundation in control theory, process dynamics, multivariable interactions, and constraint management.
• Practical experience with state estimation and inferential sensing.
• Hands-on deployment of model predictive control or other model-based controllers on real industrial systems.
• Expertise with PLC platforms and SCADA/HMI systems.
• Deep experience with interlocks, permissives, safety logic, shutdowns, and hazardous industrial systems.
• Experience with thermochemical systems, especially catalytic systems.
• Experience integrating advanced control with DCS platforms.
• Familiarity with Python or similar tools for prototyping estimation and control algorithms.
• Experience in FOAK hardware or fast-moving industrial startup environments.
• Ability to make advanced control practical and easy to understand.

Benefits

• Equity compensation
• Generous paid time off
• Health insurance with 100% of healthcare, vision, and dental premiums covered
• 401(k) with company match