Senior Controls Engineer

The role

You will own the design, development, and deployment of instrumentation and controls for heat-to-electricity ORC products. You will collaborate with systems and turbomachinery teams to translate requirements into hardware procurement and software control schemes.

What you will do

• Architect, develop, and commission PLC-based control systems for ORC power plant processes
• Design and implement HMI and SCADA applications
• Develop control strategies for key process loops
• Specify, select, and integrate field instrumentation
• Design and lay out industrial electrical control panels
• Implement and maintain safety instrumented functions per IEC 61511 principles
• Integrate plant devices across industrial communication protocols
• Develop and maintain controls documentation
• Support factory acceptance testing and field commissioning
• Collaborate with electrical, mechanical, and systems engineering teams

Required qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, or related field
• 5+ years of hands-on experience designing, programming, and commissioning industrial control systems
• Demonstrated PLC programming experience: Beckhoff, Allen-Bradley or Siemens acceptable
• Experience with Structured Text (ST) or similar IEC 61131-3 standard language
• Experience developing HMI and SCADA applications from scratch
• Proficiency reading and producing electrical schematics, wiring diagrams, and P&IDs
• Experience with industrial fieldbus and communication protocols (EtherCAT, Modbus TCP, OPC-UA, or equivalent)
• Familiarity with NEC, NFPA 79, and UL 508A for industrial control panel design
• Strong first-principles analytical and troubleshooting skills
• Highly self-motivated with demonstrated ability to drive tasks to completion with minimal supervision

Nice to have

• Experience with ORC, geothermal, Rankine-cycle, or other power generation systems
• Experience with VFD-driven motor systems including tuning, commissioning, and integration with PLC control loops
• Familiarity with IEC 61511 safety instrumented systems and SIL classification
• Experience with data historian platforms and process data infrastructure
• Python experience for data acquisition, analysis, or PLC/SCADA integration
• Experience with AutoCAD Electrical or EPLAN for controls documentation
• Exposure to API 670 machinery protection systems
• Experience supporting hardware bring-up, FAT, SAT, and commissioning in field environments
• NFPA 70E electrical safety certification

Benefits

• 100% company-covered Platinum or HD/HSA medical
• 100% company-covered dental and vision
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
• 401k retirement options
• Daily catered lunch
• Free EV charging
• Several annual social and team building outings

About the company

Critical Energy is a venture-backed cleantech company that designs and manufactures factory-built, modular power plants. The company aims to accelerate the global energy transition through geothermal innovation.