Controls Engineer, PLC Programming

Fluidstack; New York (NY); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Fluidstack is hiring for a Controls Engineer to develop and test PLC programs for data center equipment, across Siemens, Codesys, and virtualized platforms. You will write reusable templates, wire PLCs and sensors in a lab, validate programs, and drive reliable field commissioning.

Strong preference for hands-on hardware debugging in a high-velocity environment. You will collaborate with mechanical and controls teams to implement robust SOOs and ensure programs work across the fleet before site

Qualifications

• You’ve written and tested PLC programs for mechanical equipment and watched them run on real hardware.
• You’ve programmed across more than one PLC platform (Siemens, Codesys, or virtualization).
• You’ve turned a sequence of operations into working PLC code and caught gaps before reaching the controller.
• You’ve wired PLCs, IO, and sensors and traced faults to the physical layer.
• You write structured, reusable code for future engineers.

Responsibilities

• Develop and test template PLC programs for standard equipment across data centers to enable fleetwide deployment.
• Write portable code across mixed PLC hardware so a program runs regardless of the controller.
• Develop and tune sequences of operations with controls and mechanical teams, and implement SOOs in PLC code.
• Install and wire PLCs and sensors in a lab and validate programs before live deployment.
• Debug programs against real IO and failure conditions to make field commissioning a verification step.

Skills

PLC programming

Multiple PLC platforms

Wiring IO and sensors

Structured code templates

Testing in lab and on bench

SOO interpretation

Troubleshooting hardware

Tools

Siemens

Codesys

Virtualized PLCs

BACnet/Modbus

Job description

About Fluidstack

We exist to make humanity more free. For most of human history, you farmed or you starved. Technology gave people more time for the things they wanted to do, instead of things they had to do. Powerful AI will be the biggest lever for human choice we’ve ever built - but only if models are aligned with what humanity actually wants. There are groups building AI who don’t share these goals. Whoever deploys frontier compute infrastructure fastest will decide whether AI expands human freedom or shrinks it.

We’re singularly focused on delivering 10 to 100s of GWs of compute faster than anyone else, rethinking every layer of the stack. We acquire power, design and build data centers, and operate them - with teams spanning hardware and software. Speed and scale are our key differentiators. Come be a part of building civilization-scale infrastructure for AI.

We hire people who care deeply about this problem space. If that is you, please apply!

How We Operate

• Extreme ownership. Full autonomy. Own things end to end often taking on scope outside your core role without being asked to get things done.

• Velocity. We drive everything forward as fast as possible.

• First principles. Challenge every assumption. Zero analogy thinking, no egos, the best idea wins.

• Love of the game. The frontier of AI is the most interesting problem of our time. We put in long hours at high intensity to push the frontier forward.

The Controls Team

Examples of key problems the team is working on

• Deliver the controls behind 10s to 100s of GWs of data centers this decade.

• Own real-time load control and MEP and behind-the-meter integration.

• Automate Level 4 and Level 5 commissioning.

• Drive autonomous, robotic deployment.

Role Scope

• Develop and test template PLC programs for the standard mechanical equipment across every data center, chiller skids, fan wall units, CRAHs, and the rest, so one validated program deploys fleetwide instead of being rebuilt site by site.

• Write portable code across mixed PLC hardware, Siemens, Codesys, and virtualized PLCs, so a program built once runs regardless of the controller underneath it.

• Develop and tune sequences of operations with the controls and mechanical teams, then implement those SOOs directly in PLC code.

• Install and wire PLCs and sensors in a lab environment, standing up real hardware to validate programs before they ever run on live equipment.

• Debug programs against real IO and failure conditions on the bench so field commissioning becomes a verification step, not a debugging session.

What We’re Looking For

The below is a starting point. We always make space for exceptional people, so if you don’t fit this role exactly, tell us where you would.

• You’ve written and tested PLC programs for mechanical equipment, chillers, air handlers, pumps, or similar, and watched them run on real hardware, not only in simulation.

• You’ve programmed across more than one PLC platform, Siemens, Codesys, or virtualized environments, and you don’t treat one vendor’s toolchain as the boundary of what’s possible.

• You’ve turned a sequence of operations into working PLC code, and you’ve caught the gaps and contradictions in an SOO before they reached the controller.

• You’ve wired PLCs, IO, and sensors yourself, and you’ve traced a fault down to the physical layer when a program that looked right on screen misbehaved on the bench.

• You write structured, reusable code that the next engineer can read, so the templates you build get reused rather than rewritten.

• You test against failure and edge cases, not just the expected path, and you find the problems in the lab instead of in a running data center.

• Bonus: Data center mechanical systems (chiller plants, CRAH/CRAC, fan wall units). Structured Text and the IEC 61131-3 languages. BMS or SCADA integration over BACnet and Modbus. Hardware-in-the-loop or virtualized PLC testing.

We are committed to pay equity and transparency.

Fluidstack is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability and protected veterans’ status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Fluidstack will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records pursuant to applicable law.

You will receive a confirmation email once your application has successfully been accepted. If there is an error with your submission and you did not receive a confirmation email, please email [e-mail] with your resume/CV, the role you’ve applied for, and the date you submitted your application– someone from our recruiting team will be in touch.