Automation Principal Engineer
Cannon Corp
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Benefits offered by this job
Job summary
Cannon invites an experienced Principal Automation Engineer to Irvine to lead high-impact automation projects across water, energy, and industrial sectors. You will drive client engagement, oversee design and integration, mentor engineers, and ensure QA/QC across multi-disciplinary teams.
The role emphasizes strategic business development, staff planning, and advanced control systems expertise, with remote work flexibility and a strong benefits package.
Qualifications
- Must have a bachelor’s degree in engineering with a concentration in control systems, electrical, or mechanical engineering.
- California PE License is required.
- 15+ years of experience in control systems engineering.
- 8+ years of project management experience.
- 5+ years in consulting and business development.
- 5+ years of team leadership and resource management.
- Proficient in PLC programming across multiple platforms (Rockwell, Modicon).
- Proficient with SCADA/HMI and historian software (Ignition, Aveva/Wonderware, FTView).
- Experience with network design, installation, configuration, and troubleshooting.
- Knowledge of instrumentation, motor control schematics, and P&ID drawings.
Responsibilities
- Engage with clients to identify automation needs and grow strategic opportunities.
- Lead design, integration, and implementation of control systems projects with QA/QC oversight.
- Mentor junior engineers and support workload planning and staff utilization.
- Oversee development of bid documents, cost estimates, and project schedules.
- Coordinate with civil, mechanical, and electrical teams for integrated project delivery.
- Ensure compliance with codes and regulatory requirements.
- Develop and implement testing and commissioning protocols for systems.
- Maintain a healthy backlog of billable work through staffing and resource alignment.
Skills
Education
Tools
Job description
Description
SINCE 1976, CANNON has provided creative solutions to clients in the energy industry, water resources, public infrastructure, and commercial and residential development. We work hard. We play hard. We have fun.
JOIN CANNON as an Automation Principal Engineer in IRVINE. Irvine offers warm weather, beautiful scenery, and is a top bicycling city with miles of on-road bicycle lanes and mountain bike trails. It is one of the safest communities and the public schools have consistently ranked among the best in California.
We are seeking a highly skilled Principal Automation Engineer to support the growth and delivery of automation solutions across a wide range of industries, including Water Treatment, Wastewater Treatment, Water Reclamation and Recovery Facilities (WRRF), Water Distribution, Wastewater Collections, Oil & Gas, Aerospace, Food & Beverage, and Industrial Processes.
This role blends strategic client engagement, technical leadership, and hands-on engineering. The successful candidate will contribute to business development efforts by identifying opportunities, building client relationships, and supporting proposal development. They will also lead the execution of automation projects—overseeing design, integration, and implementation—while collaborating closely with multidisciplinary teams to ensure high-quality outcomes.
In addition to driving project success, the Principal Automation Engineer will help maintain a strong backlog of billable work by aligning staff resources with project needs, supporting workload planning, and mentoring junior engineers. This position plays a key role in advancing our automation capabilities and shaping the future of our practice through innovation and excellence.
- Supports strategic growth by identifying new opportunities and engaging with clients to understand their automation needs.
- Develops and manages proposals, scopes of work, fee estimates, and schedules tailored to client objectives.
- Fosters long-term client relationships to promote trust, repeat business, and cross-sector collaboration.
- Collaborates with internal teams to position automation services effectively across target markets.
- Leads the delivery of automation projects involving design, integration, or both—ensuring technical excellence and client satisfaction.
- Manages project scope, schedule, and budget, proactively addressing risks and changes.
- Provides mentorship to junior staff, ensuring quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) on deliverables.
- Coordinates with vendors, subcontractors, and internal disciplines to ensure seamless execution.
- Ensures compliance with applicable codes, standards, and regulatory requirements.
- Helps maintain a strong backlog of billable work by aligning staff resources with project needs.
- Provides technical mentorship and guidance to junior engineers and designers.
- Supports workload planning and contribute to team development through coaching and knowledge sharing.
- Leads and oversees the development of control system designs, including plans, specifications, narratives, I/O lists, and cost estimates.
- Guides hardware selection and layout, including instrumentation (pressure, level, flow), valves, VFDs, and other field devices.
- Collaborates with CAD technicians and design engineers to produce high-quality bid documents.
- Coordinates with civil, structural, and mechanical teams to ensure integrated project delivery.
- Demonstrates working knowledge of IT/OT infrastructure, including networking and server architecture.
- Oversees programming and configuration of PLCs, HMIs/OITs, and SCADA systems.
- Develops and implements testing protocols, commissioning plans, and documentation standards.
- Ensures reliable integration of control systems hardware with industrial automation platforms.
- Must have a bachelor's degree in engineering from an accredited college, preferably with a concentration in Control Systems, Electrical, or Mechanical Engineering.
- California Professional Engineer (PE) License required.
- 15+ years of experience in control systems engineering.
- 8+ years of experience in project management.
- 5+ years of experience as a consultant.
- 5+ years of experience in business development.
- 5+ years of experience managing a team and keeping them utilized
- Experience in staff management, mentoring and resource management a plus.
- Proficient with PLC programming in more than 1 software platform: Rockwell, Modicon, etc.
- Proficient with SCADA HMI and historian software.: Ignition, Aveva/Wonderware, FTView, etc.
- Experience with network design, installation, configuration and troubleshooting.
- Understanding of process instrumentation including design, procurement, installation, calibration, and maintenance.
- Proficient with motor control schematics, loop drawings, logic charts, network architecture drawings, and P&ID drawings.
competitive salaries, relocation assistance, excellent benefits package, remote work flexibility, and an active and positive team building, work environment.
Cannon is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to status as a protected veteran or a qualified individual with a disability, or other protected status such as race, religion, color, national origin, sex, age.
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